A soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier issued a verbal reprimand to a group of advisers and staffers with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Video shows Hegseth taking photos on the empty steps in front of the tomb with his wife, Jennifer, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser Tami Radabaugh.
As the group broke from taking photos, a loud laugh could be heard, and the soldier guarding the tomb shouted that “all visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.”
The guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier are well known for this. There’s videos of them yelling at people all over YouTube if anyone wanted to see.
Their entire job is to maintain the peaceful and respectful atmosphere in the cemetery, no matter who it may be disrupting that.
The real story here is that the Secretary of the god-damned Military and his entourage don’t know that and had to be reminded to mind their manners at arguably the most important US military memorial in the world. That the headline is putting the focus not on the transgression, but on the soldier who called it out is disingenuous.
You don’t even need to “know” anything, just have the common sense of being respectful at a memorial tomb
Arlington National Cemetery is striking and solemn on its own. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is deeply moving. I’ve been twice. Even the first as a 13 year; old you can just feel how you should be behaving. Making noise and acting a damn fool is obviously not welcome.
On Veteran’s Day, no less.
I think they knew and didn’t care.