A US Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a group of his senior advisers at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, after some in the group laughed and talked near the memorial following the Veterans Day ceremony, CNN reported. The moment was recorded by a CNN camera at the cemetery and broadcast by the network on Wednesday afternoon.
Hegseth had been standing in front of the Tomb taking photos with his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, his chief of staff Ricky Buria, his deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser Tami Radabaugh after the ceremony, CNN reported. In the footage, the group can be seen together on the Memorial Amphitheater steps, chatting as they begin to leave. CNN reported that some in the group were laughing and chatting after the photos, as the party made its way from the Tomb.
As the group departed, the Old Guard sentinel on patrol stopped, faced the group and called out across the plaza: “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.” The call is audible in the footage over the wide shot of the steps, and the camera then finds the sentinel standing at the end of his walk, facing the group with his rifle in hand. The group continued on its way, and the sentinel resumed his patrol.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is one of the most sacred war memorials in the United States. It marks the resting place of an unknown American soldier killed in World War I, and soldiers assigned to the Old Guard, the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, have guarded it around the clock, in all weather, since 1948, CNN noted in its report. Visitors are expected to keep silence at the plaza while the sentinel walks his post.
CNN said it asked the Pentagon for comment on the incident. The network’s story, which it described as breaking and subject to updates, carried no response from the Pentagon at the time it was published. Hegseth and his team were at Arlington for the Veterans Day ceremony at the cemetery, which was also attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, CNN reported.
The video above is CNN footage of the scene at Arlington. Zark News is using a short excerpt of it for news reporting under fair use, with the source credited on screen.
Video: CNN
