JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT, Va. - The Virginia National Guard traces the heritage and traditions of Citizen-Soldier service to the founding of the Jamestown colony more than 400 years ago when Capt. John Smith organized a militia to defend the colony.
Since the colony's founding May 14, 1607, there has not been a day since without a military presence in Virginia to defend freedom at home and overseas.
"I can't think of a more appropriate place to recognize centuries of military service in Virginia than at Jamestown Settlement," said Brig. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the adjutant general of Virginia. "We appreciate the hospitality of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and helping us reflect on the roots of the Virginia National Guard and the importance of the spirit of selfless service that began near here at Jamestown and lives on in our currently serving Citizen Soldiers and Citizen Airmen. Just as Capt. John Smith organized a militia to defend the colony more than 400 years ago, today's Virginia National Guard continues that heritage by being prepared to answer the call of the Governor to defend our homeland as well as providing a combat reserve for conflicts all over the world. I'm extremely proud of what our National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, as well as the families, employers and state and federal civilian employees who support them, have done and continue to do to respond here in our Commonwealth and defend our nation."
Williams, Command Sgt. Maj. Alan P. Ferris, Virginia National Guard Senior Enlisted Advisor, and Phillip Emerson, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, cut the cake and were joined by DelegateT. MontgomeryMason of Virginia's93rd district, Homer Lanier, Interpretive Program Manager, Peter Armstrong, Senior Director of Museum Operations and Education, and Historical Interpreters Brian Beckley and Jay Templin.
"We are delighted to host the Virginia National Guard to mark this special occasion for its birthday celebration today, which also marks the 408th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1607," Armstrong said. "Throughout the years, we have enjoyed sharing the Jamestown connection and legacy of the Virginia National Guard with the public during educational events and programs, and we look forward to our future partnership."
Jamestown Settlement is a living-history museum of 17th-century Virginia administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Prior to 1652, formal military organizations were formed as needed and disbanded after the threat passed, and then the House of Burgesses passed a bill that each county would organize militia companies into a regiment. The oldest continuous service regiment in the Virginia National Guard is the 116th Infantry, dating from 1742. The 1st Virginia Regiment was raised July 17, 1775, in Williamsburg as a state militia unit and later for service with the Continental Army, and its lineage lives on today in the Petersburg-based 276th Engineer Battalion.
National Guard Bureau states on their web site that the official birth date of the Army National Guard as a reserve component of the Army is December 13, 1636. On this date, the Massachusetts colonial legislature directed that the colony's existing militia companies be organized into three regiments. This date is recognized based upon the Department of Defense's practice of adopting the dates of initial authorizing legislation for organized units as the birthdates of the active and reserve components of the armed services.
According to its website. the Florida National Guard celebrates the first-known muster of Citizen-Soldiers in the continental U.S. during a celebration in St. Augustine, Florida. The "first muster" took place on Sept. 16, 1565, when Pedro Menendez de Aviles gathered around him the Soldiers of his small Spanish army, as well as the civilian settlers who had accompanied him to the newly established presidio town of St. Augustine. Because his plan called for the use of the majority of his regular Soldiers, Menendez drew upon Spanish laws governing the milicia, or militia, in an imperial province. As both the civil governor and the commander-in-chief of the military establishment, he had the authority to call all free male settlers in the presidio province to active service.
Virginia National Guard service dates back to the American Revolution through the American Civil War to World War I and II. The 29th Infantry Division saw service in World War I, and Soldiers of the 116th Infantry spearheaded an attack in October 1918 during what was known as the Meuse Argonne Offensive. During this attack, Sgt. Earle Gregory of the 116th Infantry earned the Medal of Honor, the first Virginia Guard member to receive the award.
During World War II, Soldiers from the 29th took part in the massive invasion of Normandy, France, that began the morning of June 6, 1944, to be known forever as "D-Day." More than 800 members of the 116th Infantry were killed, wounded or missing during the assault on Omaha Beach, but their courage and bravery helped create a foothold that allowed follow on forces to continue the assault. Two days after D-Day, Tech. Sgt. Frank Peregory of Company K, 116th Infantry from Charlottesville, became the second Virginia Guardsman to earn the Medal of Honor when he single-handedly killed or captured 30 enemy soldiers defending a trench line.
More recently, Virginia Guard Soldiers and Airmen served during Operation Desert Storm, and since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, more than 15,000 Virginia Guard Soldiers and Airmen have served on federal active duty in support of Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. Soldiers and Airmen helped maintain security in the United States and further the cause of freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Ten Virginia Soldiers have lost their lives to hostile enemy contact during the Global War on Terror.
In the last 14 years, more than 7,300 Virginia Guard Soldiers and Airmen have responded to numerous floods, hurricanes, snow storms and other natural disasters to support state and local authorities provide assistance to citizens of the Commonwealth as well as citizens in neighboring states in their time of need.