"This soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance"
January 11, 2025 5:32 PM   Subscribe

Behind the Old Guard: Sentinels

Army Pfc. Jessica Kwiatkowski, the first woman infantry soldier to earn the Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification Badge, on mission. The last walk.

Changing of the Guard

(previously)
posted by Lemkin (6 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I despise the waste and horror of war. It's the worst of us and enables some of the best of us. But the whole reverence and ritual surrounding the Tomb of the Unknown is powerful on another level.

And yet, there's still tons of videos of people acting like idiots there and getting chewed out by the Sentinels.
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:39 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]


Admiring this feels like tearing up at videos of soldiers surprising their children in school with their return, and seeing their children's unfiltered joy and tears at their parents return: it's both 100% real, and 100% propaganda.

It's a mature response to feel mixed emotions here. The dedication, the adherence to ritual, the veneration of the symbolism of honouring the unknown soldier is beautiful and worthy. But it's also a beautiful thing that exists in service of a terrible end, misused for terrible reasons. It's only if you feel totally comfortable and warm with this that you should worry.
posted by fatbird at 10:16 PM on January 11 [11 favorites]


My mixed take is that all of the following can be true:
- It is amazing when someone does something difficult extremely well, with extreme dedication, out of a sense of duty.
- All of the known and unknown soldiers, civilians, other categories of human beings, and indeed all living things killed by war are a tragedy and an outrage. They should be remembered.
- Who does it serve if we remember these dead simply as soldiers, instead of as complex human beings? What image of a soldier is the state trying to conjure in our heads?
- The states that send people to meet these war deaths should not be the ones to remember them. To me, it is like if a serial killer were to profit from writing a book about their murders.
- The function of this memorial is primarily to aim our emotions toward sadness and resignation, rather than anger and indignation, that these deaths should have occurred and continue to occur. We are meant to believe they met a sad, yet "honorable" end for some greater purpose. Additionally, it is to instill in us a sense of reverence for the military and the state, when these organizations perpetuate war.

Though I am critical of the state and the military here, I have no ill will toward anyone who has been part of the military, unless of course you've been above a certain level of decision-making authority. I doubt there are many generals and secretaries of defense who are Mefites.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 11:15 PM on January 11 [7 favorites]


all war is wrong, futile, and destructive alike to victor and vanquished
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:53 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]


And at Arlington? Lee was an abolitionist.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:56 AM on January 12


Lee was an abolitionist.
You mean that guy who spent four years committing treason in defense of slavery?
posted by fogovonslack at 8:02 AM on January 12 [6 favorites]


« Older excellent Taste, pleasant Smell, and curious...   |   Hold on, I'm comin'... RIP Sam Moore (1935–2025) Newer »


You are not currently logged in. Log in or create a new account to post comments.