History
Guard members continue the legacy of the “Minutemen” of the American Revolution—citizen-soldiers trained and ready to put their peacetime pursuits on hold when called upon to serve their state or nation. Throughout much of its history, the U.S. has maintained only a small standing army. Instead, it has primarily relied on the militia system for security which, formalized in the Uniform Militia Act of 1792, embraced the principle of universal military obligation for most able-bodied males. Militia members participated in periodic compulsory unit training musters, and were responsible for providing their own weapons.
In 1848, the first session of the Wisconsin Legislature provided for the distribution of federal arms and military equipment. Wisconsin Guard troops fought in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, both the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. Guard members have been activated on numerous other occasions, including for the Berlin Crisis the Persian Gulf War, peacekeeping operations in the Balkans, and current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Read more about this topic: Wisconsin Army National Guard
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—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“America is, therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World’s history shall reveal itself. It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of Old Europe.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)