Every day, 24 hours a day, since the 1930s, the sentries of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary (badgeholders, as they are called) have honored their command to protect and defend that tomb. Regardless of circumstances, they have been ordered to hold their watch, and never abandon their post. Yet, on September 19, 2003, as Hurricane Isabel barraged the Nation's Capital with driving rain and nearly 100mph winds, the sentitels charged with guarding that sacred space were granted permission, for the first time in its history, to stand down to seek shelter.Yet that was not a permission they were willing to act on. NBC news reported at that time:

“They told us that. But that’s not what’s going to happen,” said Sgt. Christopher Holmes, standing vigil on overnight duty. “That’s never an option for us. It went in one ear and right out the other.” ...

With the fierce storm bearing down Thursday night, cemetery officials decided to let the guards move indoors if they felt they were in danger. Cemetery Superintendent John Metzler said he believed it was the first time they have been allowed to do so.

“We certainly didn’t want to put these guards in jeopardy unnecessarily,” Metzler said. ...

Holmes’ group was on duty for 24 hours, from 6 a.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday. They took turns patrolling the tomb in hourly shifts. ...

“Once you become a badgeholder, it’s like you’ll do whatever you have to do to guard the unknowns,” [Staff Sgt. Alfred] Lanier said. “For one, it’s my job. And for two, that’s just how much respect I myself have for the unknowns. That’s just something we cherish.”

Famed Christian author and speaker, Dennis Rainey, had this to add:

In 2003, Hurricane Isabel slammed into the East Coast of the United States, lashing North Carolina and Virginia, then moving northward all the way to Canada, leaving 16 dead and cutting power to six million homes. The edges of the hurricane passed through Washington, D.C., prompting the president and members of Congress to find safer quarters.

That was not the case at Arlington National Cemetery, where guards have relentlessly stood vigil at the Tomb of the Unknowns every hour of every day since July 1, 1937. When the hurricane hit, the soldiers remained at their posts even though they were given permission to seek shelter.

That’s what a soldier does. He acknowledges the storm, but he doesn’t give in to it. He stands firm. As a friend told me, 'If these men can stand guard over the dead, how much more important is it that I stand guard over the living—my wife and children?'

Like these soldiers, we are called to stand and do our duty while staring down the very storms that seek to rob us of courage, taunting and tempting us to neglect our duty and abandon our posts. ...

Many have seen the 2016 historical movie, Hacksaw Ridge. It tells the story of Private Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist pacifist, who found a way to answer the call to serve in WWII without ever carrying a gun. Believing in the sanctity of human life, and committed to the victory of the allied forces, Desmond enlisted to play his part in the war against the evil Axis powers as a battlefield medic.

He suffered much abuse for his stand of faith, but he stuck to his guns (excuse the pun). He went to the front lines without a gun, and entered into one of the worst fights the Allied Army faced in the Battle of Okinawa. The Allied Army had to withdraw in the first engagement, having faced a strong enemy, and suffered multiple casualties.

As night fell and darkness covered the area, Private Doss stayed on the battlefield while Japanese soldiers roamed through the carnage, shooting wounded survivors. Doss crawled around looking for these survivors and one by one dragged them off that mountain, and let them down the side of the cliff, ultimately saving 75 soldiers who would have otherwise died horrible deaths!

As he crawled around he prayed, Lord, give me one more, just one more. And if that wasn’t enough, Doss suffered a left arm fracture from a sniper's bullet while being carried back to Allied lines, and at one point had seventeen pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body after attempting to kick a grenade away from himself and his comrades. 

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Okinawa.

*Actual photo of Doss receiving his medal of honor from President Harry Truman, October 12, 1945.

Marcel Marceau, the famed French entertainer of the early 20th century, was best known for his pantomime, bringing his silent character, Bip the Clown, to stages around the world for over 6 decades. He referred to his miming as “the art of silence.”

Few, however, know him for his heroism during the Nazi occupation of France. 

Recruited to help the French Resistance by his cousin, Georges Loinger, he became part of the ultra-secret unit called the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (Children's Relief Work), a Jewish relief group that smuggled Jewish children from occupied France to neutral countries. Their mission was to evacuate Jewish children who had been hiding in a French orphanage and get them to the Swiss border.

“But traveling with large groups of children was anything but easy. Marceau had a secret weapon: His training as a mime,” reports History.lcom. 

“The kids loved Marcel and felt safe with him,” his cousin, Loinger reminesced to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. “He had already begun doing performances in the orphanage …  The kids had to appear like they were simply going on vacation to a home near the Swiss border, and Marcel really put them at ease.” … 

"He mimed “to keep children quiet as they were escaping,” remembered another. 

At times, he posed as a Boy Scout leader taking groups of boys on nature outings (which just happened to find them hiking near the Swiss border!). On one occasion, he was confronted by German troops, at which time he tapped into his acting talents, pretended to be a French Army commander, and demanded that the German troops surrender to him immediately. And they did! All 30 of them!

In all, Marceau rescued over 70 children, while his cousin Loinger rescued more than 350.

He could not, however, save his own father, who was executed while imprisoned at Auschwitz.