About a year ago I began working on a long-term project focusing on the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment "Old Guard." The Old Guard is based at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. and conducts funeral missions inside Arlington National Cemetery. Whenever I had a rare morning or afternoon off I would try and get over to Fort Myer to shoot. This project hit close to home as this same unit conducted the burial service for my cousin, Pfc. David H. Sharrett in January of 2008.

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment "Old Guard" gather in a parking lot on Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. before conducting funerals for fallen soldiers and veterans in Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times)