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Sunday, July 9, 2017

NATIONAL GUARD CALLED TO FEDERAL SERVICE

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2365

PRESIDENT WILSON CALLS NATIONAL GUARD TO FEDERAL SERVICE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, July 9, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling the National Guard* and their reserve units into the service of the government of the United States.

The presidential call will first be effective for 11 states on July 15, with the addition of 19 more on July 25.  As of August 5th, the entire National Guard will be under federal control.

The proclamation states...

"All persons hereby drafted shall, on and from August 5, stand discharged from the militia and be subject to the laws and regulations of the regular army."

*National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force made up of units from each state & territory including the District of Columbia.  All of its members belong also to the U.S. militia. 

The origin of the NG goes back to the formation of the Massachusetts militia in 1636.  The militias became known as the National Guard in 1903.  Today the US Army & Air Force NG include a force of 348,000.

SOURCE

"CALLS WHOLE NATIONAL GUARD,"  The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 10, 1917.


National Guardsman
Photo by Underwood & Underwood
National Geographic Magazine
Vol. 31, 1917