Serving at home and abroad

Memorial Day is the time for Americans to reconnect with their history and core values by honoring those who gave their lives for their Nation. As I write this, nearly 500 Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have given their lives in the war on terrorism in order to defend our values and ideals.  And we cherish their memory.  Every single day.

 The observance of Memorial Day was born of compassion and empathy in 1863. As the Civil War raged, grieving mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and other loved ones were cleaning confederate soldiers’ graves in Columbus, Mississippi, placing flowers on them. They noticed nearby the union soldiers’ graves, dusty, overgrown with weeds. Grieving for their own fallen soldiers, the confederate women understood that the dead union soldiers buried nearby were the cherished loved ones of families and communities far away. They cleared the tangled brush and mud from those graves as well as their own soldiers’ graves and laid flowers on them too.  

Families and neighbors all across America this Memorial Day will gather to revive honored traditions, remember, and renew hope. And as they do, their thoughts and prayers will naturally turn, as mine do, to the men and women whose mission it is to defend peace and freedom, both at home and abroad.  Today’s National Guard is still the sharp sword of freedom. The National Guard saves lives and reduces human suffering in every ZIP code in America. National Guardsmen fight without complaint in foreign skies and hostile lands. They voluntarily put their lives at risk and sacrifice their comfort and the comfort of their families and employers so that our fellow citizens can enjoy the blessings and the benefits of liberty. It is a sacrifice made even more precious by the fact that they render it willingly. I join with my fellow Americans in honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

We in the National Guard have had our share of heroes in the fight against terrorism.  In February I had the distinct honor of presenting Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, a Kentucky National Guardsman, with the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation’s second-highest award for valor in combat.  Nein led his squad of ten military policemen into close combat against a group of enemy insurgents more than four times their number. When the dust had settled, more than thirty insurgents were found dead or wounded, and two ambushed convoys were saved.

Staff Sgt. Nein and seven other members of his squad were recognized for their heroism that day, to include the first woman in the history of the United States Army – Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester – to receive the Silver Star for valor in direct combat.  They are but a microcosm of the valor your Army and Air National Guard have displayed on the field of battle.

The National Guard stands tall in defense of the Nation and our communities. Today we are responding to tornados in Kansas, helping civil authorities prepare for flooding in Missouri, and battling wild fires in Florida.  

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Guard rescued more than 17,000 citizens in Mississippi and Louisiana from life-threatening circumstances.  The Guard transported more than 70,000 citizens to shelter outside the devastated region.
Every single governor in this country responded to the disaster by sending whatever support was required.  In the history of the world, you would search in vain to find a larger, more rapid military response to a disaster.  At the peak, America’s governors rushed over 50,000 Guardsmen and women to the rescue from all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia – neighbors helping neighbors as we have been doing for nearly 400 years.  

And there is sacrifice in defending the homeland.  Within hours of Katrina’s passing, Sgt. Josh Russell of the Mississippi Guard was killed while on a rescue mission when his vehicle struck storm debris.  He gave his life trying to save his neighbors.

That incident is typical of the service the Guard performs hundreds of times every year in our local communities.  We are proud to be hometown America’s minutemen.

I am incredibly fortunate, thankful, and humbled to serve with these brave and selfless Soldiers and Airmen in today’s National Guard.  We are committed to remaining that essential force that serves America both at home and abroad, and we prepare ourselves for emergencies to come.  We will remain Always Ready, Always There.  

Blum is chief of the National Guard Bureau.

SPECIAL SECTION: Tribute to our Troops
The world’s finest armed forces
The American Soldier
Sailors building trust, one person at a time
Morale of Marine Corps at an all-time high amid challenges
Warriors of the sky
Every coast guardsman is a lifesaver
Whether on American or foreign soil, Army Reserves answer the call of duty
Greetings from home