Happy Birthday, National Guard

[Subdeacon Joe]

Happy birthday, The National Guard!

For 384 years, Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have been answering the call to protect and aid their communities. 

Learn more about the National Guard's birthday at, https://www.nationalguard.mil/Features/2020/384th-Birthday/

#Guard384 #OKGuard

 

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Hard to have a National Guard before you're a nation. ;)

 

[twelve mile REB]

1 hour ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Hard to have a National Guard before you're a nation.

 

Yes it is but thank God we had some very brave men that stood, fought and died before we were a Nation.  It is to them we owe our freedom regardless of the name.      

[DocWard]

2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Hard to have a National Guard before you're a nation.

 

 

I agree, but being retired from the National Guard, it is hard to not say, "yeah, I'll take it."

[Utah Bob #35998]

1 hour ago, DocWard said:

 

I agree, but being retired from the National Guard, it is hard to not say, "yeah, I'll take it."

I have always maintained that they were a Colony Guard, not a National Guard. My NG friends have always disagreed.  

[DocWard]

13 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

I have always maintained that they were a Colony Guard, not a National Guard. My NG friends have always disagreed.  

 

The way I see it, for a National Guard, you need a Nation. I understand the argument of "lineage" though.

 

The other problem I have is that those first units formed were militias, and by accepting that the National Guard stems from them, we are accepting the notion that the National Guard is, by definition, the militia. This plays into the hands of the anti 2A crowd who argue that the clause "a well regulated militia" means the military, and that the Second Amendment thus only applies to those serving. Never mind that every state I'm aware of, along with the Federal government, references able bodied citizens of a certain age being "the militia."

 

Reasonable minds can certainly quibble some, but, historically, the "militia," , was seen as a fighting force to protect their own home area, whether colony or state. This was true even going back to our English forebears. While some refer to the militias serving in the Civil War and elsewhere, those were, in truth, volunteers knowing they were going off to fight in a larger war. I say that with due regard for the lineage of the artillery unit I spent the majority of my career in. In my opinion, when National Guard units became subject to federalization and started fighting overseas in WWI, they certainly ceased being militias in the traditional sense of the term.

So, like I said, I'll take it, because it makes my chosen force the oldest. Especially if someone is buying me a beer. But really...