Guard of honor: Local man served as sentinel at Tomb of Unknown Soldier

Brian Murphy, middle, participates in a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It takes a rare breed to make it to The Old Guard — and to stay.

Brian Murphy is one who did and spent a year guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

The guards are members of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, better known as The Old Guard, formed in 1784.

Murphy, now 42, was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio but grew up in Harriman. After graduating from Roane County High School in 1989, Murphy decided to join the Army, where he set out to be an Airborne Ranger.

While he was in Ranger school at Fort Benning, Ga., he was recruited for the 3rd Infantry.

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