The U.S. National Guard Birthday is celebrated every year on Dec. 13 to honor the oldest military organization in America.

Here are some facts about the U.S. National Guard to mark its 386th birthday this year.

  • The U.S. National Guard was established on Dec. 13, 1636
  • It is the second-largest military force in the country after the U.S. Army
  • It has fought every war in the U.S. since 1936
  • National Guard is a reserve component of the United States Armed Forces which can be deployed or mobilized for federal and domestic missions

Here are some quotes to honor the military force on its birthday:

courtesy: Military.com, Country Living, Inc.

  1. "America without her Soldiers would be like God without His angels." - Claudia Pemberton
  2. "It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech." - Zell Miller
  3. "Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard." - President John F. Kennedy
  4. "When the will defies fear when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate when honor scorns to compromise with death -- that is heroism." - Robert Green Ingersoll
  5. It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - Norman Schwarzkopf
  6. "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell
  7. "True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going." - Robert Reich
  8. "The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything." - George Marshall
  9. "The patriot's blood is the seed of freedom's tree." - Thomas Campbell
  10. "Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done." - John Keegan
  11. "This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave." - Elmer Davis
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