An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity. Only those persons who are highly motivated and maintain exceptionally high standards of appearance and conduct and show aptitude for ceremonial duty are likely to be considered.

A primary role for honor guards in the United States and some other countries is to provide funeral honors for fallen comrades and to guard national monuments. An honor guard may also serve as the "guardians of the colors" by displaying and escorting the national flag on ceremonial occasions at official state functions. Finally, honor guards usually provide detachments for review by visiting heads of state. Honor guards also serve in the civilian world for fallen police officers and other civil servants. Persons serving in this capacity may or may not be designated, meaning they may not be assigned to serve each and every time there is a funeral in their jurisdiction.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the remains of an unidentified soldier are interred, dedicated to the common memories of all soldiers killed in any war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified. Following the First World War, a movement arose to commemorate these soldiers with a single tomb, containing the body of one such unidentified soldier.

During the First World War, the British and French armies jointly decided to bury soldiers themselves in the form normally associated with religion.^[vague] In Britain, under the Imperial War Graves Commission, Reverend David Railton had seen a grave marked by a rough cross while serving in the British Army as a chaplain on the Western Front, which bore the pencil-written legend "An Unknown British Soldier". He suggested (together with the French in their own country) the creation at a national level of a symbolic funeral and burial of an "Unknown Warrior", proposing that the grave should in Britain include a national monument in the form of what is usually, but not in this particular case, a headstone. The idea received the support of the Dean of Westminster and later from King George V, responding to a wave of public support.^{[citation needed]} At the same time, there was a similar undertaking in France, where the idea was debated and agreed upon in Parliament.

Willard Young (April 30, 1852–Jul. 25, 1936) was a prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who served for many years in the United States military, and later held high positions within the LDS Church's administration. He also served as an educational leader.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Young was the son of Brigham Young and Clarissa Ross Young. His mother died when he was six, and after this Zina D. H. Young acted as his mother. Young is at times described as Zina's "foster son".

In 1860, Young was baptized a member of the LDS Church by James Works.

In 1871, Young began as a cadet at West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1875 and was appointed a second lieutenant with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. From 1875 to 1877 he was stationed at Willets Point, New York. From 1877 to 1879 he worked under Lieutenant Wheeler in the geographical survey in of the United States west of the 100th meridian.

From 1879 to 1883 Young was an instructor and then a professor at West Point.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar ( pronunciation (help·info); born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. Tendulkar was a part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team in the later part of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances for India. He is currently nominated for receiving the Bharat Ratna award.