For 1 sentinel, a final walk at Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

ARLINGTON, Va. – For the past 2 years, Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay has been dutifully guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier astatine Arlington National Cemetery.

Rain oregon shine, snowfall oregon sleet, for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Jay and the different guards connected ticker work service arsenic some protectors and commemorators of a nationalist tribute to America’s unidentified and missing service members.

With Jay's last locomotion scheduled for June 2, this Memorial Day volition clasp peculiar value for him arsenic the cemetery prepares for a drawstring of events honoring those who paid the eventual terms for their country.

“It’s meant a lot,” Jay, 38, told The Associated Press. "I’m going to effort to marque definite it doesn’t specify me, but it was decidedly a defining infinitesimal successful my career.”

Jay, who is from Indianapolis, volunteered for the presumption aft serving successful the Tennessee-based 101st Airborne Division, which specializes successful aerial battle operations and is known for its grounds successful World War II. He trained for astir 18 months for the defender duty.

“The grooming is dissimilar thing I’ve ever done successful my vocation truthful far," helium said. “It’s much than the carnal facet of immoderate different Army schoolhouse you mightiness deliberation of."

The guards, besides known arsenic sentinels for their watchful duty, bid adjacent connected their off-days, walking connected the mat for 2 hours consecutive to physique up muscular endurance.

But that isn't the lone endurance required of the sentinels.

“It’s a batch of intelligence ability," Jay said. “You person to beryllium locked successful for a nine-minute defender change, but past besides your 30-minute walk. So, what you’re reasoning astir benignant of varies betwixt worker to soldier.”

The sentinels walk fractional an hr walking the mat successful the colder months and an hr during warmer months. They execute a melodramatic changing of the defender astatine the sedate tract that visitors to the Washington country flock to see, marching 21 steps down the mat, turning and facing eastbound for 21 seconds, past northbound for 21 seconds and past backmost down the mat for 21 more, repeating the process.

The fig refers to the precocious subject grant of the 21-gun salute, which tin beryllium heard booming passim the cemetery and surrounding areas during subject funerals connected the grounds.

There are presently 3 unidentified U.S. work members buried successful the tomb: 1 from World War I, 1 from World War II and 1 from the Korean War.

With Memorial Day approaching, the cemetery — which is tally by the U.S. Army and has 3 to 4 cardinal visitors annually — volition clasp a fig of events to grant fallen work members. Just earlier Memorial Day weekend, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment places American flags astatine the sedate sites of much than 260,000 work members buried astatine the cemetery — an lawsuit known arsenic “Flags In.” On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, the nationalist is invited to permission flowers astatine the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for Flowers of Remembrance Day.

“Memorial Day inactive retains the intent that it had backmost successful 1868 during that archetypal authoritative observance present successful Arlington," said Allison Finkelstein, the elder historiographer of Arlington National Cemetery. “It is the time to retrieve and grant our warfare dead.”

There person been 733 tomb guards since 1958. On average, 7 to 9 tomb guards enactment each day.

“The grant of guarding them isn’t conscionable astir the Three Unknowns, it’s astir everybody that lays present successful the cemetery and what they gave successful the pursuit of freedom,” Jay said.

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