The Museum of Hoaxes
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Posted By:

Jun 10, 2004
 I received the following from two family members within 24 hours. I read it, said "no way", then within 5 minutes (and our server is mega-slow) had debunked the ridiculous parts.

I found the most of the answers at http://www.tombguard.org/site.html

Here goes what I received in a nutshell (I've edited it so only the silly parts remain):

A bit of knowledge....


Subject: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This must take a special kind of person.

Did you know.............

What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?
- For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5'
10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30."

- Other requirements of the Guard:

- They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks
under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest
of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives
and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After
two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel
signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400
presently worn.The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives
or
give up the wreath pin.

- The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV.

- All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest
in
Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where
they re interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis
{the
boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier
of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Category: ; Replies: 10

Comments
Barry Carlton
Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 | 11:01 PM
Looks like a hoax. First of all, a lot doesn't make sense, even physically (how many 6'2" men are out there with 30 inch waists?) But more to the point, check out this which refutes a lot of the contents of this chain e-mail.
Richard Alexander
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 | 09:06 PM
It looks like a hoax to me. It would be mentally unhealthy for someone to go 6 months without talking to someone. Put the additional requirement of spending every waking moment studying just one subject, and you have the recipe for psychosis.

BTW, when I joined the U.S. Navy, I stood 6' 3", weighed 132 lbs and I had about a size 28 waist. Some years after my discharge, I had a waist size that roughly matched my leg length, 32-33. Today, though, I weigh 264 lbs and have about a 40-inch waist.
Bill
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2004 | 10:37 AM
Check out Snopes. http://www.snopes.com/military/unknown.asp
mccoytest
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 | 08:33 PM
This is a hoax. Ref:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_tomb_unknown_soldier.htm
and
http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.tombguard.org/site.html
and again,
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/unknowns.html
and, here
http://www.snopes.com/military/unknown.asp
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 | 01:46 AM
Plus, nevermind the fact that if there are currently 400 of the wreath pins being worn...

There are only 400 presently worn.

Then these 400 pins would represent 800 years of guard service / duty! And since their rules are supposedly SO strict, then there's no getting around the fact that 400 pins would represent 800 years worth of guarding!

So, in reflection, I feel no need to even bother investigating or debunking. Because the letter itself clearly signals it as a hoax!

😏
Charybdis
in Hell
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 | 08:24 AM
Um, you are aware that there is more than one active guard during those two years, aren't you? That's a combined 800 years. I'm not sure how many guards are authorized at any given time, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were about a dozen or so.

Still, the email is bunk.
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 | 08:53 PM
No Char... I wasn't aware of that fact. I guess that bit of information would make it a little more palatable, but not much. I wonder just how many guards there are and how much they appreciate all being confined together like that? Like you said though... the e-mail is obviously bunk.
RICHARD W. MILLER
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 | 09:08 PM
Without taking the thing apart too much, what is the real deal and is there a pic of the pin?
Do women get to do this?
Brett
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 | 07:25 AM
Actually, there are 500 pins according to the web site I saw but the 2-year thing isn't true. Nor is the drinking and swearing thing. They wear a badge, not a pin. The hurricane mentioned was Isabel, but they did stay and guard, though they have contingency plans for that sort of thing.
Pete Anon
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 | 04:17 PM
Some of the original info is an exaggeration of the truth. Here is the info from the official Arlington Nat'l Cemetery site, covered by these two links:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentinelsotu.html

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentineltraining.html

I have personally witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and I can assure you that they do not wear moist gloves unless they are out in the rain. And it is ludicrous to think that they can't ever have a sip of alcohol for the rest of their lives. Utter rubbish.

Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.