Brothers Asked to Guard Tombs

HOUSTON - A couple of brothers from the Houston area have made history. They achieved a military first.

Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Brisiel, 27, is tomb guard number 560. His little brother Army Specialist Mathew Brisiel is tomb guard number 578.

Does that mean anything to you? Let me explain.

Only the best of the best soldiers are chosen to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Since the 1930's there have only been 578 soldiers chosen to do the honors.

That 578th soldier was just named on Friday. That soldier is Army Specialist Mathew Brisiel from Spring. "I am on top of the world" says Brisiel. This is the first time ever two brothers have been selected to serve on this elite squad.

"There's been two brothers to go through training but one brother didn't make it through training. Only about one out of every ten soldiers makes it through the training," says Brisiel.

He's home on a two week leave. His brother is still in Virginia.

The two are very close and now joke about being blood brothers and in an elite brotherhood together. One way to make it into that brotherhood is to make it through vigorous training.

Some of the things you have to learn include what's called Plaza Presence.

Soldiers who make it into this exceptional honor guard must not smile or show emotion while on the Plaza guarding the tomb. They also must master the art of getting dressed in full uniform within three minutes.

Specialist Brisiel remembers his first changing of the guard ceremony.

"There were about 3,000 people out there," says Brisiel. He admits he was nervous.

He watched his hat shake like a leaf.

"I thought it was going to shake right off my head" says Brisiel.

The 24 year old says his inspiration to keep going through training was his Dad. His father died of cancer in 2003.

"I just thought of him and said he went through much worse and if I have an opportunity to do something this honorable and represent the Brisiel name that he gave us, i would love to do that for him," says Brisiel.

Typically tomb guards are 5'11" to 6'4" tall. Brisiel is 6'7". The U.S. Army really wanted this exceptional soldier for this exceptional group. So the Army made an exception.