It was a hot summer day in Arlington National Cemetery.
I was now a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I gave my weapon for the weapons inspection, and as soon as he took it, I could tell that something
was wrong. I had just committed one of the biggest mistakes on the most hallowed ground in America.
I grew up in northern New York in a small town called Potsdam on a dairy farm.
I always dreamed of going out to Hollywood and, you know, making it in
in the movie business, and I finally got what I would say would be my first big break by being
cast as a soldier in the epic movie "Gods and Generals." We filmed down in Virginia and Maryland,
and on one of the days off, a buddy of mine invited me to go to Arlington National Cemetery
and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I'd never actually heard about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,
but I'd heard of Arlington. I often get emotional when I talk about it because it was just
something I'd never seen before in my life, especially not back on the farm.
The Tomb Guard was perfect. I remember we watched two guard changes. I was overcome
by emotion. I love to talk, and after we left there, I couldn't talk for a number of hours.
I'd always told my family that I would never join the military unless we were attacked, and
when 9/11 happened it struck really close to home. I ended up going to the recruiters
that day. I knew that the dreams of Hollywood would have to wait because I had to serve my country.
I then shipped out to Fort Benning, Georgia.
I barely had my uniforms issued to me and a sergeant walked in, and he was recruiting from
all the infantry guys there to go to Arlington. This is what I had asked my recruiter for,
was to go to Arlington, and to not accept this offer, this is, it was like coming home. I was hoping,
well, maybe I'll just get assigned to the Tomb. Little did I know, that that's not how it works.
I was assigned to casket bearers because I was a bigger, stocky farm boy. And then I had to train for
about two months, lifting weights, lifting heavy rock-filled caskets and practicing flag folding.
We'd practice flag folding eight hours a day because even if we've practiced one thousand times,
the family that we were folding the flag right next to,
that's the only time that they were going to get their flag folded and handed off to them.
So while we're holding the flag, you've got the rifle team,
caisson platoon and then the marching element, and each soldier has practiced
and trained to perfection. And I was really overcome with the responsibility of
burying the fallen, and it was very humbling to be there because we actually got to see the price.
So after about 13 months of the casket bearer in over 300 burials, my platoon sergeant approached
me, and he said that he thought that I had what it takes to actually go to the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier. After being assigned to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I met my mentor, and proud to
say friend, Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmeyer. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please.
I am Corporal Dickmeyer of the Third Infantry Regiment, United States Army." Sgt. Dickmeyer
was a hard charger. A lot of us in the infantry usually were, and he drove
our squad to perfection, and he did it by example. The Tomb Guard guards on the mat, going back and
forth every 21 steps, 21 seconds, the weapons always on the other side of the Tomb, placing the weapon,
soldier, tomb — kind of our way to show that we're protecting the tomb.
The most important thing as a Sentinel is you're constantly looking for anybody that would dishonor,
disgrace or disrespect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the fallen, the unknowns that it
represents. When somebody disrespects or dishonors the tomb, we'll break them off. "Remain behind the
chains and rail." Usually it doesn't take that long for them to realize they should turn around. So there's
two things that you never do at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. One is drop a rifle. Another very,
the cardinal sin, is being sent down. That's when you fail an inspection, and for 18 months, while I was at
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, no one that I know ever failed an inspection. Except for me one day.
When it rains, the weapons, they're highly polished steel, they can rust instantly. It's very
humid, and I walked out of the tomb quarters with a dirty weapon. Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmeyer came
right up. I pass off the weapon. He only did one swipe and looked at his glove and it was dirty.
And I started to hear him breathing extremely heavy, so he slapped the weapon back in my
hands. I put it back to order arms, and then he whispered under his breath, as protocol says,
"That weapon is dirty. Go down and get a clean one." I've made one of the cardinal sins, got sent back
from the inspection block. I was crying. I was at the bottom. I thought I was going to be released.
Adam ended up helping me through some of the most difficult times
of my training, and thankfully I was able to pass with his help.
In 2006, my enlistment was coming up, and I knew that it was time for me to pursue my
childhood dreams of moving out to Hollywood and starting to work in the movie industry.
So I moved out here and ended up going to school for filming.
And Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmeyer, he would go on to lead a platoon in combat in Afghanistan.
And a friend called me, who I hadn't heard from for quite a while, and he let me know that
Adam Dickmeyer was killed in Afghanistan.
There's going to be like a reunion, all descending back into Arlington National Cemetery,
but it wasn't a happy reunion. There's no joking, there's no, there's no joy, or where they're
burying a Tomb Guard, our friend. So being a filmmaker, the Society of the Honor Guard actually
reached out to me to see if I would want to make a memorial video for Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmeyer.
And I and another Tomb Guard kind of brainstormed, and we realized that we didn't just want to make
a little five-minute video honoring Adam Dickmeyer. We wanted to make a whole documentary
that showed the love and sacrifice that the Tomb Guards give for the fallen, for the unknowns.
We filmed for over six months. We kind of embedded with the old guard and just filmed everything
that we could. And we actually had theatrical release of "The Unknowns." We ended up winning
Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival for best feature. So after the success of "The Unknowns,"
we realized that there was other stories to be told from Arlington. So we were able to
film a four-part docuseries about the different platoons. I think what the tomb now represents is
for soldiers everywhere. They'll go to the tomb to remember the fallen, and we're just making
sure that the fallen know that they've got a buddy that's there with them 24 hours a day.