Virginia National Guard > News - Category History

Efforts underway to digitize VNG’s WWI personnel records
February 19, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard has a wealth of historic personnel records of Virginians who were among the first troops called to serve in World War I, and efforts are currently underway to digitize those records for online access... MORE

VNG speaker series: Command historian offers leadership perspective
January 17, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, plus guests, retirees and family members, received some valuable leadership lessons from an unlikely source during VNG’s speaker series Jan. 16, 2019, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. VNG command historian Al Barnes, a retired chief warrant officer 4 and former enlisted Marine, titled his presentation “Leadership lessons: A historians perspective.” During the hour-long presentation, Barnes used examples from military history to provide simple but meaningful lessons to the leaders in attendance... MORE

Virginia National Guard dedicates new headquarters to D-Day veteran
January 8, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard’s newly-built Joint Force Headquarters was officially named and dedicated for Roanoke native and D-Day veteran Sgt. John Robert “Bob” Slaughter Jan. 8, 2019, at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia... MORE

Unit, family, friends gather to remember fallen VNG Soldiers 14 years later
December 22, 2018 — Two Virginia National Guard Soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in a suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq, were remembered by fellow Soldiers, family and friends with a wreath laying Dec. 21, 2018, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia... MORE

Mobilization roster, circa 1940, is jewel of Virginia National Guard’s historic archives
December 7, 2018 — When he’s asked what is the Virginia National Guard’s most prized historic artifact, command historian Al Barnes’ answer may illicit some surprise. It’s not a weapon or a uniform, and it’s not patch or a photo. Instead, Barnes calls a 1940 Virginia National Guard mobilization roster a “pearl without price.”... MORE

Virginia’s African American Militiamen: Remembering the 6th Virginia Volunteers
February 20, 2018 — RICHMOND, Va. – In 1898, two Virginia battalions of African American Soldiers were mustered into federal service in support of the Spanish-American War. Once on federal active duty, the battalions, formed from companies initially organized as early as 1870, formed the 6th Virginia Volunteers. While the men of these units never saw combat, they trained in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia before returning home... MORE

Virginia’s African American Militiamen: Remembering the 6th Virginia Volunteers
February 20, 2018 — In 1898, two Virginia battalions of African American Soldiers were mustered into federal service in support of the Spanish-American War. Once on federal active duty, the battalions, formed from companies initially organized as early as 1870, formed the 6th Virginia Volunteers. While the men of these units never saw combat, they trained in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia before returning home... MORE

Virginia National Guard & Virginia War Museum remember WWI
January 2, 2018 — In early December 1917, 150 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 117th Military Police Company had already spent two months in France, arriving there eight months before the 29th and 80th Divisions and just seven months after President Woodrow Wilson declared war. One hundred years later, on Dec. 2, 2017, at the Virginia War Museum in Newport News, Virginia, retired Chief Warrant Office 4 Alexander F. Barnes, command historian for the Virginia National Guard, told the story of the 117th Military Police Company... MORE

Virginia Guard historical collection helps tell centuries-old stories
October 4, 2017 — For many Virginia National Guard units, 2017 marks their 100th anniversary. Units like the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division and the Staunton-based 116th Infantry Regiment both formed as the United States prepared to enter World War I in 1917. Fort Pickett and Camp Pendleton, the Virginia National Guard’s premier training installations, also celebrated their respective 75th and 100th birthdays this year... MORE

New exhibit highlights Va. Guard service in WWI
May 24, 2017 — A new exhibit highlighting the Virginia National Guard’s service in World War I officially opened May 22, 2017, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. For the National Guard, WWI was significant because it was the first time volunteer state militia units were federalized under U.S. Army structure and deployed overseas for combat operations... MORE

Cake cutting ceremony recognizes 410th birthday of Va. National Guard, Jamestown
May 12, 2017 — A cake cutting ceremony to recognize the 410th birthday of the Virginia National Guard and Jamestown was held May 12, 2017, Sandston, Virginia. The Virginia Guard traces the heritage and traditions of Citizen-Soldier and Citizen-Airmen service to the founding of Jamestown when Capt. John Smith organized the colonists for defense. Since the colony’s founding on May 14, 1607, there has not been a day since without a military presence in Virginia to defend freedom at home and overseas... MORE

Va. Guard helps commemorate 100th anniversary of U.S. entry to WWI
April 11, 2017 — One hundred years after America entered the conflict of what would become known as World War I, Virginia citizens, veterans and leaders joined Virginia National Guard Soldiers for a commemoration ceremony April 6, 2017, at the Virginia War Memorial Carillon in Richmond, Virginia. The event, hosted by the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission included remarks by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, Virginia Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Jaime Areizaga-Soto, and a keynote address by Dr. Lynn Rainville, Research Professor in the Humanities at Sweet Briar College. Delegate Kirk Cox, chairman of the Commission, served as the master of ceremony... MORE

Vietnam veterans recognized by Congressman Goodlatte in Staunton ceremony
March 30, 2017 — More than 100 Vietnam veterans filed onto the drill floor of the Thomas D. Howie Memorial Readiness Center March 30, 2017, for a Vietnam Veterans Commemoration Ceremony. The event, hosted by Congressman Bob Goodlatte in Staunton, Virginia, included several helping hands from the Virginia National Guard’s 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Soldiers of the unit not only provided a color guard and other support to the ceremony, but several Soldiers were on hand to welcome and usher in the Vietnam veterans to their readiness center and to personally thank them for their service... MORE

Digging more than a foxhole at Fort Pickett
March 25, 2017 — Atop a green pasture spotted with wandering cattle at the junction of the Nottoway and Little Nottoway rivers, a team of archaeologists studied the soil of four trenches, each one about 12 inches deep. The archaeology site, investigated by a team of archaeologists March 22, 2017, is just one of the hundreds of similar sites undergoing excavation for the Virginia National Guard Cultural Resources Management Program, or CRMP... MORE

Virginia Soldiers recover World War I German mortar
July 8, 2016 — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Richmond-based Combined Support Maintenance Shop recovered a World War I era German mortar that had been lost for more than 40 years July 7, 2016, near Petersburg, Virginia... MORE

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