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Civilian in Peace, Soldier in War:
The Army National Guard, 1636–2000
488 pages, 70 photographs, 6 x 9-1/4
(softcover)
“A solid, balanced, and readable history [that] will be the standard work on the Army National Guard for a generation.” –Journal of Military History “Mike Doubler homers again with a people’s history of the Army National Guard.... Lively prose and solid scholarship bring the Guard into the center of the nation’s consciousness as well as the center of defense abroad and at home.” -Allan R. Millett, author of Semper Fidelis: The History of the Unites States Marine Corps and coauthor of A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War "An
informative, entertaining, and educational account of the Army National
Guard’s history. May it inspire all of us to exceed the high standards of our
proud heritage and to face with confidence the clear and present dangers that
now confront America and the certain challenges that lie ahead in the
twenty-first century.”—Lt. Gen. Roger C. Schultz, Director, Army National Guard
They were
there at Concord Bridge. They
shaped the vast volunteer armies of the Civil War.
They have fought in America’s major wars around the world.
And they made the first military response on 9/11 after the World Trade
Center towers crashed in Manhattan. The
National Guard has had a singular place in American history as citizen-soldiers
responding both to homeland crises and to the need for fighting power overseas.
Michael Doubler now offers the first comprehensive history of the Guard to
appear in over thirty years, tracing its role from the days of Colonial militias
to the dawn of a new millennium. Spanning more than four centuries, he records
the Army National Guard’s outstanding accomplishments in peace and war on
behalf of both state and federal authorities. Originally published as
I Am the Guard by the Government Printing Office and with only limited
public distribution, this sweeping history is now available in a paperback
edition that (in a new preface) updates the National Guard story up to the
events of 9/11. Beginning with the first regiments formed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Doubler chronicles how American militiamen have transformed themselves from a loose collection of local defense forces into a modern efficient reserve force. After action in the Spanish-American War, the militia era ended in 1903 with the creation of the modern National Guard as the federal reserve of the U.S. Army. In covering the last century, Doubler takes readers from Guard service in both world wars to Cold War duties, the Gulf War, and assignments in the Balkans. He tells of its not always friendly relations with the Regular Army, as well as of those times when Regulars and Guardsmen effectively reinforced each other to get the job done. The
militia and National Guard have always concerned themselves with homeland
defense, and as the current administration reviews national security, this book
provides an opportunity to reconsider the role of the Army National Guard in
America’s latest war. With 2003 marking the modern National Guard’s
centennial, Civilian in Peace, Soldier in
War offers a virtual primer on the military policy of the United States,
showing us that citizen-soldiers have played a vital role in struggles against
imperialism, fascism, and communism—and assuring us that they will be ready
for the war on terrorism as well. |
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