WEBVTT 00:17.740 --> 00:20.560 the pylons , uh , as they call them , 00:20.570 --> 00:22.681 they actually welcome guests into the 00:22.681 --> 00:25.110 museum . Um , they start outside and 00:25.110 --> 00:27.970 these are etches of soldiers . There's 00:27.970 --> 00:30.460 a panel below it that tells their story . 00:30.470 --> 00:33.340 When you read it , you , you can , you 00:33.340 --> 00:35.650 can internalize it and , and it , it , 00:36.140 --> 00:38.430 it speaks to you . So visiting the 00:38.430 --> 00:40.486 National Museum of the United States 00:40.486 --> 00:42.486 Army at Fort Belvoir helped kind of 00:42.486 --> 00:44.708 show how the National Guard is is a big 00:44.708 --> 00:46.708 part of the overall story . All the 00:46.708 --> 00:48.930 pieces that we play in the , in the big 00:48.930 --> 00:51.097 army picture and each display you walk 00:51.097 --> 00:53.263 through if you're looking for it , you 00:53.263 --> 00:55.374 can see the National Guard was a part 00:55.374 --> 00:57.430 of that . One of the things that the 00:57.430 --> 00:59.850 museum does show is how those who have 00:59.850 --> 01:03.670 worn the uniform legitimately have a 01:03.670 --> 01:06.190 love for freedom and wanting that 01:06.190 --> 01:08.370 freedom and wanting to secure freedom 01:08.370 --> 01:10.370 for , for the citizens of our great 01:10.370 --> 01:12.820 country . So as we walked past the 01:12.820 --> 01:14.764 Medal of Honor recipients that are 01:14.764 --> 01:16.876 displayed on the pylons , you can see 01:16.876 --> 01:18.709 uh , you know , First Lieutenant 01:18.709 --> 01:20.764 Charles Tanner of the First Delaware 01:20.764 --> 01:22.931 Infantry who earned his Medal of Honor 01:22.931 --> 01:24.931 at the Battle of Antietam . And you 01:24.931 --> 01:24.860 know , his unit today is still part of 01:24.860 --> 01:27.450 the Delaware Guard as a 1 98 signal 01:27.450 --> 01:29.617 battalion . And there's little symbols 01:29.617 --> 01:31.672 throughout the displays that kind of 01:31.672 --> 01:33.672 show you that , you know , it's not 01:33.672 --> 01:35.783 just Iraq and Afghanistan where we've 01:35.783 --> 01:37.950 been a big piece of the army's story . 01:37.950 --> 01:40.061 Um , but you know , going all the way 01:40.061 --> 01:42.172 back to the start of the museum at 17 01:42.172 --> 01:44.283 75 the the early militia units , uh , 01:44.283 --> 01:46.339 you know , that that had been around 01:46.339 --> 01:48.394 since 16 36 in some cases , that had 01:48.394 --> 01:50.617 been part of the early formation of the 01:50.617 --> 01:52.728 Continental Army in the early battles 01:52.728 --> 01:54.672 at places like Lexington concord , 01:54.672 --> 01:56.839 Trenton and Princeton . So you could , 01:56.839 --> 01:59.006 you could go through these stories and 01:59.006 --> 02:01.061 you could see that , you know , as a 02:01.061 --> 02:03.117 component were embedded were part of 02:03.117 --> 02:05.172 that , that overall army tradition . 02:05.172 --> 02:07.006 And it's told from the soldier's 02:07.006 --> 02:09.061 viewpoint . Um , so it's telling the 02:09.061 --> 02:11.283 story of the soldier , not the story of 02:11.283 --> 02:14.130 the army . Um , so that , that means 02:14.130 --> 02:16.241 something , you know , you can very , 02:16.241 --> 02:19.200 you can personalize it and really take 02:19.200 --> 02:22.640 that in . I remember reading several 02:22.640 --> 02:24.940 books and one of the books was called 02:24.940 --> 02:28.080 about face , it's by a guy who's , who 02:28.080 --> 02:31.210 was a retired Colonel , David Hackworth , 02:31.220 --> 02:35.160 but he talked about the nuclear 02:35.170 --> 02:38.950 mortar around that that they 02:38.960 --> 02:41.920 worked with briefly during his time in 02:41.920 --> 02:44.420 the military and they had a copy of it . 02:44.420 --> 02:46.364 I mean , obviously I didn't have a 02:46.364 --> 02:48.587 nuclear uh , mortar round sitting there 02:48.587 --> 02:50.364 in the museum . But I've always 02:50.364 --> 02:52.364 wondered , well , hey , what , what 02:52.364 --> 02:54.476 does that look like and being able to 02:54.476 --> 02:58.330 see how big that mortar round was . I 02:58.330 --> 03:01.190 mean , that's , that's phenomenal to me . 03:01.200 --> 03:03.800 It's a piece of our history . Thank God , 03:03.800 --> 03:06.490 we never have had to use that . But 03:06.500 --> 03:08.556 seeing that we were developing those 03:08.556 --> 03:10.667 kinds of capabilities during the Cold 03:10.667 --> 03:12.833 War , that that helped me understand , 03:12.833 --> 03:15.370 Hey , we're serious about this . So the 03:15.370 --> 03:17.840 one thing that I found really 03:17.840 --> 03:21.480 significant and and Very powerful 03:21.800 --> 03:24.730 was the 12 minute or movie that they 03:24.730 --> 03:26.700 play in the theatre . The theater 03:26.700 --> 03:29.180 itself is set up in a 03:29.640 --> 03:32.590 Uh , 306 Degree 03:32.820 --> 03:36.170 Screen . The video itself 03:36.380 --> 03:39.060 covers the army values and there were 03:39.060 --> 03:42.320 certain portions during the video that 03:42.330 --> 03:45.050 that really struck a nerve . Uh you 03:45.050 --> 03:47.380 know , kinda kinda put the hairs on the 03:47.380 --> 03:49.269 back of your neck up a little bit 03:49.269 --> 03:53.060 because we all share those values . 03:53.740 --> 03:56.090 So going through the , the National 03:56.090 --> 03:58.201 Museum in the Army , there's a lot of 03:58.201 --> 04:00.257 items that are on display there that 04:00.257 --> 04:02.534 kind of connect us back into the story . 04:02.534 --> 04:04.850 But one particular uh display , you 04:04.850 --> 04:06.850 know , displayed a small metal core 04:06.850 --> 04:09.100 badge that was worn by a philadelphia 04:09.100 --> 04:11.440 soldier from the philadelphia brigade 04:11.440 --> 04:13.710 or the one of six pennsylvania infantry 04:13.710 --> 04:15.932 in this case . Um , you know , that was 04:15.932 --> 04:18.900 worn by a soldier from my old unit um 04:18.910 --> 04:20.966 you know , during the american civil 04:20.966 --> 04:23.132 war and it really showed me that , you 04:23.132 --> 04:25.077 know , here in Fort Belvoir in the 04:25.077 --> 04:27.077 Museum for the entire United States 04:27.077 --> 04:29.077 Army . There's an individual item , 04:29.077 --> 04:31.132 there's a little piece that connects 04:31.132 --> 04:30.810 back to the story of the unit that I 04:30.810 --> 04:33.560 came from . I would encourage young 04:33.560 --> 04:35.727 National Guard soldiers or people that 04:35.727 --> 04:37.949 are new to our formation to take a trip 04:37.949 --> 04:40.116 down to Fort Belvoir . Um , you know , 04:40.116 --> 04:42.282 a lot of times we hear about the story 04:42.282 --> 04:44.504 of the army , we hear about places like 04:44.504 --> 04:46.671 you know , Gettysburg or the Battle of 04:46.671 --> 04:48.838 the Bulge or you know , the capture of 04:48.838 --> 04:51.060 you know , Fallujah and Baghdad . But a 04:51.060 --> 04:53.116 lot of times we don't understand the 04:53.116 --> 04:55.171 role that we as an organization have 04:55.171 --> 04:55.000 played in that . And when you walk 04:55.000 --> 04:57.180 those halls in the National Museum in 04:57.180 --> 04:59.291 the United States Army , you're gonna 04:59.291 --> 05:01.124 see displays of soldiers wearing 05:01.124 --> 05:02.958 patches from the division or the 05:02.958 --> 05:05.069 brigade that you serve in today . And 05:05.069 --> 05:07.124 it really just kind of shows you how 05:07.124 --> 05:09.340 integral we were in the successes of 05:09.340 --> 05:10.860 the Army , both at home and abroad .