At 12:29 today, right after Donald Trump left the Veterans Day memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery, Pete Hegseth, his wife, and the rest of his entourage walked down the steps toward the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Over the few minutes they were there, they took turns posing for pictures with each other, framing the Tomb in the background. They smiled, laughed, and appeared to be having a truly wonderful time disrespecting one of the most sacred sites in our entire country. Their behavior also caught the attention of a sentinel, a member of The Old Guard on duty guarding the Tomb, who, under strict orders to enforce the decorum required at such a sacred place, loudly admonished the entire group in a very stern voice: “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.”
That soldier did what soldiers do; they hold the line. They protect each other, and they never leave anyone behind. He was there doing his duty, standing watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which holds the remains of unidentified American service members from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. It has been guarded without exception or interruption every single day since 1937, through hurricanes, blizzards, and scorching heat. The sentinels who stand guard over their fallen brothers and sisters in arms do so with precision and care. They do not speak unless their duty requires it, including when the sanctity of that ground is violated.
Today, Pete Hegseth forced them to use their voice for that very reason. The Secretary of Defense, who has been entrusted with overseeing the entirety of the American military, stood in front of the resting place of soldiers who gave everything, including their very identities, and turned it into a photo opportunity. His wife, chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, senior adviser, and others in his entourage posed, laughed, and carried on a conversation while the sentinel stood watch just feet away. This was a group of people who should have known better than anyone else the decorum demanded of this sacred place. They either didn’t care or thought they were above the rules. Their behavior was so abhorrent that a soldier decades younger than most of them had to tell them to stop, on Veterans Day, after they had just attended a memorial service honoring the very people whose sacrifices they were there to remember.
The Pentagon’s own chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, confirmed what happened. His statement to CNN said the soldier “correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.”
The majority of us could never imagine doing anything even close to what Pete and his group did. As I tried to imagine that moment, I struggled to see any scenario where even a civilian would have behaved that way. It reminded me of so many times during my family’s travels when we came upon monuments with people smiling and taking pictures, not fully realizing they were standing beside memorials to massacres or monuments to plague victims and survivors. They were just ignorant. Pete Hegseth knew exactly what he was standing in front of.
Donald Trump, for his part, also struggled to recognize the solemnity of the day. Standing in the same cemetery as Hegseth, the President gave a Veterans Day address he could not help but make about himself and his agenda, going so far as to try to sell those in attendance his 250-foot triumphal arch, the monument he has planned that would overshadow Arlington National Cemetery, figuratively and literally. Trump told the crowd, “Soon we’re going to dedicate a magnificent triumphal arch to our veterans,” and then added, “They’ve been waiting for it for 200 years.” There is no historical record supporting that claim. The Associated Press reported today that it is simply not true.
Veterans themselves have sued to block this latest Trump monument that the National Park Service has said could have adverse effects on the surrounding memorial landscape, and the Kennedy family has filed a separate lawsuit against it because of the shadow it would cast over their family’s graves.
Today was so far removed from its original purpose. Veterans Day only exists because Dwight Eisenhower, a general who commanded the Allied forces in Europe and then became president, signed the legislation in 1954, expanding Armistice Day into something larger and more inclusive. The original holiday, Armistice Day, was dedicated to world peace and to honoring those who served in the First World War. Eisenhower renamed it Veterans Day and expanded it to honor every American who had ever served, calling on the nation to recommit to peace so that their efforts would not have been in vain. Trump wants to build a triumphal arch. Eisenhower wanted to build a lasting peace.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only act of disrespect that happened today. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives also disrespected our veterans on Veterans Day when they passed one of the largest proposed reductions to veterans’ benefits in modern American history.
This afternoon, the House passed H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, by voice vote. There was no recorded roll call, so there is no public record showing how any individual member of Congress voted on this bill. The legislation would reduce future disability compensation for veterans with tinnitus and sleep apnea, two of the most common service-connected conditions, and would increase certain VA refinancing fees. It would expand benefits for approximately 54,000 combat-injured military retirees, which has broad bipartisan support, but it pays for those expanded benefits by cutting them for other veterans.
Representative Mark Takano, the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said there was no opportunity for the minority to even request a recorded vote. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said afterward, “If nobody calls for the vote, it’s passed, which is a good thing.”
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest combat veterans organization in the country, has strongly opposed the bill, saying it asks future disabled veterans to bear the cost of expanding benefits for others. Their National Commander called the process an insult to veterans and said Congress should not balance veterans’ programs on the backs of those who will need disability compensation in the future.
Donald Trump and his Republican Party continue to honor veterans with their words and then turn around and rob them with their votes. They pose for pictures at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then walk inside the Capitol and pass a bill that cuts benefits for the next generation of wounded service members, and they do it by voice vote so that none of them have to put their name on it. This bill now goes to the Senate. Tomorrow, Democrats are expected to hold a separate House vote on their own version, one that expands benefits for combat-injured retirees without cutting them for anyone else.
Our veterans are the people who often sign up when they are barely adults, with their whole lives ahead of them, and agree to give years of their lives in service to our country, knowing they may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. They leave behind their families, friends, and everything familiar to them. They go to wars in faraway lands, sometimes in places they had never even heard of before, and miss birthdays, holidays, and the everyday moments with the people they love that the rest of us so often take for granted. Their families serve in their own way, too. They spend months and sometimes years worrying about whether their loved ones will make it home safely. Children grow up with a parent thousands of miles away. Spouses carry the weight of raising families and keeping their lives together while waiting for a phone call or a message that tells them the person they love is safe. Even when our service members finally come home, some carry the physical and emotional wounds of their service for the rest of their lives. They do all of this so that the rest of us can live our lives with freedoms and protections that we rarely stop to think about.
Today is about them. To the veterans reading this, you are the best of us. You are the patriots they talk about, the people who actually stepped forward and answered the call to serve this country. You made a commitment to defend our country and to protect the people who live here, including people you have never met and people who may never fully understand what you gave up for them. You deserve so much more than a thank-you once a year. You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect every single day. You deserve the health care, benefits, and support you were promised, without having to fight your own government to receive them. You deserve leaders who understand that your lives are not numbers on a page or statistics to be used to declare a political victory. You deserve a country that never forgets that the freedoms we enjoy came at a cost, one that you and your families were willing to bear on behalf of all of us. Thank you for your service, your courage, and the sacrifices you and your families have made. We owe you a debt that can never truly be repaid, but we can spend every day trying to honor it.
Come January, we might be able to make good on some of those promises of accountability. Just this evening, Scott Colom, a Democratic district attorney, was declared the winner of the Mississippi Senate race, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Colom will be Mississippi’s first Black United States senator since Reconstruction. His victory gives Democrats at least 55 seats in the incoming Senate, as we are still waiting for Alaska to be called. The blue wave that began on Election Day just reached Mississippi, a state Donald Trump carried by more than twenty points in 2024. The state was never forecast to flip, but it did because people showed up, and we are just getting started. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: This was my screensaver for the day today. My phone did an update, and when it turned back on, this was the picture on it. I didn’t have time to take any pictures today, so I’m glad I have this one to share. I had a doctor’s appointment today in Orange County, and because there are so many people ill with respiratory viruses, I put on a mask before I went inside. I’m always concerned about being sidelined and unable to write these posts, so I’m doing all I can not to let that happen. I was pleasantly surprised to have multiple people tell me they plan to do the same. One person even shared that they had been sure to get their updated COVID and flu vaccines, and then we started talking about the shingles vaccine and how great it is to have protection from that. We also talked about how much relief we feel knowing the new Congress might be able to bring back evidence-based medicine and get rid of RFK Jr.’s dangerous anti-science policies. Not typical elevator talk, but very thankful these are the types of things we are talking about again.
Links to sources used in writing this article:
Sentinel Yells at Group Near Secretary Hegseth for Silence & Respect; C-SPAN Video
President Trump Participates in the 2026 National Veterans Day Ceremony: YouTube Video
https://www.whio.com/news/politics/house-approves-bill/JNAOQMSQHE4QNH3ZTL23MZQNQM/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-says-towering-arch-wants-183107392.html
https://www.gpb.org/news/2026/11/11/democrat-scott-colom-wins-mississippi-senate-race
Thank you Heather. Arlington National Cemetery is this nation’s most hallowed ground.
Inscribed on the marble sarcophagus, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the back or west side are these words,
“Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God"
On the front or east side are three carved figures representing, “Peace, Victory, Valor”.
Have seen bus loads of 12 year olds standing and watching the sentinel take those precise 21 steps. The Old Guard, who are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather. Those children behaved with respect, reverence and dignity as to what they are witnessing and what the memorial means. Standing silent, could hear a pin drop. No talking, heads bowed, as to what this marble sarcophagus means…
Have witnessed school children stand near that “eternal flame” that was lit by Jacqueline Kennedy at JFK’s gravesite. Quiet and reserved, very little talking.
Respect is not only how we behave at a sacred place; it is how we treat veterans every day, including whether they can access the healthcare and support they were promised.
There’s absolutely no respect, or honor given to any military member by anyone in this administration.. whether the military personnel are alive or deceased… Karma has no menu. You get served what you deserve.
Hegseth and his group are a disgusting excuse for human beings - no class or honour amongst any of them!!! Along with a revolting President who used a solemn occasion to promote himself and grift. All of these including the Republicans who then voted to reduce Veterans benefits by a voice vote so their names couldn't be recorded should be shamed and removed from their positions.. The USA is becoming a pathetic joke in the world.