In a unique ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2024, seven Tomb Guards simultaneously received the rarely awarded Tomb Badge (officially referred to as the Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification Badge). The event may have set a record as the largest pinning ceremony in recent history.
Tomb Guards, members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), earn the Tomb Badge for passing five testing phases and demonstrating high proficiency in Army and Tomb Guard knowledge. Tomb Guards who earn the badge are called Sentinels.
At the ceremony in Memorial Chapel, the seven Guards stood at attention, facing their families, friends and fellow Guards. Recipients of the Tomb Badge were Commander of the Guard Capt. Henry Newstrom, Sergeant of the Guard Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay, Sgt. Kaylee Johnston, Spc. Derek Beasley, Spc. Jaxon Hamby, Spc. Brody Middleton and Spc. Gabriel Sudharto.
Assistant Sergeant of the Guard Staff Sgt. Justin Zimla announced that Sentinels are specially selected and uniquely trained soldiers. “They volunteered for the U.S. Army, then volunteered to be screened for an assignment for the Old Guard and finally, they volunteered for the difficult training required to become a Sentinel.” After explaining the challenge of earning the Tomb Badge, he announced to the seven soldiers, “You have met the standard, and you are now charged with helping the next soldiers grow into Sentinels.”
The regiment’s 4th Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Pete Vangjel, describing the seven Sentinels as “the best of the best,” called it fitting for them to receive their badges on Veterans Day, the same day that the president traditionally lays a wreath at the Tomb during the annual National Veterans Day Observance. He then welcomed “the newest members of this unique, very small, very selective, very special group of soldiers.”
Once Vangjel concluded his remarks, the Sentinels’ loved ones stepped forward and pinned their new badges onto their uniforms. Most chose their wives or fathers to pin them; Sgt. 1st Class Jay chose Richard Azzaro, a founder and former president of the Society of the Honor Guard, to pin him, and Spc. Middleton’s mother pinned him.
Jay asked Azzaro to pin him because he served as a Tomb Guard from 1963 to 1965 and often visits the Tomb Guard Quarters to share history and bagels. “He’s been a mentor for Captain Newstrom and me,” Jay said. Middleton explained that he asked his mother because “whenever I was struggling down here, I’d call her, and she’d talk me through it.”
The ceremony concluded as Sgt. Zimla led the new Sentinels and all the Guards in the room in reciting the “Sentinel’s Creed,” a tradition at badging ceremonies.
Spc. Sudharto was praised for passing his Sentinel tests in only six months and 15 days. “I’m sure there’s been faster,” Sudharto humbly said, even though his fellow Sentinels disagreed.
After the ceremony, the Sentinels talked about how their family, friends and fellow Guards helped them earn their badges. Spc. Beasley specifically credited Sgt. Tristin Smith for motivating him, even on Smith’s days off. “He was outside on night hours helping me do wreaths, teaching me how to walk properly and how to do the guard change properly,” Beasley said.
Sgt. Johnston may have been speaking for all the new Sentinels when she spoke about the hard work that went into earning the Tomb Badge. “The hardest part was getting over the mental aspect of it,” she said, “and just realizing you can do it if you push yourself.”
