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A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 13, 2019 33 min

28. The Constant Vigil

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Pinterest

Since 1937, The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. First, by troops of the 3^rd Cavalry, and since 1948, by soldiers of the 3^rd US Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard”, among whose ranks service as Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns is considered one of the highest honors.

The Tomb of the Unknown’s sentinels does not wear rank insignia while posted on guard, in order to avoid the possibility of outranking any of the Unknowns, whatever their rank might have been in life. Only the Relief Commander and the Assistant Relief Commanders wear rank insignia, but only when presiding at the changing of the guard. When they themselves are posted on guard duty, they don a separate uniform without rank insignia.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.