Hegseth Awards Joint Medal to Tomb Guard Who Told His Group to Be Silent at Arlington on Veterans Day

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday awarded a Joint Service Commendation Medal to the U.S. Army sentinel who garnered national attention after telling his group to keep silent at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day.

Hegseth hosted members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, at the Pentagon and “proudly awarded Specialist Iglesias the Joint Service Commendation Medal” for his duties at the Tomb, a Pentagon official told CNN.

“We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist,” Hegseth wrote on X, adding, “Carry on Patriots.” CNN’s report did not include the text of the award citation.

The medal was given hours after on-scene video outside the Tomb captured the sentinel halting his walk, facing Hegseth’s party, and calling out, “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times,” Military.com previously reported.

An audible laugh had come from the group as it left a photo session, and the footage does not establish who laughed or whether Hegseth made any noise, according to that report.

A Joint Medal for an Army Post

A Defense Department official told Military.com that Secretary Hegseth welcomed the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard, to the Pentagon “where he proudly awarded” Specialist Thomas Iglesias the Joint Service Commendation Medal for the execution of his duties at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Nov. 11.

Pentagon rules tie the decoration Hegseth chose to joint assignments, according to the Defense Department’s awards manual.

Under that manual, the Joint Service Commendation Medal goes to service members who distinguished themselves “while assigned to a JDA,” the department’s abbreviation for a joint duty activity.

Members of service-specific units “are not eligible for DoD Joint PMDs,” the manual’s abbreviation for personal military decorations, and remain eligible for awards from their own service.

The medal awardee, Iglesias, serves in the Old Guard, which is an Army regiment, according to Arlington National Cemetery.

Just below the joint medal in order of precedence sits the Army Commendation Medal, the manual shows.

Exceptions to policy are allowed. The manual says they “should be limited to those Service members who, in the opinion of the award authority, are performing joint duties.”

It also states that the medal is awarded in the name of the Secretary of Defense.

Whether an exception was approved for Iglesias is unknown since neither a citation nor award orders appear in the Pentagon’s statement to CNN.

Military.com reached out to the 3rd Infantry Regiment for comment. They deferred to the Pentagon.

What the Sentinels Are There to Do

Even before the medal, the Pentagon had backed the soldier.

Chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said Wednesday that he “correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.”

Corrections like his are routine at the Tomb, where sentinels respond to crowds two or three times a day, Staff Sgt. Chadwick Winget of the Old Guard said in a 2022 Army interview cited by CBS News.

Soldiers were first posted there in 1926 and “discouraged visitors from climbing or stepping on the Tomb,” according to Arlington National Cemetery, which says the guard became continuous in 1937. It passed to the Old Guard in 1948.

Federal cemetery regulation 32 CFR § 553.33 requires every visitor, including those at official ceremonies, to observe proper decorum, Military.com reported.

Hegseth was at the Tomb on Wednesday with his wife, Jennifer, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver, and senior adviser Tami Radabaugh, according to CNN.

His visit came one day after the House sent a resolution to impeach him to the Judiciary Committee, Breaking Defense reported.