June 2019 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.

Sometimes A Pillar of Society Is Your Next Door Neighbor

Ted Beal

Many Americans think the second amendment to the U. S. Constitution is about gun ownership. In fact the amendment, combined with two laws passed by congress in 1792, is more about national service: “All free, able-bodied white men, aged 18-45, owed military service to both state and nation.” Eligible white males were obligated to acquire firearms for service. Conscientious objectors were usually exempted from service. These initial militias of citizens became “our national guard” and our active duty Army. I have interviewed many of our active duty soldiers but not so many of the active reserve and National Guard whom are a major part of our defense forces. On this Memorial Day, 2019 it may be appropriate to ask who these people are.

The National Guard has reflected the ongoing social changes and events in the United States. These militias first appeared in America as early as 1565 in St Augustine, FL. and Jamestown VA in 1607. The Massachusetts militia defended the colonists against the British at Lexington and Concord. While African Americans were initially, officially excluded, in 1862 the rules changed to include people of color. In fact, however, African Americans did regularly fight and the first man killed at Lexington and Concord was a black man named Crispus Atticus. These original militias became the Continental Army under George Washington. The current United States Army evolved from there, but there has always been an active reserve and a National Guard.

Early Americans were skeptical about the wisdom of a professional freestanding Army, and instead they preferred well- regulated state controlled militias. Congress created state militias, who would be called to duty to defend against invasions or insurrections or national emergencies as the need arose. Generally militias were controlled by the governor of each state but could be “federalized” when necessary. Indeed what later became known as the National Guard provided the majority of soldiers for the Mexican–American War, the Spanish–American War and most of the soldiers for the early part of the American Civil War.

The National Guard has provided important service in civilian emergencies as well as war. In 1957 Arkansas Governor Faubus used the guard to prevent African American students from entering Little Rock Central High School. In response President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to ensure the opposite occurred-the safe entrance and attendance of the Little Rock Nine. In 1965 Governor Edmund Brown used the Guard to help restore order to the Watts area of Los Angeles. In 1970 The Ohio Army National Guard were ordered to Kent State University to counter act antiwar protests.

By the time of the Vietnam War the National Guard became an accepted refuge by society to avoid deployment to combat service in Vietnam. Only about 15,000 of the 3.4 million soldiers sent to Vietnam were from this source. That war was controversial and divisive. Overcoming the skepticism of early Americans about the size of a peacetime military and in part to avoid society’s protests about Vietnam, President Nixon ended the universal military draft in January 1973, and America moved to an all-volunteer Army. The National Guard and active reserves, however, remained.

Post 9/11 the National Guard, no longer a refuge from combat, became the opposite, supplying almost half the combat troops for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The National Guard is cost effective and well trained and readily available for deployment, just as are the reserve Army and those on active duty. Soldiers who exercised their patriotic duty by joining the National Guard were no longer just helping their individual states but were regularly called to front line combat duty.

I recently interviewed a neighbor as a part of the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. As you may know, anyone over the age of sixteen years can participate and get to know veterans more personally in an informal but structured manner. Funded by Congress in 2000, the project’s mission is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of veterans so that future generations may directly hear and better understand the realities of war. Volunteers conduct an interview and an interview kit describing the process can be accessed at www.loc.gov/vets.

I spent an hour and a half with Tim Gorman talking about his 28 years of active and active reserve duty. He is well known in our local parish as an active participant who runs a highly successful food cooperative program in his retirement. His organizational skills are legendary. Little did I understand how his military experience helps feed the poor.

While in college, Tim, a patriotic man, enlisted in a ROTC program prior to the Vietnam War. He later enlisted in the U. S. Army. After graduating from college, he attended the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School, was commissioned as an Ensign and spent several years as a line officer on ships. He is quick to credit his wife and family’s faithful following that made his career possible. After several years on active duty, he decided to continue his patriotic duty as a member of the active reserve. He retired as a Captain twenty-eight years later.

He also credits the military for forcing him to grow up quickly by providing many challenges to his maturity. As a young Ensign and Lieutenant Junior Grade he was in charge of a group of sailors who found themselves in trouble while on shore leave. While trying to rescue them, Tim learned the difference between civilian and military law and the boundaries between. On another occasion a potential “knife fight” argument broke out below deck between 60-80 black and white sailors in their berthing compartment. Just 23 years old, Tim went down the ship’s ladder into the middle of this racial dispute and found a way to appeal to the better angels of their nature.

Later in his career he earned his wings as a Naval Flight Officer and spent many weekends on active duty, a reserve requirement. Tim was a Tactical Navigator on patrol planes that tracked Russian submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The job required exquisite timing and teamwork. His job was to direct the plane and the pilot. One day scheduled to fly over the Bermuda Triangle they got a new pilot. Clearly anxious about his new assignment the pilot began giving inappropriate orders. Tim, the senior onboard officer, convinced the new pilot not to fly that day and assigned him another task. It was a good decision for the new pilot and the safety of the aircrew.

Some events such as breaking up a racially charged knife fight, rescuing sailors from jail, removing a pilot from flying a plane are not routine work for the recent college graduate. Citizens may not appreciate the value of early life military experience for stabilizing the fabric of society, even for making a food cooperative run well.

There are many who serve our country as the National Guard and as Reservists in all branches of the Armed Forces and who are also steadfast members of their civilian communities. To these and to the active duty service members, America salutes you on the observance of Memorial Day.

Ted Beal

Edward W. Beal, MD, Psychiatrist, Dept. of the Army, Dept. of Tele-Health, U. S. Army

Medical Department Activity,

Fort Meade