Video Shows US Soldier Telling Group Including Pete Hegseth to Show Respect After Laughter at Tomb of Unknown Soldier

A US Army sentinel stopped his patrol and warned a group that included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to maintain silence and respect after laughter was heard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day.

The exchange followed the Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. CNN footage showed Hegseth with his wife, Jennifer, and senior aides, including chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser and deputy assistant Tami Radabaugh. After the group posed for photographs, some members could be heard laughing and talking as they moved away. The footage does not establish who laughed or whether Hegseth was among them.

Sentinel Stops Patrol and Issues Warning

The sentinel halted his patrol, turned towards the group and called out: 'All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.' The group continued up the steps after the warning.

The intervention was consistent with the Old Guard's practice of addressing visitors who become too loud around the Tomb. The Army has said such reminders are not unusual. In a 2022 account, Staff Sgt Chadwick Winget, then a relief commander, said sentinels spoke to visitors an average of two or three times a day when people disrupted the quiet.

The Army's account said sentinels regularly reminded visitors to keep their voices down around the Tomb. Winget said many people did not realise how loudly they were speaking or how their conversations affected others paying their respects. 'They're talking and not realizing how loud they're being, or laughing or making jokes amongst their group,' he said.

Old Guard Has Guarded Tomb Since 1948

The sentinel belongs to the 3rd US Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, the Army's official ceremonial unit. The regiment took over the Tomb guard in 1948, but the military presence there began much earlier.

Soldiers from nearby Fort Myer were first assigned to guard the site in 1926, initially during daylight hours. The watch became continuous in 1937, a decade before the Old Guard assumed the duty.

The Tomb Guard's patrol follows a measured sequence. A sentinel marches 21 steps down the black mat, turns to face east for 21 seconds, turns to face north for another 21 seconds, then takes 21 steps down the mat. The number 21 symbolises the highest military honour, the 21-gun salute.

The guard changes in a formal ceremony every hour from October through March and every half-hour from April through September. The ceremony involves a relief commander inspecting the incoming sentinel's rifle before the outgoing and incoming guards meet on the mat and salute the Unknown Soldiers. The new sentinel then takes position and begins the measured walk.

Sentinels volunteer for the post and undergo a demanding selection process and intensive training. The Old Guard maintains the watch 24 hours a day, in all weather.

Trump and Vance Attend Veterans Day Ceremony

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance also attended the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington, alongside Hegseth. The annual wreath-laying event is held at the Tomb, which honours unidentified US service members whose remains were brought home from war.

The Tomb contains the remains of unidentified service members from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. An empty crypt honours US service members lost during the Vietnam War.