Heather Lynn Johnsen

Heather Lynn Johnsen is a former U.S. Army soldier and former member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, best known as the highly prestigious "The Old Guard" or Honor Guard Company sentinel of Company E, 4th Battalion.

Johnsen was the first female tomb guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington), a historic US monument at Arlington National Cemetery which honors the unidentified remains of three combatants from World War I, World War II and the Korean War.[1][2]

Early life

Johnsen was raised in Roseville, California and Mt. Diablo, California.[1][3]

Military service, tomb sentinel

In 1991 after graduating high school, Johnsen joined the US Army Reserves, serving as a personnel administrative specialist.[4] In 1992, Johnsen joined the U.S. Army on active duty.[5] She later served as a military police soldier in Camp Humphreys, Korea, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and Fort Myers, Florida.[1]

In 1994, the Secretary of the Army ruled that women soldiers could serve on the 24 hour/7 days a week Tomb Sentinel squad for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington), a historic US monument at Arlington National Cemetery which honors the unidentified remains of three combatants from World War I, World War II and the Korean War.[2] That same year, Johnsen joined The Old Guard. She became a military police soldier attached to Echo company honor guard, 3rd U.S. Infantry Division.[6] In June 1995, she applied for training as a tomb sentinel.

On March 22, 1996, Johnsen became the first female tomb guard.[7] [1][2] Johnsen was the first woman among the then-389 soldiers who have received the prestigious tomb guard identification badge since its creation in 1958.[1][5]

Honors
  • In 2018, the US Army Women's Hall of Fame inducted Johnsen as a member of its Hall of Fame as part of a group of four female Sentinels at the Tomb of Unknowns.[8]

References
  1. "First Woman Guards Tomb of Unknowns". scholar.lib.vt.edu. 23 March 1996.
  2. "1st Woman Guards Unknown Soldier". Greensboro News and Record. 22 March 1996.
  3. "Sgt. Heather Lynn Johnson takes up duty March 22 1996 as the first..." Getty Images.
  4. "2018 Hall Of Fame". awfdn.org.
  5. Patterson, Michael Robert (30 September 1997). "First Female Guard At The Tomb of the Unknowns: Arlington National Cemetery". arlingtoncemetery.net.
  6. "Sgt. Heather Lynn Johnson takes up duty March 22 1996 as the first..." Getty Images.
  7. "To many Americans, Memorial Day has lost its meaning". Tampa Bay Times.
  8. Army Women's Foundation. "2018 Hall Of Fame – Inductees – Female Sentinels at Tomb of Unknowns." "https://www.awfdn.org/hall-of-fame-and-special-recognition-awards/us-army-womens-hall-of-fame-inductees/2018-hall-of-fame-inductees/.
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