[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2049-S2050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             The Old Guard

  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, last Friday marked the 70th anniversary of 
the 3rd Infantry Regiment's reactivation, and as one of its veterans, I 
didn't want to let the moment pass without notice.
  The 3rd Infantry Regiment, more commonly known as the Old Guard, 
serves across the Potomac River at Arlington National Cemetery. Most 
here and most in the Gallery have probably visited the cemetery and 
seen Old Guard soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns or conducting 
funerals. Arkansans who visit me here in the Capitol consistently tell 
me that Arlington is a highlight of their trip. That is not surprising 
to me, because Old Guard soldiers set the standard for their 
dedication, their diligence, and their devotion. The 3rd Infantry is 
the Nation's oldest Active-Duty infantry unit, and yet the reverence we 
feel for them goes beyond their mere length of service and to what they 
represent: the dignity of freedom.
  On April 6, 1948, the 3rd Infantry was reactivated on orders of the 
Secretary of the Army. The ceremony was held just a few steps from 
here, on the East Plaza of the Capitol. Then, the Old Guard immediately 
conducted another ceremony to present the Flag of Liberation to the 
President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. That 
flag had flown over this very Capitol on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 
1941. Then, those forces raised that flag over Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo 
after we had defeated the Axis powers. Finally, the Old Guard led the 
large Army Day parade from the Capitol down Constitution Avenue, where

[[Page S2050]]

President Truman sat in the reviewing stand at the Ellipse.
  That is not bad for their first day back with the regimental colors. 
It had been only 18 months since the regiment, serving with the 106th 
Division as an occupation force in Berlin, was caught up in the rushed 
demobilizations at the end of World War II. But the Army needed an 
official ceremonial unit in the Nation's Capital, as well as the 
contingency force as tension built up between the United States and the 
Soviet Union. So the Army called the 3rd Infantry back into service at 
Fort Myer, right next to Arlington, and restored ``the history formerly 
belonging'' to the legendary regiment. That was due, in no small part, 
to the regiment's reputation for professionalism, present from its very 
beginning.
  The 3rd Infantry was stood up in 1784, when the Continental Congress 
created the ``First American Regiment.'' The War for Independence had 
convinced Congress that, whatever its fear of standing armies, the 
country needed at least a small professional fighting force to defend 
it. So the 3rd Infantry started as the lone professional regiment in 
the early days of our Republic, when our common defense was organized 
mostly around State militias. To this day, its members continue to 
display that professionalism by holding themselves to the most exacting 
standards as the Army's highest profile unit and the official escort to 
the President.
  But the 3rd Infantry's professionalism also had a serious purpose: to 
defend America. So faithfully has the regiment served the American 
people that its history and the Nation's history are thoroughly 
intertwined.
  First, it served at posts along the frontier, where it protected 
American settlements against Indian attacks under the leadership of 
General ``Mad'' Anthony Wayne, and it fought the British Imperial Army 
to a standstill during the War of 1812. Today, members of the regiment 
wear a buff strap on their left shoulders to commemorate that 18th 
century heritage.
  After the war, peacetime demobilization and reorganization gave the 
regiment its current name, the 3rd Infantry. Then, during the Mexican 
War, the 3rd Infantry distinguished itself with bravery, skill, and 
stamina at every major battle of the war, in places like Palo Alto, 
Monterrey, and Vera Cruz. Its famed bayonet charge at the Battle of 
Cerro Gordo is what persuaded the War Department in 1922 to authorize 
the 3rd Infantry to march with bayonets fixed to their rifles--a 
privilege still reserved solely to that regiment in the entire U.S. 
Army. It was because of the 3rd Infantry's valor that General Winfield 
Scott, the commanding general of the Vera Cruz campaign, granted it the 
honor of leading the victorious march into Mexico City, during which he 
turned to his staff as the 3rd Infantry passed in review, and said: 
``Gentlemen, take off your hats to the Old Guard of the Army.'' Ever 
since, the name has stuck.
  After the Mexican War came the Civil War, which divided not only our 
Nation but also our Army. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, who both 
fought alongside the Old Guard in Mexico, now faced off against each 
other. The 3rd Infantry fought every major battle in the war's first 2 
years: First Bull Run, Second Bull Run, the Seven Days Battles, 
Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and, finally, Gettysburg. 
Suffering casualties that exceeded its original strength, the Old Guard 
ended the war at the Union's mobile headquarters, standing alongside 
General Grant at the Appomattox courthouse as he accepted General Lee's 
surrender.
  In the days that followed, the vast majority of State volunteers 
returned home to their families--not the Old Guard. The ``regulars,'' 
as they were known back then, went straight back to the front, again 
protecting settlers from Indian raids across the western frontier. They 
defeated Spanish forces in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. They 
fought rebel insurgents in the Philippines and then returned to fight 
Muslim insurgents there, too, in some of the same places where the 
Islamic State is present today.
  They guarded our border with Mexico during World War I. They helped 
to get the lend-lease program going in the early days of World War II, 
before deploying to Europe itself. But it was after the Old Guard's 
reactivation that it assumed the duties for which it is rightly famous 
today: performing ceremonies and military honor funerals.
  For its first 162 years, the Old Guard defended America's frontiers 
and fought its wars, both at home and abroad. Now these new 
responsibilities have defined the Old Guard's mission for the last 70 
years. The size and structure of the regiment has evolved, just as 
Arlington National Cemetery itself has grown. The Old Guard's 
prominence has increased, as it has participated in major 
internationally televised events, such as the ceremony to inter the 
unknown soldiers from World War II and the Korean war in 1958 and the 
state funeral for President Kennedy in 1963. But the essence of the 
mission has not changed since 1948.
  It is this history, this reliability, this steady, sober leadership 
that the Old Guard has become known for. Their skill and proficiency, 
their care and attention to detail, their faithfulness and discipline--
all of them--set the highest of standards of military conduct and 
character. Our fellow Americans see all that whenever they visit 
Arlington. They can imagine it on the battlefield. Then, they have 
little wonder why our soldiers accomplish such amazing feats of valor. 
That is why the Old Guard is held in such reverence, and that is why it 
is fitting to mark this important anniversary.
  The Old Guard represents the best of our country, but also the best 
in ourselves. Freedom isn't free. It requires self-sacrifice and self-
discipline. That is what makes it a noble and, therefore, a fulfilling 
way of life. For reminding us of that dignity--the dignity that comes 
with being a free people--the men and women of the Old Guard deserve 
our deepest thanks.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip is recognized.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without object, it is so ordered.