Bakersfield's Army National Guard celebrates 386 years
Dec. 13—The Army National Guard's readiness center in southeast Bakersfield celebrated the Guard's 386th birthday Tuesday, with a cake cut by a ceremonial sword and a tour of the facility.
The national anthem was sung clean and clear by Greenlawn Funeral Home Services Manager Mike Jenkins. And a poem was read by 11-year-old Young Marine Abraham Soto.
"We're the oldest branch of the military, since 1636," said Army National Guard Cpl. Yvette Velasquez, who attended Tuesday's ceremony along with other Guard members.
Some may wonder how the National Guard can be so much older than the American nation it serves.
On Dec. 13, 1636, the Massachusetts General Court in Salem issued an order requiring all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 to form a standing army for the protection of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In so doing, the court created the first militia on the North American continent.
The order established an army of citizen-soldiers who could be called upon to fight when needed. And according to the National Guard, a straight line can be drawn from the establishment of the first militia and the formation of the Army National Guard, which is also an army of citizen-soldiers, who live and go to school in their communities, and often work at local businesses or operate their own.
"Today we celebrate a birthday of 386 years," Jenkins said in an opening prayer. "We take our time to honor them, to remember and to continue the legacy of service."
And serve they do, sometimes at their own peril.
The names of two members of the 1114th Transportation Co., a unit at the local armory, are engraved on a stone memorial outside the Gateway Avenue facility. Each of the men lost their lives while serving overseas at Camp Al Asad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Their honor and memory will always remain with us," the memorial reads.
Their names are Sgt. 1st Class Rudy A. Salcido and Sgt. Rhys W. Klasno.
According to the Guard's website, the men and women of the Army and Air National Guards train regularly, generally two days per month. But once a year, they are committed to a longer training schedule.
Army National guard Sgt. Edgar Barajas, showed around dozens of guests at Tuesday's event. Barajas recently turned 40 and he's also marked 20 years of service, part of it in the active-duty Army, and later in the Guard.
He was deployed to Iraq early in the war for 10 months, then after coming home for eight months, he was sent back for 15 months in that war-torn country.
He also served in Afghanistan.
Jeffrey Goines was there Tuesday with the Olive Drab Drivers, a group in Bakersfield that has a number of military vehicles members bring to parades and other events where members of the military are honored or remembered.
"It's amazing what the National Guard has done over the years," Goines said.
Indeed, members of the Guard may once have had a reputation for being so-called "weekend warriors." But they were called in great numbers to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And they sacrificed in great numbers as well during those wars.
A wreath from the Olive Drab Drivers was laid at the foot of the small memorial Tuesday.
"It's to honor their service," Goines said. "They are citizen-soldiers and we're all protected by them.
"They do so much," he added, "from fighting forest fires to deployment overseas to national emergencies."
Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
