Busting Historical Myths with Professor Buzzkill
7 years ago

We are excited to announce that Lifetime Member Dennis McMahon (TGIB #320), was recently the interview subject of "Professor Buzzkill". Professor Buzzkill is a blog and podcast that explores history myths in an illuminating, entertaining, and humorous way. The show has debunked everything from Sherman's march to the sea and Abner Doubleday inventing baseball to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Rosa Parks. After stumbling across the podcast on Twitter and enjoying a few episodes, we sent the Professor an idea to debunk the infamous Tomb Guard email forward. And the rest is, as they say... history.
As the professor would say, the podcasts:
"...seek to 'debunk' historical myths. A history myth is a story about the past which isn’t true, nevertheless, gets lots of attention. Many people believe what they hear without thinking critically about it, or checking to see whether it’s true. That’s how urban legends start — you know, the ones like Mikey from the Life Cereal commercials died while eating PopRocks and at the same time as drinking Coke. A history myth is just an urban myth about days gone by. Serious historians, however, are careful about saying categorically that something is 'true' or 'not true.' In fact, rather than saying something 'happened' or 'is true,' most historians prefer to say, 'there is good evidence for that.' And rather than saying something 'didn’t happen,' they prefer to say 'there is no good evidence for that.'”
Professor Buzzkill sometimes goes by the alias Joseph Coohill, and is a historian of modern Britain and Ireland. He has a doctorate in modern history from Oxford and an MA in history from the University of Melbourne and a BA from Humboldt State University in California. He is the author of Ideas of the Liberal Party and Ireland: a Short History (4 editions), as well as many articles and internet pieces on history.
This podcast will be released on November 10th, to coincide with Veterans Day. You can visit http://professorbuzzkill.com/ or find the podcast on iTunes here. We hope that you enjoy the podcast and have a great Veterans Day reflecting on the World War I Unknown interment 94 years ago.
Latest News
Yellow Rose Bouquets & Wreaths in Commemoration of the End of the Vietnam War Circular Letter
Posted January 17, 2023 in Special ReportFlowers can speak for us when we struggle to express our feelings in words. One of the more moving experiences as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is witnessing how flowers expressed the...
"Sentinel" | Now Streaming on Amazon
Posted December 13, 2022My recent documentary, “Sentinel: Inside the Sacred Duty”, has officially released sooner than expected and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video! It can be seen in the US and UK, and DVDs are...
Sentinel: Inside the Sacred Duty Showing
Posted December 3, 2022Sentinel Documentary: Showing in San Francisco! The documentary "Sentinel: Inside the Sacred Duty" was officially selected to screen on December 10, 2022, at the San Francisco Veterans Film Festival....
Support the Society
The Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (SHGTUS) is able to provide our programs, events, assistance, scholarships, and services due to the generosity of its members, organizations, and individuals. SHGTUS does not receive institutional funding. Note: The Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your contributions may be fully tax deductible.
Learn More
Did you know?
Are the shoes specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet?
The shoes are standard issue military dress shoes. They are built up so the sole and heel are equal in height. This allows the Sentinel to stand with a straight back and perpendicular to the ground. A side effect of this is that the Sentinel can "roll" on the outside of the build up walking down the mat. Done correctly, the hat and bayonet will appear to not "bob" up and down with each step. It gives a more formal, fluid and smooth look to the walk, rather than a "marching" appearance.
The soles have a steel tip on the toe and a "horseshoe" steel plate on the heel. This prevents wear on the sole and allows the Sentinel to move smoothly during his movements when he turns to face the Tomb and then back down the mat.
Then there is the "clicker". It is a shank of steel attached to the inside of the face of the heel build-up on each shoe. It allows the Sentinel to heel click during certain movements. A guard change is considered great when all the heel clicks fall together and sound as one click. The guard change is occasionally done in the "silent" mode (as a sign of devotion to the Unknowns) with no voice commands - every thing is done in relation to the heel clicks and on specific counts.