Don’t know if this is the proper place to ask this, but this question seems pretty mundane and pointless…
During Bush’s D-Day speech this morning, did anyone notice one of the guards behind him (Over his right shoulder, left side of the screen) pass out about 10 minutes before the end of his speech?
Did anyone catch what nationality and branch of service this person was?
I can´t stand Bush´s speeches, but I don´t think they are that bad. 
People who are standing at attention for long periods are prone to passing out if they don’t do it properly. The trick is to stand at attention in as relaxed a manner as possible without getting bawled out for not bein ‘at attention.’
I always found that scrunching my toes helped. Did the guard do a face plant?
Roll your toes, starting at the right pinkie toe and ending at the left pinkie toe. Repeat. It’s pretty hipnotic, but it causes a slight sway if your not careful.
Don’t lock your knees, either. I used to be my mother’s dress-hemline mannequin, and after standing on a stool at “attention” for a mere 20 minutes, I fainted.
Re: the OP, I’m sorry I missed it. Usually Presidential speeches are so damn boring I yearn for some kind of excitement, particularly when they bump a decent prime-time TV show.
Kudos to you for being the bored eagle-eyed American who watched the rest of the screen.
How about that poor kid at the Nat’n Spelling Bee? He looked like he just saw Jesus shoot Santa Claus.
Eagle-eyed Canadian, actually. Truthfully, I was only watching because my hot-air balloon launch was cancelled this morning, and that was what was on the TV when I turned it on. (It only stayed only because one of the first things I heard Bush say was about Canadians there too… Personally, I detest the man, but that’s not relevent)
I spent a number of years in the Air Cadets, and habitually watch the people in formation, to make sure they’re not moving or looking around… or about to pass out…
Anyway… The person was fourth from the left, and I can’t find any pictures of the event before the fainting… Or even from Bush’s front. Can anyone find one?
Y’know, the guard doubtless knows that passing out isn’t unheard of and decided he had enough and took the easy way out.
It has been known to happen. The Queen’s Birthday Parade has become notorious for this sort of thing. The give away is if the young soldier goes in face first (legitimate) or turns his head at the last moment or goes to his knees first (malingering). Throwing up afterwards helps convince skeptical sergeants that it is a legit sunstroke.
Don’t lock the knees helps stave it off. So does getting a good drink of water before the thing starts. My people were always told that rather than embarrass themselves and the unit they should about face, march off and go sit down in the shade. I did not want my people fainting in formation for the entertainment of the press.
A five o’clock parade at Fort Benning in August can be dangerous.
If the guard did faint, he will probably end up on letterman on Monday.
I suppose the guard was from the 4th Infantry at Fort Meyers which is the outfit that does all of the ceremonial stuff around DC. I’m sure the noncoms there are thoroughy familiar with the phenomenon and know faking when they see it.
And it is common. When I was in pre-flight at Santa Ana, CA we had a big review every Saturday morning before the let us off for the weekend. We were relatively new at the game and lots of guys forgot that you shouldn’t stand at attention too rigidly for too long and bingo …
OOPS! 3rd Infantry, not 4th.
But I was only off by one number, cut me a little slack here.