solve for x

On Sunday, November 11, 2007, Veterans Day, Vice President Dick Cheney laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Several years ago the President went to the Tomb of the Unknowns on Memorial Day to observe the changing of the guard. I saw a television news report which gave a little information and background about the honor guard, The Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Among the qualifications to serve as a Sentinel members of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry must posses an unblemished military record and be in superb physical condition. They go through a rigorous training memorizing seven pages of Arlington National Cemetery history and the location of the graves of three hundred veterans. They are tested on the manual of arms, uniform preparation and must learn the guard change ceremony. Those who pass the test consider it a very high honor to serve as a Sentinel and are awarded a Tomb Guard Identification Badge.

There has been an email circulating which gives many of the details of the how the changing of the guard is conducted and the prerequisites for serving as a Sentinel. And as usual throws in some stuff which someone made up. Like they are not allowed to speak during the first six months, they may not drink alcohol during their off duty hours and can have their Tomb Guard Identification Badge revoked if they ever use foul language, even after leaving the guard. These last two items stuck me as decidedly unmilitary.

And there is one more very important requirement for serving as a Sentinel. You must be between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet, 4 inches tall. And be of proportionate weight. This is not email rumour or urban myth. It is straight from the official web site:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentinelsotu.html

So a person can put on combat boots, hoist seventy pounds of supplies onto their back including, mess kit, shovel, sleeping bag, MREs, radio, tooth brush, razor, mouth wash and gum drops. Top it off with a helmet, sling an automatic rifle with 140 rounds of ammunition over your shoulder, sleep in the rain, get shot at and shoot back. The shooting part comes after six months of having a drill instructor with separation issues wake you up every single day at three AM in order to rudely compare you with fly larvae. But you are not fit to serve in the honor guard at the tomb of the unknowns because you are one half inch to short? Or to tall?

They don't want to hear about how you single-handedly saved four of your fellow soldiers. They don't want to hear about your good conduct medal, medal of honor, silver star, purple hearts, green clovers or yellow moons. They want to know how tall you are.

Doing some research on this I talked to an army recruiter. He told me he thought that the narrow height restrictions for the Honor Guard were in order to achieve "uniformity". Of course!

Here in the United States of America, a country that prides its self on its diversity, we honor our war dead with "uniformity".

OWL

Jan. 14 2007