Make New York Post a Preferred Source Army Spc. Thomas Iglesias scolded Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his group for talking and laughing near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day. AP POOL The secretary of defense visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day, and yet the true voice of military authority on this occasion was an Army specialist.
When the group with Pete Hegseth laughed and began to chatter after taking a photo, the voice of Spc. Thomas Iglesias rang out, “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times!”
It was a stunning moment. We aren’t used to high-level officials getting so publicly and starkly upbraided by their underlings, but Iglesias, as part of the Old Guard, or 3rd Infantry Regiment, is a different breed.
The Old Guard stands vigil over the Tomb of the Unknown, 24 hours a day, rain or shine, in heat and cold, and protects it from any indignities, whether from thoughtless tourists or the briefly voluble entourage of the secretary of defense.
There was much tsk-tsking about the episode in the media, which relishes any opportunity to make Hegseth look bad.
The secretary, though, cleverly and appropriately, embraced the moment.
He invited Iglesias and his colleagues to the Pentagon the next day and pinned a Joint Service Commendation Medal on him.
It’s been a rocky tenure for Hegseth at the department, but there’s no doubting his bond with the troops and his positive influence on recruiting. His handling of this matter showed why.
“We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist,” Hegseth wrote in a social-media post.
Beyond the media commentary and jostling over Hegseth — who narrowly escaped impeachment the day before — the episode tells us something about America’s egalitarian spirit, and about the sacred status of the Tomb of the Unknown and the amazing fidelity of the Old Guard.
Despite all the talk of inequality in America, we are still a culture that appreciates challenges to status and hierarchy — think Hank Morgan in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” disdaining all aristocratic trappings.
An analogue to the Hegseth episode is the famous story of Abraham Lincoln going to witness a battle outside of Washington, DC, at Fort Stevens in 1864.
He supposedly exposed himself to enemy fire and a soldier yelled, “Get down, you damn fool!” The president indeed took cover.
Of course, Spc. Thomas Iglesias wasn’t seeking to defy authority, but rather to uphold his duty to see that the Tomb is afforded respect at all times.
Established after World War I and containing the remains of war dead from World War I, World War II and the Korean War, the Tomb symbolizes the bond of the nation to its citizen-warriors who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
“HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD,” reads the inscription.
The Tomb has been continuously guarded since 1937, and since 1948 by the Old Guard.
Its standard for carrying out its mission is nothing less than perfection.
Every movement is precise and fraught with meaning — for instance, the sentinel’s 21 steps walking in front of the tomb and then the 21-second pause before turning and walking back again is a reference to the high honor of the 21-gun salute.
The inspection of the rifle during the changing of the guard is a strange and wondrous thing to behold, as elaborate and punctilious as a well-choreographed ballet.
It all betokens the nation’s profound gratitude to its fallen, known and unknown, of whatever rank and from whichever walk of life.
In his book about the Old Guard, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who served with the Guard, includes an anecdote about a foreign military dignitary visiting Arlington Cemetery and commenting, “Now I know why your soldiers fight so hard. You take better care of your dead than we do our living.”
Spc. Thomas Iglesias had so imbibed this ethic that he didn’t hesitate to shout his admonition to a group of highfalutin visitors, a sterling example of duty and honor worthy of the 3rd Infantry Regiment he serves.
