Brian K. Carickhoff joined the U.S. Army in 1990 and was honorably discharged in 1993. He served in the first Gulf War as an infantryman and says his time in the military has had the greatest influence on his life. Brian founded Operation Honor Guard in 2018 after reading stories of veterans across the country cleaning headstones of fallen soldiers. He had been looking for a way to make a small difference within his community and working with veterans was always a natural fit. After driving through a few local cemeteries, he was very surprised in how the headstones looked. Most were very dirty, cracked, broken, falling down, or unreadable. When comparing that to the conditions of headstones in national cemeteries, he knew that these veterans deserved better.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our cause!
Where did the name Operation Honor Guard come from?
Where did the name Operation Honor Guard come from?
The Old Guard
The Old Guard
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by Tomb Guards. These soldiers are considered to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (referred to as the The Old Guard). For them, presiding over America’s fallen is a duty they are dedicated to carrying out to honor those who served.
Military Operations​
Military Operations​
The United States military considers an operation as "the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state’s favor".
It seemed fitting that our mission to address a developing problem was considered an Operation. Recent operations include Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Grave Guard
Grave Guard
Like the soldiers guarding the Tombs of the Unknown, we do not know who is buried in the graves we restore and we do it for no reason other than to help make a difference. We decided on graveguard.org because we felt it got right to the point of preserving, guarding and watching over the graves of the fallen.