The California National Guard will join state and community leaders in recognizing the National Guard’s 375th birthday at 2 , Tuesday, in the state Capitol’s rotunda. The program will recognize the past and present role of the National Guard in ensuring the security of our state and nation. The National Guard traces its lineage to 17th-century New England militias, making it the oldest component of the Armed Forces and one of the oldest military organizations in the world. It was these same citizen-soldiers who later joined the other colonial militias under Gen. George Washington
The California National Guard will join state and community leaders in recognizing the National Guard’s 375th birthday at 2 , Tuesday, in the state Capitol’s rotunda. The program will recognize the past and present role of the National Guard in ensuring the security of our state and nation. The National Guard traces its lineage to 17th-century New England militias, making it the oldest component of the Armed Forces and one of the oldest military organizations in the world. It was these same citizen-soldiers who later joined the other colonial militias under Gen. George Washington in winning the Revolutionary War and securing the birth of our nation. “The National Guard has played a major role in every armed conflict since the Revolutionary War,” said Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin, Adjutant General for the California National Guard. “In addition to responding to natural disasters and civic unrest at home, our troops have time and again answered our nation’s call to arms.” Tuesday’s ceremony will feature brief comments by National Guard leaders and combat veterans, as well as the traditional cutting of the birthday cake by military and civic leaders. The media is invited to attend. The National Guard has been at the forefront of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and since the attacks on 9/11, the National Guard has mobilized more than 650,000 service members in support of operations overseas. Today, more than half of all National Guardsmen are combat veterans, with Californians having participated in a significant number of those combat missions. “Our state’s Guardsmen have deployed overseas more than 28,000 times since the World Trade Center attacks, and 29 of our soldiers gave their lives while fighting terrorism,” said Maj. Gen. Baldwin. “This speaks volumes to the ongoing commitment to service and sacrifice that characterizes the California National Guard.”
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