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:
How sad, Turley, that you seem to think that Americans’ feelings of despair over the damage Trump and MAGA are doing to this country can somehow be mitigated by some ceremony at Arlington–a place where the “suckers and losers” (according to Trump) are buried. Here’s just SOME of what the Big Beautiful Bill will do:
-Trump can delay or cancel elections;
-Trump can ignore SCOTUS rulings for one year or more;
-Trump can fire government employees for political disloyalty;
-Judges can’t enforce their own orders;
-Protests can be tracked and criminalized;
-LGBTQ+ rights, education, health care and media are gutted;
-Your VPN? Can be tracked; Your vote?
-Your speech can be flagged
From “Fast Company”:
Citing estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), PBS has a good rundown of some of the major elements of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Some of those elements are:
$3.8 trillion in tax cuts, with the wealthy and corporations benefiting the most.
$350 billion for border and national security spending.
Medicaid* and other government healthcare and social services cuts would result in 10.9 million Americans losing their health insurance coverage, and 3 million Americans losing their access to food stamps.
The elimination of a $200 tax on gun silencers.
A provision that would deter individual U.S. states from regulating artificial intelligence.
$40 million in funding to establish a “National Garden of American Heroes.”
All of this will result in $3.3 Trillion in new debt. Then, there’s canceling USAID, that will result in the deaths of starving people in Sudan and cancelation of contracts with US farmers who produced the peanut paste that starving people have relied on to stay alive.
*What about the lie “I won’t touch Medicaid”?
And, you think some sentimental ceremony is going to erase all of this evil coming from a pathological liar who cheated his way into office and who bombed a country that did nothing to us and for which we will pay down the road in ways that we can’t even fully predict? Either you are naive or you think we are.
leave it to gigi to spoil such a beautiful post.
Like sticking your dirty little sucked thumb into Sgt. Jay’s “well done and thank you” cake.
whoever wrote this, just goes to show you can’t fix STUPID !
Get your own blog, loser
Truly uplifting and inspiring. Thank you Professor Turley.
In my lifetime, I can think of two movies that made me humbly appreciate the horrific realities of War: “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List.” We can never thank our true war heroes and their sacrifices enough.
War is a devastating and killing disease, but our national holidays, as well as events like this one posted by Professor Turley, serve as annual vaccine boosters that remind us of our need to build renewed immunity against casually inviting that pathology back again.
Pledge of Allegiance
1892: by Francis Bellamy
‘I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.’
1954: by Congress
‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.’
The Star-Spangled Banner
1814: Francis Scott Key
‘O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner – O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.’
America The Beautiful
1893: by Katharine Lee Bates
O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown they good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw
Confirm they soul in self-control
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be noleness
And every grain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for halcyon skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!
O beautiful for pilgrims feet
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
Wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!
O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice
For man’s avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
What an Honor I’ve had being born in the United States of America, there is no other Country in the World that can equal this Republic, and to Honor those that did not return from service to our country I tip my hat, I was one of the fortunate to return.
God Bless this Country
George W
“War is Hell.”
“Combat is a M———–!”
– Plaque Above the Bar, Enlisted Men’s Club, Cu Chi, Vietnam, 1970
_________________________________________________________________________
The True Heroes Have Ascended.
How refreshing to hear a public intellectual speak of patriotism.
“I struggled mightily with the impact on the most vulnerable in this country,” Murkowski told reporters.
In the end Murkowski no doubt said f-ck em, who needs poor people anyway. They’re not rich like I’m going to be for kissing the orange gods A$$.
I’m sure that’s exactly what she thought… eyeroll… you’re such a pathetic joke of a commenter. Why would you even bother posting something so juvenile?
My wife was born and raised in Eastern Europe, where she lived under the shadow of communism. She knew firsthand what it meant to be watched, silenced, and treated as a subject of the state rather than as a free human being. She escaped that life, at great personal risk, fleeing to a land where liberty was not a dream, but a birthright.
Years later, we returned to Eastern Europe for a visit. While there, she suffered a serious accident. She was unable to sit upright, so we arranged for her to be privately transported back to America for surgery. When we landed on U.S. soil, they wheeled her down the ramp and toward the terminal. But before entering the building, she asked them to stop. With great effort, she had them lower the gurney to the ground. Then, with tears in her eyes, she turned her head and placed her hand on the earth. She kissed her fingers and pressed them to the soil of the United States of America.
Only someone who has lived without freedom can understand the depth of that gesture. It was not symbolic. It was sacred.
Too many today forget what our fathers and forefathers endured to build this nation, what they fought, bled, and died for. Freedom is not inherited by chance; it is preserved by remembrance, sacrifice, and gratitude.
God bless my wife.
God bless the land that gave her refuge.
And God bless America.
Leadership, Toxic Masculinity 🙂 God, Family, Republic
Semper Fi
Professor Turley, thank you.
“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.”
***************************
Actually, Republicans patriotism is UP 7 points. The Dims? DOWN 26. Wonderful people who belly-crawl among us, no?
Damn straight!
@Mespo
As always, you are very astute.
I would argue that anyone who isn’t indoctrinated feels better about things.
The percentile in the poll, and given that polls are inherently flawed, is just a generalization, I will leave it up to others to determine what that means to them; but it correlates pretty well to college grads in the more pronounced of our indoctrination years (which seems to me about the time span of Obama very publicly equating a bachelor’s degree with a former high school diploma; and now in 2025, Ivy league schools teach remedial subjects), and the people who taught them. I know socialism/communism began their creep in the West in earnest as early as post-WWI, but the groundwork was truly institutionalized broadly, stateside, somewhere around 2008, and more or less calcified by 2012. Huh. Wonder what happened then, and what went on behind the scenes to achieve that almost perfect culmination? 🙄
“. . . what went on behind the scenes . . .”
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there was a joke (not so funny) running around academia: Communism is dead everywhere, except in our political science departments.
@Sam
I remember. And it was true! ‘Political science’ is likely an oxymoron. There are morons involved, anyway. 😉
*Correction ……. The sharpest decline is among “democrat” voters.
That was quite moving.
That is so beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!
As July 4th approaches, we can always use a dose of American patriotism, which is indeed on the decline lately. This video stirs the heart and fills it with greater appreciation for the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. Love for country motivates duty to country and countrymen. G-d bless America and its people.
This was stunning! Thanks so much for posting this.
As a 69-year-old whose father, uncle, father-in-law and uncle-in-law all served in WWII, all making it back in good health, thankfully, I have always honored those who chose to put themselves between our enemies and my family.
Words are never enough, but having missed Vietnam only by a few years myself, I will never feel like anything but “extremely proud to be an American”, and it’s one of the many reasons why I could never be, or vote for, a Democrat.
Well said. I too am a 69 year old whose father and uncles returned from WWII unscathed.
I too am a proud American who will NEVER vote dem.
Watching men do their best to imitate the motion of mechanical dolls, and glorifying the slaughter of millions to preserve the power of a military corporate machine determined to reduce every vibrant, creative, wondering and unique human being to the parody of a machine is actually kind of horrifying. Are the people under our government actually happier than those under other governments? How much of our material comfort (for those of us who are in comfortable positions) is at the expense of others outside our borders (or in) kept under control by uniformed agents of power. Patriotism…..not for me.
We all agree. America is not for you, or other people like you, who choose to benefit from our greatness while trashing those who made, and make, it so great.
You really should move to any other country. It would make you happy and it would make patriotic Americans even happier.
Perfect response.
And yet you still live here enjoying the freedom to be a traitor to the nation that better men than you can ever be fought for. We who served and fought invite you to GTFO of our country.
Dear Chairman Xi, I did not know you read Professor Turley’s blog. But please, grow a pair and stop hiding behind the anonymous label.
“Robotic” movements means absolute discipline necessary in such matters as wars. The fight is for freedom for ourselves, our posterity and others who want freedom.
If you remain in a nation you believe to be false as you say, that would make you a thief wouldn’t it? Work hard, save your money and move to a nation you believe to be authentic perhaps Afghanistan or the Congo or so many other choices.
There are true despots in the world who’ll seek your freedom as we see today. You have a point about imports when the reality is the United States is utterly self reliant.
The “peace” effort being employed by the US is the development of third worlds and the trade with others creates interdependence to increase the possibility of friendly discourse. It’s not because the the US needs it. It’s a strategy but not to supplant self reliance.
It’s not a great world, mam. Most of it is poverty and poorly executed political systems run by immoral corrupt people, kings and prince’s, and theocracies in some maximally oppressive nations.
The unseen, unknown soldiers do watch.
It’s a very sad irony that people like this are free to express hatred for the very men and women willing to sacrifice their lives to protect this sacred right to do so.
But the responsive irony is that after reading good comments from you and others, we feel heartened to express love for all the good out there in our brethren and this country, waiting to be renewed by our desire to preserve them.
Amen!
Those men and women protect your right to think and post as you do. NEVER FORGET THAT.
Interesting “mechanical doll” post, Anon. You have guts. The patriots will be all over you.
What if they gave a war and nobody came?
” no one came” you say? That means you lose. 😏
It’s not a losing proposition if the idea catches on. 😃 🕊
*. I’ll use your comment as an opportunity to remind fellow Americans, we don’t do enough for maimed soldiers and civilians who are lame, blind, deaf, handicapped by physical or mental disabilities and the elderly infirm. I’d like to see task force on this.
For the able bodied a greater effort in providing good work, jobs perhaps in helping the infirm. The disabled should not be relegated to the poverty class by defect or circumstance.
It’s a need.
Anonymous 12:14PM-I agree. No matter the party or administration, the care for our veterans suffer and they never really get the total care they deserve. We have not fulfilled the promise made by Lincoln in his 2nd inaugural address about helping those who had “borne the battle”.
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf, pussy.
Unlike your glorious socialist hellholes, you really are free to leave this country. I suggest that you can find another that is more to your liking. I bet your family would even pay your air fare, just to finally be rid of you from the basement.
@Anonymous
Gloves off. You are a disgusting person. That you are paid for your mendacity is tragic, but thankfully, no one listens to you. I cannot fathom the dollars that have been dumped on you to take a daily **** here. If you aren’t ashamed of yourself, then you are incapable of shame. There are clinical terms for that, and no, it does not mean you need compassion; it means you need to be isolated from the rest of functional society. Manson or Bundy never had it so good. You are pathetic, in the extreme. And we don’t care. It is a tragedy that you can’t see any beauty whatsoever in life; just grievance, compensation, and revenge. You are sick, and there may be no help. You are the perfect poster child for what our modern left has become, and i do not feel the least bit bad saying any of this to you. If you weren’t a coward I’d say it to your face, and you would likely wet your pants when confronted with the reality of what it really means to be mutually human and have a shared human experience. Go cry somewhere else.
What a vile post. Is it aimed at me? No one pays me for my sincere thoughts. Anonymity seems to embolden you, James.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Very well said James.
No wonder you posted that anonymously.
Nobody is keeping you here
“Are the people under our government actually happier than those under other governments?”
Apparently, you’ve never spoken to an observant foreigner who visits America. The thing that surprises them: Americans are so happy. BTW, ask a Chinese or North Korean citizen that question — if their tyrannical government allows you to.
“How much of our material comfort (for those of us who are in comfortable positions) is at the expense of others outside our borders . . .”
I think what you mean is: The material comfort of those “others” owes much to America’s productive prowess. As just one example: America is still the “breadbasket of the world.”
Your utter disdain for the sacrifices of others, so that you can live a life with the freedoms and liberties you don’t deserve, qualifies you as a parasitic useless eater.
Thanks Mr. Turley! This is a wonderful reminder of the importance of understanding the value of the gift of freedom. Regardless of one’s service in the military or not, we all should insure future generations understand it must be defended and secured.
My Dad was WWII Army infantryman. He’d be 99 this October. He shared precious little detail of his military experience. He never spoke of shooting his rifle or being shot at in combat. Even at 90 when he shared with me he had been a forward scout in his company, he didn’t elaborate. But he did elaborate about being assigned to a German POW Camp in Luxembourg immediately after VE Day. He voiced respect for his prisoners saying they were already defeated because the real enemy – the German government, naziism and facism – had been defeated. Freedom was defended and freedom won. It was time to put many thousands of them on trains and send them home. We made peace.
He taught me being prepared for and fighting a war was much more than killing.
Thanks Dad. And thanks to all those who serve, train, prepare, and fight. You remind us everyday how important freedom is.
🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Outstanding SFC Jay…You exemplify the true American Spirit! As a U.S. Army Veteran, I’m humbled by your commitment to our fallen heroes. God Bless you and your family.
*. My mother was traveler and had seen many sites. She toured Washington and said it was beautiful, the monuments were striking and noted the tomb as beautiful, PT.
This is a striking reminder of faith. It’s a very serious example of the solemnity of faith in God and to say to the unknown soldier who fought and died we protect you even in death. It’s stunningly beautiful .
It causes the heart to sink when our beliefs and monuments are destroyed. It causes our hearts to sink as the PLO scarves are wrapped around our monuments and rankles the soul when they, them, use the phrase our country.
Pearls to swine indeed and they turn and rend you.
Back to work…
* a
Thank you Sergeant Jay from a grateful American. I am a grateful American everyday. Thank you Professor Turley for a wonderful article.
As a naturalized American I am extremely proud to be an American, but more than that, I am infinitely more GRATEFUL to be one.
It breaks my heart that craven and callow leaders would prey upon their supporters and encourage this growing lack of patriotism. All in pursuit of votes and power.
I have not voted for the winning presidential candidate in over 2 decades. Not once did the occupant of the White House diminish my love for this the greatest nation in the history of history