"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Subject: Countering Widespread Ignorance About the National Guard
From: "Joe Osman"
Date: 3/4/04 2:39 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:


"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Subject: Countering Widespread Ignorance About the National Guard
From: "John Mullen"
Date: 3/1/04 11:05 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

"Mike Marron" wrote in message
.. .
(BUFDRVR) wrote:

I doubt it. Art's memeories are so twisted and distorted, either by
time
or his
God awful personality (or both?), that anything coming out his
mouth
or
keyboard should immediately disregarded.

Exactly. Art has absolutely no business posting his insane WW2
gibberish on Usenet and instead he should be working on leather
crafts and paint-by-number projects in some VA hospital mental
ward or nursing home while under constant 24/7 adult supervision.


Personally although I don't always agree with Art, I find the majority
of
his posts far more interesting and on-topic than yours.

John


Thank you John. Friends are hard to find around here. (sigh)




Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer


Art, is there a chance that you are confusing the State Guards of WWII
with
the National Guard?

The State Guard units (not part of the National Guard)
were authorized by a Federal Act of October 21, 1940. This act prohibited
State Guard units from being called, drafted, or ordered into Federal
service nor could these troops be ordered to serve outside the boundaries
of
their own states. All but 4 states had State Guards and there were 90,000
men in these units by December 7, 1941. They lasted all through the war,
with California having 6,000 in its State Guard as late as 1944. Most of
this info is from http://www.2-185armor.com/CASMRHist1.htm.

Due to the large number of National Guardsmen being activated today these
types of units are being resurrected, but are usually called State
Defense
Forces now. See http://www.sgaus.org/.

During the Civil War, a lot of southern men were in these types of units,
which could only be activated by the state's governer. This reduced the
manpower of the Confederate Army substantially, and members of these
units
were looked upon as slackers by Confederate soldiers.

Joe


Well it was called the "Guard" and it was statewide. But isn't the
National
Guard a statewide service? ,. All I know is that guys went into the
"Guard" and
never went to war and everyone hated them for it..Please explain further.

You are still way off-base. He was referring to the State Guard (as some
states called it, others using the outright term State Militia) which was
formed to provide the kind of "homeland defense" services that the National
Guard had provided to its states before it was mobilized in late 1940-early
1941. Once placed in federal service, the states lost all control of the
National Guard units they had--by early spring in 1941 there were NO
National Guard units remaining; they had all reported off to the various
federal mobilization centers to begin training up for wartime overseas
service. Some left early--units from New Mexico went to the Philippines in
mid/late 1941, for example, which is why Guardsmen were included in the
roles of the Bataan Death March. Those "State Guard" forces that were formed
by the seperate states were made up of those too old, too young, or already
excepted from service dur to their civilian occupations being considered
critical to support the war effort; being in the State Guard was NOT a way
to avoid federal military service, since any able bodied member who did not
have a deferment was still subject to the draft. After the war most of these
state militia organizations faded away, though a few states kept them
running at one level or another. During the 1980's, when the states realized
how dependent the Army and Air Force were on their respective National Guard
components, many states resurrected these militia forces to ensure they had
a ready force able to help out if their National Guard units were
federalized.

This is about the sixth time the fact that the National Guard was in its
*entirety* federalized well before you even finished high school has been
"explained further" to you--I doubt this attempt will fare any better than
the previous ones.

Brooks


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer