Sacred Duty

A Soldier’s Tour at Arlington National Cemetery

Reviewed by Dr. Craig Leslie Mantle

Article published on: April 1, 2024 in the Army History Spring 2024 issue

Read Time: < 4 mins

What happens to us when we die? If buried at Arlington, religious considerations aside, the answer is simple: a perfect funeral. At least, that is the goal for members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard or America’s Regiment, who perform funerals for privates and generals alike. The 3d, incidentally, is “the oldest active-duty infantry regiment in the Army” (51). Because families of the deceased get only one funeral for their loved one, members of the regiment believe that every interment must be a no-fail, zero-defect event, and they always are, with only the rarest exceptions. Through its seemingly impossible yet completely internalized standard of perfection, The Old Guard respects the decedent and honors their service and sacrifice to the nation.

But The Old Guard is about more than just funerals, even though they are “the priority mission” (284). Across the country, but especially in Washington, D.C., its members participate in events ranging from evening tattoos to retirement ceremonies, constantly guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and welcoming foreign dignitaries at the White House or Pentagon. With the 3d consisting of “exotic units” (288) such as the Fife and Drum Corps, the Continental Color Guard, and the U.S. Army Drill Team, among others, the regiment is very much “the face of the Army” (198) to both the American public and, indeed, the world.

Sacred Duty by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) is part personal memoir, part history, and part behind-the-scenes exposé (in the most positive sense of the phrase): occasionally he recounts his time as a member of The Old Guard; he offers a brief yet enlightening history of Arlington itself, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the 3d Infantry Regiment from its colonial roots to its response to the attacks of 11 September 2001; and masterfully he lifts the veil on ceremonies otherwise shrouded in mystery. After outlining the selection processes for the different units that make up the regiment, he likewise is keen to describe the training required to make members of The Old Guard proficient in their various duties, which necessitates the highest devotion (and multiple tests along the way!).

Senator Cotton undoubtedly is well-placed to write this account. A lawyer by training (Harvard), he served two tours overseas, one with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq and the other with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan; his time with The Old Guard divided his two deployments. Cotton writes with a free and effortless style, making page-turning very simple; it is not impossible to finish this 300-page book in three or four good sittings. His respect and admiration for the women and men of The Old Guard and their solemn responsibilities shines through but is not overdone, nor is his work polemic. If politics does not work out for the senator, he effortlessly could start a new career as a professional writer or journalist.

Not many books, to be sure, deserve the label required reading. This one, however, does. New members of The Old Guard undoubtedly would get something out of this book. However, the regiment does an admirable job of inculcating the meaning behind concepts such as duty, honor, and respect. Military members, and especially their families, probably would find comfort in knowing that should they die in service, their remains, from the point of death through the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base to final interment at Arlington or elsewhere, would receive with reverence the “highest honors and utmost care” (291), as Cotton is at pains to describe. For members of the general public, knowing why their military does what it does can be beneficial.

Sacred Duty is an intimate and intensely emotional journey through service, death, and memory, that forces the reader to come face-to-face with the “nation’s commitment to our fallen heroes” (276). If at times difficult to read—this reviewer freely admits to getting emotional more than once—it is also instructive as it demonstrates how genuinely and lovingly a country can mourn and remember its military dead. If society sometimes balks at tradition within the 3d, perhaps more so than anywhere else, “poignant, sacred rituals” (6) are a way of life … and for good reason.