ARLINGTON, Va. — On his last walk as a guard at Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Sgt. Antonio Garcia stopped to place roses on each crypt in a moving ceremony.
Garcia participated in a traditional ritual commemorating the end of his time as a guard. The final walk also gives guards like him a chance to pay their respects to the unknown soldiers and their fellow tomb protectors.
Garcia, who served as a tomb sentinel for about two years and a member of the Commander-in-Chief's guard for one, walked the path in front of the tomb for the final time and handed over his watch to a relief guard. He then placed the roses at the crypts for the soldiers from World War I, II and the Korean War as his family looked on.
Garcia will move on to another assignment in the Army, serving in a combat team in Italy.
Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a sacred and consuming task undertaken by volunteer members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, or "The Old Guard." Soldiers must go through rigorous training before earning their Tomb Guard Identification Badge. Guards like Garcia typically work 27 hour shifts, patrolling the tomb for 30 minute or one hour at a time, depending on the time of year.
The changing of the guard, an elaborate and ceremonial routine between soldiers trading places, attracts crowds of tourists to Arlington National Cemetery each year.
The tomb is never left unwatched, through all weather conditions and even after visitors leave. And so, as Garcia says his goodbye to the venerable memorial, another guard is already taking over his watch.