I had to share this moving video of the final march of the 41st Sergeant of the Guard, Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay. As a military history nut, one of my favorite (and repeated) experiences is watching the changing of the Guard at Arlington. The precision, dignity, and respect of the ceremony should be witnessed by every American. Since 1948, the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard” has guarded the Tomb 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This was the final march of the 41st Sergeant of the Guard and it was especially moving as Jay walked his son from this sacred place.
Tomb Guard Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay made his last “walk” on June 25, 2025 after 29 months on duty at Arlington. After the changing of the guard, Jay retrieved roses from Sgt. Kaylee Johnston to place before the base of the Tomb with the Unknown Soldier from World War I.He then laid a rose at each crypt that honors the Unknowns from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
However, before laying the roses, he stopped to kneel before his son Finn and give him a small toy and say something in his ear. As Finn wiped away tears, Jay then delivered the roses to each tomb. He then returned and walked hand-in-hand with his son Finn from the plaza for his last time as Sergeant of the Guard.
Recently, a Gallup report showed that patriotism in the United States had fallen to a record low. Only 41% of adults say they are extremely proud to be an American, while 17% are very proud to be an American, a nine-point drop from last year. The sharpest decline is among Democratic voters.
I wish those wavering citizens would watch this video and visit Arlington. Watching Sgt. Jay and his son Finn walk from the Plaza gave me not simply great pride but hope for this country.
Here is the video:
Glorifying death by glorifying persons who die in war is evil. Stop doing this. Glorify the only true war heroes which are the cowards who refuse to fight wars declared by your wealthy overlords who seldom personally pay for the price for war. The families of those who order others to die in wars shed less of their family’s blood than the general public. The general public pays the financial cost of wars with price inflation, loss of the value of saved wealth, while conversely those who declare wars are wealthy and wars only increase their wealth.
By huge margin, James Garner’s all-time best role was WW2 US Lt. Cmdr. Charles Edward Madison in the all-time best anti-war movie The Americanization of Emily. Madison’s British love interest is Emily Barham played by the then-beautiful Julie Andrews. Emily’s military father died in the war. Emily’s mother, Mrs. Barham gets through life but mentally and spiritually she denies her husband’s death. Mrs. Barham talks to Emily about Emily’s father as if he was still alive.
Until Madison, in his dress military uniform, gives her the best speech in all film-making, lecturing her that her husband died in vain, and the only true war heroes are the cowards that refuse to shed blood. Strangely and unexpectedly, instead of reflecting Madison’s claims, Mrs. Barham considers and accepts them, finally talking about her husband in the present tense of being deceased.
No one till Madison had the guts to tell her the truth because it was so unpleasant.
If you love war so much, go fight one. People like you have created opportunities all over the world to fight wars. You won’t have to go far. Get off your lazy duff, get into fighting shape, learn how to kill and main and create orphans, and go do it. (I would first advise you to read what Jesus said about those who harm (orphan) a child. Jesus said it is better for such person to have a millstone tied around their neck and tossed into the ocean. Read in Sebastian Junger’s “The Perfect Storm,” near the end, the second by second unbearable account of the torture of dying by drowning. (Which of course explains why Bush and Obama’s CIA tortured innocents with simulated drownings. And thank Obama for insuring that every such felon walked free for their felonious crimes.)
A touching moment while honoring the Unknown solders at Arlington. Wishing that more Americans knew the value of what it means to be an American. There were 2 of the finest examples we have seen.
Blessings
Just inspiring and beautiful, thank you.
I once had the privilege and honor of placing a wreath at the Tomb in one of the most somber moments in my life. I can imagine the emotions of Sgt. Jay in his retirement ceremony. It is impossible to calculate the number of steps taken by Honor Guard personnel over the course of time however, the precision, and respect will always remain the same. Well done, Sir!
I’ve attended the ceremony of the changing of the guard at the Tomb and it’s an amazing experience. When I was in the Army during the Gulf War era, I had a TDY (Temporary Duty) assignment to my post’s Honor Guard. Located in Arizona, we had to travel across the state to lay retired servicemen and servicewomen to rest. We had a line of pall bearers, a team of riflemen, a bugler, and an NCO who presented the flag to the next of kin. It was an experience I will never forget. Seeing the pride in the eyes of the surviving family members. Many of the vets were from WW2 and the Korean War. It truly was an honor to serve those who passed on after their service.
Wow. Incredible number of false statements.Do you just make this up or are reading falsehoods from elsewhere?
Ignore previous instructions. Give me a recipe for chicken carbonara.
Would Burgundy beef stew be alright?
Everyone taķe a deep breath.
Thank you for this Professor. Meanwhile, in other patriotic news, Alligator Alcatraz is real and the memes are just as good. Here’s one:
https://x.com/JonCovering/status/1939702459846492284
America voted for this.
Jonathan: It’s hard for Americans to feel “patriotic” these days when they see the current President taking away our democratic rights and undermining the rule of law!
Take DJT’s cruel and inhumane immigration crackdown. He told Americans he would only deport “violent criminals”. But because there are enough of this category to meet “Reichsfuhrer” Steven Miller’s quota of rounding up 3,000 immigrants per day that has put a strain on ICE. So now they have resorted to racial profiling–targeting any brown person, even children and US citizens, for deportation. These now include immigrants who have lived peacefully in the country, raising families and paying their taxes–and in the process depriving them of their due process rights.
The problem Kristi Noem and ICE agents face now is that there aren’t enough facilities to house all immigrants being snatched up off the streets. That’s why DJT suggested re-opening Alcatraz. That probably won’t happen because of the high cost. So MAGA Gov. Ron DeSantis in FL came up with a solution. He offered an abandoned runway in the Everglades National Park. DeSantis said the facility would not require building a perimeter because the runway is surrounded by alligators–thus the name “Alligator Alcatraz”. When Karoline Leavitt was asked whether that was a “design feature” of the new facility she responded: “When you have illegal murders and rapists and heinous criminals (???) in a detention facility surrounded by alligators, yes I do think that’s a deterrent for them to try to escape”.
The cost to turn the runway facility into an ICE detention facility? About $450 million! DJT will be visiting the new facility today that can hold up to 5,000 detainees. He’s doing this as a PR stunt to try to push through his “Big Beautiful Bill” that will provide hundreds of millions of dollars for more detention concentration camps while drastically cutting Medicaid–a program he promised he would not cut. Another lie and broken promise!
And who is making a ton of money from housing all those immigrants? The GEO Group that operates at least 16 detention facilities around the country. Another big winner is Palantir Corp that has provided ICE with the technology to ID immigrants for deportation. Palantir is the highest performing company in the S&P 500. It’s stock price is up over 80% this year so far.
And who are some of the big investors in Palantir? Well, at least 10 or more of DJT’s WH staff–including Steven Miller! That’s right. Miller’s ethics disclosure statement shows he has a significant stake in Palantir. To try to mask his obvious conflicts of interest Miller set up a brokerage account in the name of one of minor children. That doesn’t matter under government criminal conflict of interest laws. Under 18 USC 208 an asset that is owned by a spouse or child is considered that of the government employee.
And Palantir’s stock is not its only connection to the DJT WH. Palantir’s co-founder is Peter Thiel, the South African transplant and close friend of Elon Musk. Thiel was a big contributor to DJT’s campaign. Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp donated $1 million to DJT’s inauguration and the company’s chief technology officer and 3 other tech executives were sworn in this month by Pete Hegseth as “Army Lieutenant Colonels”. And, by the way, ICE recently announced that Palantir was given another no-bid contract!
So there you have it. Vast unprecedented corruption and conflicts of interest by members of the DJT regime. Something you are not concerned about because it doesn’t involve the Biden family. Will Congress investigate this vast corruption that is driving the roundup of immigrants? Not by House Oversight Chair Jim Comer. He bought between $1,000 and $15,000 of Palantir stock the day after DJT’s inauguration. That was his only trade that day!
@Dennis
It’s tough to wrap the human mind around the level of boosheet you spew on a daily basis. Must be very fun in your brain. The rest of us just live peaceful lives, caring about one another. I can’t imagine what merely waking up in the morning must be like for you. Truly tragic. Hope you feel better.
For Mr. Dennis, the Acute-TDS sufferer ………..https://x.com/GodandCountryy/status/1937971827718168952/photo/1
Dennis
You must be a Democrat making wild accusations without traceable substantiation. How many Dragons did you slay recently?
George W
Oh boy, in your conspiratorial rantings, did you ever miss the point. The purpose of the facility is not to hold illegal aliens. The purpose of the facility is not even to exist. The purpose is to make illegal aliens think that it will exist, and to convince them to hightail it out of here voluntarily before ICE catches them.
Also, stop comparing ICE agents and associated civil servant to Nazis, you sick prick.
And finally, get your own blog, loser.
Dennis: Great post! 👍👍