...All you had to do was be willing to sign on the dotted line and wear the uniform...
Don't forget, Larry - you also had to be willing to go when and where they sent you. When I joined the 121 Tank Bn. ING in 1953, there were still Guardsmen dying in Korea, and Guard units being activated. Like the draft, joining the Guard was a crapshoot - the main difference being that you could choose your unit in the Guard, and serve with your friends.
I had three uncles who were career Guardsmen - they all fought in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during WWII. One of them also went on to Korea.
For Ed Pirie, who seems to know who is "patriotic" and who is not, a few questions:
- Were my uncles
not "patriotic" when they joined the Guard?
- Did they
become "patriots" after they were activated?
- Were the Guardsmen who died in Korea and Vietnam
not "patriotic" until they were called up?
- If my outfit had been sent to Korea, would I have been as "patriotic" as a draftee quaffing his beer in Garmisch-Partenkirchen?
