The service branch is older than the United States.
Dec. 13 is the birthday of the National Guard. According to Military.com, “In a move that would create the first militia on the North American continent, the Massachusetts General Court in Salem issued an order on Dec. 13, 1636, requiring all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 years old to create a standing Army for protection.”
Today, the Army National Guard (and Air National Guard, created after World War II) are active across the country and around the world. A number of prominent Americans served in one of these; here are a few of their stories.
Tom Selleck: the actor served in the California Army National Guard for six years, attaining the rank of sergeant, and later appeared on recruitment posters for the California Guard and the California Military Academy.
Dr. James Naismith: Naismith, born in Canada and credited as the inventor of the game of basketball, became a chaplain in the Kansas Army National Guard and took part in Pershing’s Pancho Villa expedition in 1916. He also spent 19 months in France during World War I for the Y.M.C.A., where he taught soldiers on the front lines against venereal diseases, vice and substance use.
John Amos: the actor served in the New Jersey National Guard, as well as being named an honorary master chief of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Jerry Mathers: the child star served in the California Air National Guard from 1966 to 1969 as a colonel’s aide.
James Garner: the actor spent seven months in the California National Guard between stints in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II (12 months) and the U.S. Army during the Korean War (14 months). During the latter, he received two Purple Hearts.
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