Ohio National Guard Public Affairs Office
The Ohio National Guard will conduct a dedication of a monument to the service of its members throughout its history. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on May 23, at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory, the Ohio National Guard state headquarters, in Columbus.
Ted Strickland, Ohio's governor and commander-in-chief of the Ohio National Guard, and Ohio's Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Greg Wayt, will host this historic event for the Ohio National Guard.
The Director of Public Safety, Henry Guzmán, will also honor the families of the 11 Ohio National Guardmembers killed in the war on terror by presenting them with a Gold Star Family License Plate. This new specialty plate was first available on April 25 and honors all those who died serving in a combat zone for all branches of the military. Eleven were specially made for the family members.
Maj. Gen. Wayt will also present each of the families a photograph of the memorial, framed with a tribute to each of their lost service members.
The monument consists of several components. The first is a 10-foot tall sculpture of a colonial Minuteman.
The Minuteman is the symbol of the National Guard, stemming from the Guard's origin in the original Minutemen, America's colonial militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were so named because they had vowed to be ready for battle against the British within one minute of receiving notice. These teams consisted of about a fourth of the entire militia, and generally were the younger and more mobile, serving as part of a network for early response to any threat. Minuteman and Sons of Liberty member Paul Revere spread the news that "the regulars are coming."
The National Guard continues to honor those early patriots by dedication to the same principle: standing ready to respond to any and all threats to the citizens of Ohio and of the United States. The Minuteman sculpture stands with a stone tablet listing all of the military campaigns in which the Ohio National Guard has participated since the War of 1812, including the Mexican War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Desert Storm, and, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan. Since March of 2003 alone, the Ohio National Guard has deployed more than 13,000 Soldiers and Airmen to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Germany, Africa, Kosovo and the National Capital Region.
The second part of the monument is a memorial dedicated to those members of the Ohio National Guard who have sacrificed their lives in service. Countless members of the Ohio National Guard have fallen in those many campaigns, with the most recent being these eleven who sacrificed their lives in the global war on terror:
Specialist Todd M. Bates, 135th Military Police Co., died Dec. 10, 2003
Staff Sgt. Aaron T. Reese, 135th Military Police Co., died Dec. 10, 2003
Sgt. Michael C. Barkey, 1484th Transportation Co., died July 7, 2004
Private First Class Samuel R. Bowen, 216th Engineer Bn., died July 7, 2004
Specialist Ryan A. Martin, 216th Engineer Bn., died Aug. 20, 2004
1st Lt. Charles L. Wilkins III, 216th Engineer Bn., died Aug. 20, 2004
Sgt. Jeremy M. Hodge, 612th Engineer Bn., died Oct. 10, 2005
Sgt. First Class Daniel J. Pratt, 211th Maintenance Co., died Nov. 3, 2005
Sgt. First Class Daniel B. Crabtree, 19th Special Forces Grp., died June 8, 2006
Lt. Col. Kevin Sonnenberg, 180th Fighter Wing, died June 15, 2007
Sgt. Anthony M. Vinnedge, 2d, 107th Cav. Rgt., died July 5, 2007
All of the members of the Ohio National Guard who fell will be remembered with a granite sculpture consisting of boots standing in front of a rifle, bayonet down, with a helmet set on the rifle. This sculpture is reminiscent of the manner in which Soldiers mark the place on the battlefield where a comrade fell. The sculpture sits on a large stone table engraved with every campaign in which the Ohio National Guard has participate throughout its storied history.
| Date Taken: |
05.22.2008 |
| Date Posted: |
05.22.2008 17:12 |
| Story ID: |
19715 |
| Location: |
US |
| Web Views: |
140 |
| Downloads: |
60 |
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