1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:17,740 --> 00:00:20,560 the pylons , uh , as they call them , 3 00:00:20,570 --> 00:00:22,681 they actually welcome guests into the 4 00:00:22,681 --> 00:00:25,110 museum . Um , they start outside and 5 00:00:25,110 --> 00:00:27,970 these are etches of soldiers . There's 6 00:00:27,970 --> 00:00:30,460 a panel below it that tells their story . 7 00:00:30,470 --> 00:00:33,340 When you read it , you , you can , you 8 00:00:33,340 --> 00:00:35,650 can internalize it and , and it , it , 9 00:00:36,140 --> 00:00:38,430 it speaks to you . So visiting the 10 00:00:38,430 --> 00:00:40,486 National Museum of the United States 11 00:00:40,486 --> 00:00:42,486 Army at Fort Belvoir helped kind of 12 00:00:42,486 --> 00:00:44,708 show how the National Guard is is a big 13 00:00:44,708 --> 00:00:46,708 part of the overall story . All the 14 00:00:46,708 --> 00:00:48,930 pieces that we play in the , in the big 15 00:00:48,930 --> 00:00:51,097 army picture and each display you walk 16 00:00:51,097 --> 00:00:53,263 through if you're looking for it , you 17 00:00:53,263 --> 00:00:55,374 can see the National Guard was a part 18 00:00:55,374 --> 00:00:57,430 of that . One of the things that the 19 00:00:57,430 --> 00:00:59,850 museum does show is how those who have 20 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:03,670 worn the uniform legitimately have a 21 00:01:03,670 --> 00:01:06,190 love for freedom and wanting that 22 00:01:06,190 --> 00:01:08,370 freedom and wanting to secure freedom 23 00:01:08,370 --> 00:01:10,370 for , for the citizens of our great 24 00:01:10,370 --> 00:01:12,820 country . So as we walked past the 25 00:01:12,820 --> 00:01:14,764 Medal of Honor recipients that are 26 00:01:14,764 --> 00:01:16,876 displayed on the pylons , you can see 27 00:01:16,876 --> 00:01:18,709 uh , you know , First Lieutenant 28 00:01:18,709 --> 00:01:20,764 Charles Tanner of the First Delaware 29 00:01:20,764 --> 00:01:22,931 Infantry who earned his Medal of Honor 30 00:01:22,931 --> 00:01:24,931 at the Battle of Antietam . And you 31 00:01:24,931 --> 00:01:24,860 know , his unit today is still part of 32 00:01:24,860 --> 00:01:27,450 the Delaware Guard as a 1 98 signal 33 00:01:27,450 --> 00:01:29,617 battalion . And there's little symbols 34 00:01:29,617 --> 00:01:31,672 throughout the displays that kind of 35 00:01:31,672 --> 00:01:33,672 show you that , you know , it's not 36 00:01:33,672 --> 00:01:35,783 just Iraq and Afghanistan where we've 37 00:01:35,783 --> 00:01:37,950 been a big piece of the army's story . 38 00:01:37,950 --> 00:01:40,061 Um , but you know , going all the way 39 00:01:40,061 --> 00:01:42,172 back to the start of the museum at 17 40 00:01:42,172 --> 00:01:44,283 75 the the early militia units , uh , 41 00:01:44,283 --> 00:01:46,339 you know , that that had been around 42 00:01:46,339 --> 00:01:48,394 since 16 36 in some cases , that had 43 00:01:48,394 --> 00:01:50,617 been part of the early formation of the 44 00:01:50,617 --> 00:01:52,728 Continental Army in the early battles 45 00:01:52,728 --> 00:01:54,672 at places like Lexington concord , 46 00:01:54,672 --> 00:01:56,839 Trenton and Princeton . So you could , 47 00:01:56,839 --> 00:01:59,006 you could go through these stories and 48 00:01:59,006 --> 00:02:01,061 you could see that , you know , as a 49 00:02:01,061 --> 00:02:03,117 component were embedded were part of 50 00:02:03,117 --> 00:02:05,172 that , that overall army tradition . 51 00:02:05,172 --> 00:02:07,006 And it's told from the soldier's 52 00:02:07,006 --> 00:02:09,061 viewpoint . Um , so it's telling the 53 00:02:09,061 --> 00:02:11,283 story of the soldier , not the story of 54 00:02:11,283 --> 00:02:14,130 the army . Um , so that , that means 55 00:02:14,130 --> 00:02:16,241 something , you know , you can very , 56 00:02:16,241 --> 00:02:19,200 you can personalize it and really take 57 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,640 that in . I remember reading several 58 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:24,940 books and one of the books was called 59 00:02:24,940 --> 00:02:28,080 about face , it's by a guy who's , who 60 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,210 was a retired Colonel , David Hackworth , 61 00:02:31,220 --> 00:02:35,160 but he talked about the nuclear 62 00:02:35,170 --> 00:02:38,950 mortar around that that they 63 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,920 worked with briefly during his time in 64 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,420 the military and they had a copy of it . 65 00:02:44,420 --> 00:02:46,364 I mean , obviously I didn't have a 66 00:02:46,364 --> 00:02:48,587 nuclear uh , mortar round sitting there 67 00:02:48,587 --> 00:02:50,364 in the museum . But I've always 68 00:02:50,364 --> 00:02:52,364 wondered , well , hey , what , what 69 00:02:52,364 --> 00:02:54,476 does that look like and being able to 70 00:02:54,476 --> 00:02:58,330 see how big that mortar round was . I 71 00:02:58,330 --> 00:03:01,190 mean , that's , that's phenomenal to me . 72 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,800 It's a piece of our history . Thank God , 73 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,490 we never have had to use that . But 74 00:03:06,500 --> 00:03:08,556 seeing that we were developing those 75 00:03:08,556 --> 00:03:10,667 kinds of capabilities during the Cold 76 00:03:10,667 --> 00:03:12,833 War , that that helped me understand , 77 00:03:12,833 --> 00:03:15,370 Hey , we're serious about this . So the 78 00:03:15,370 --> 00:03:17,840 one thing that I found really 79 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,480 significant and and Very powerful 80 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,730 was the 12 minute or movie that they 81 00:03:24,730 --> 00:03:26,700 play in the theatre . The theater 82 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:29,180 itself is set up in a 83 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,590 Uh , 306 Degree 84 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:36,170 Screen . The video itself 85 00:03:36,380 --> 00:03:39,060 covers the army values and there were 86 00:03:39,060 --> 00:03:42,320 certain portions during the video that 87 00:03:42,330 --> 00:03:45,050 that really struck a nerve . Uh you 88 00:03:45,050 --> 00:03:47,380 know , kinda kinda put the hairs on the 89 00:03:47,380 --> 00:03:49,269 back of your neck up a little bit 90 00:03:49,269 --> 00:03:53,060 because we all share those values . 91 00:03:53,740 --> 00:03:56,090 So going through the , the National 92 00:03:56,090 --> 00:03:58,201 Museum in the Army , there's a lot of 93 00:03:58,201 --> 00:04:00,257 items that are on display there that 94 00:04:00,257 --> 00:04:02,534 kind of connect us back into the story . 95 00:04:02,534 --> 00:04:04,850 But one particular uh display , you 96 00:04:04,850 --> 00:04:06,850 know , displayed a small metal core 97 00:04:06,850 --> 00:04:09,100 badge that was worn by a philadelphia 98 00:04:09,100 --> 00:04:11,440 soldier from the philadelphia brigade 99 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,710 or the one of six pennsylvania infantry 100 00:04:13,710 --> 00:04:15,932 in this case . Um , you know , that was 101 00:04:15,932 --> 00:04:18,900 worn by a soldier from my old unit um 102 00:04:18,910 --> 00:04:20,966 you know , during the american civil 103 00:04:20,966 --> 00:04:23,132 war and it really showed me that , you 104 00:04:23,132 --> 00:04:25,077 know , here in Fort Belvoir in the 105 00:04:25,077 --> 00:04:27,077 Museum for the entire United States 106 00:04:27,077 --> 00:04:29,077 Army . There's an individual item , 107 00:04:29,077 --> 00:04:31,132 there's a little piece that connects 108 00:04:31,132 --> 00:04:30,810 back to the story of the unit that I 109 00:04:30,810 --> 00:04:33,560 came from . I would encourage young 110 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,727 National Guard soldiers or people that 111 00:04:35,727 --> 00:04:37,949 are new to our formation to take a trip 112 00:04:37,949 --> 00:04:40,116 down to Fort Belvoir . Um , you know , 113 00:04:40,116 --> 00:04:42,282 a lot of times we hear about the story 114 00:04:42,282 --> 00:04:44,504 of the army , we hear about places like 115 00:04:44,504 --> 00:04:46,671 you know , Gettysburg or the Battle of 116 00:04:46,671 --> 00:04:48,838 the Bulge or you know , the capture of 117 00:04:48,838 --> 00:04:51,060 you know , Fallujah and Baghdad . But a 118 00:04:51,060 --> 00:04:53,116 lot of times we don't understand the 119 00:04:53,116 --> 00:04:55,171 role that we as an organization have 120 00:04:55,171 --> 00:04:55,000 played in that . And when you walk 121 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,180 those halls in the National Museum in 122 00:04:57,180 --> 00:04:59,291 the United States Army , you're gonna 123 00:04:59,291 --> 00:05:01,124 see displays of soldiers wearing 124 00:05:01,124 --> 00:05:02,958 patches from the division or the 125 00:05:02,958 --> 00:05:05,069 brigade that you serve in today . And 126 00:05:05,069 --> 00:05:07,124 it really just kind of shows you how 127 00:05:07,124 --> 00:05:09,340 integral we were in the successes of 128 00:05:09,340 --> 00:05:10,860 the Army , both at home and abroad .