Photo By Ryan Campbell | Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, the adjutant general of New York, retired Army Sgt....... read more read more
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LATHAM, New York--A 60-year old retired Army sergeant major who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and later served in Afghanistan, a 22-year old Airman who graduated from Brazil’s tough jungle warfare school, and a new 18-year old Army Guard recruit represented the past and future of the National Guard during a cake-cutting ceremony held Monday, Dec. 14 at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York.
Sgt. Maj. Chris Glorius, Senior Airman Caleb Lapinel, and Pvt. Malachy McGarry joined Major General Ray Shields, the Adjutant General of New York, in recognizing the 384th Birthday of the National Guard by cutting the National Guard birthday cake during the short ceremony.
The National Guard claims Dec. 13, 1636, the date on which the Massachusetts Bay Colony formally established its militia, as the birthday of the 54 state and territory National Guards which comprise the oldest component of the United States military.
Normally the ceremony is an all-hands on deck affair for the headquarters with 300 people in attendance. It is a chance to the Adjutant General to speak directly to the headquarters staff and share relaxed time during the holidays.
This year the traditional cake-cutting event was attended by key leaders and recorded on video to be posted online later.
“Like all traditions, we try to maintain them and even in this time of Covid and restrictions, we try to do it and keep everybody safe,” Shields explained.
Traditionally the oldest Soldier or Airman present joins the youngest in cutting the birthday cake. The older service member represents the traditions and history of the National Guard, while the young service member represents the future of the National Guard.
McGarry, a resident of Ballston Lake, New York who joined the 1427th Transportation Company as mechanic in October 2020 and heads to basic training in February, said he was honored to be part of the tradition, as the youngest cake cutter.
“It is an important day,” the student at the State University of New York, Brockport, said. “I am proud to be part of it.”
Glorius, who retired from the New York Army National Guard in August, said that being part of the National Guard birthday event was great way to mark the end of a career that began when he enlisted in 1982 with the 107th Infantry Regiment.
“It marks the culmination of my 38 years of service,” the Putnam Valley, New York, resident said. “I was honored to be part of it.”
Glorius served in a number of signal and logistics units during his career. He was one of the thousands of New York National Guard Soldiers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, and also served for a year in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.
Along the way he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Serve Medal, and the Afghan Campaign Ribbon. On Dec. 14 he was awarded the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal to mark a long career of service.
“There are always challenges that come to you along the way and you learn to adapt and overcome,” he said. “It has been very rewarding to me, being a Citizen Soldier.”
While Lapinel wasn’t the youngest service member present, he was included because the New York National Guard leadership wanted to recognize his accomplishment in graduating from Brazil’s Jungle Warfare Training Center's International Course, Shields said.
Conducted in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, the course is considered the premier jungle training center in the world.
Lapinel, a Watervliet resident who serves with the 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia, New York, as an intelligence analyst, graduated from the class in November.
The National Guard birthday cake which he, Glorius, and McGarry joined Lapinel in cutting was decorated in a jungle theme to honor Lapinel’s accomplishment, Shields said. Lapinel was also recognized with a trophy from the commander of the New York Air National Guard to recognize his completion of the jungle warfare course.
Being part of the birthday ceremony “felt very special,” Lapinel said. “It really brings home how meaningful this is and how lucky I was to be given this opportunity,” he added.
While Massachusetts claims the honor of marking the country’s birth of the National Guard, New York boasts significant milestones in National Guard history.
In New York, the first Citizen-Soldiers were members of the Burgher Guard, organized by the Dutch East Indian Company in 1640 to help protect New Amsterdam from their English neighbors in Massachusetts and Virginia or from hostile natives.
After New Amsterdam became the English colony of New York in 1665, a militia modeled on the system used in Massachusetts and other English colonies was put in place.
Citizen Soldiers of the militia and National Guard have fought in all of America's wars from King Philips War against Native Americans in the New England Colonies in 1675 to Afghanistan today.
New York gave the country the term National Guard for its militia forces when the 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of the New York Militia renamed themselves the National Guard to honor the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolutionary War during a visit in 1824.
Lafayette had commanded a force called the "Guard de National" in the early days of the French Revolution. In English that translates into National Guard.
New York officially changed the name of the New York Militia to the New York National Guard in 1863, the first in the nation to do so.
The oldest Air National Guard unit in the nation is part of the New York Air National Guard. The 102nd Rescue Squadron of the 106th Rescue Wing traces its history back to the 1st Aero Company, organized in the New York National Guard in 1908 as a balloon unit.
In 1916 the 1st Aero Company conducted one of the first long-distance airplane formation flights in American history.
In New York, the first Citizen-Soldiers were members of the Burgher Guard, organized by the Dutch East Indian Company in 1640 to help protect New Amsterdam from their English neighbors in Massachusetts and Virginia or from hostile natives.
New York units in World War I added to the history of the National Guard.
The band of the New York National Guard's 369th Infantry Regiment, an African American unit originally formed as the 15th New York, is credited with introducing jazz music to Europe during World War I. The 369th became known as the Harlem Hell Fighters.
The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division was given its nickname "The Rainbow Division" during World War I by General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur, then a colonel, was charged with organizing a division of National Guard troops from across the country to deploy to France in 1917. He described the division as stretching across the country "like a rainbow."
New York’s 69th Infantry, which distinguished itself during the Civil War, was portrayed in the 1940 movie "The Fighting 69th" starring Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The movie was based on the historic unit's service in World War I.
Contributions continued in World War II. Soldiers of the New York National Guard's 105th Infantry Regiment faced the largest Japanese "Banzai" attack of the Second World War on 7 July 1944 on the Island of Saipan.
The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 105th Infantry had 650 men killed and wounded but killed more than 4,300 Japanese Soldiers. Three regimental Soldiers earned the Medal of Honor posthumously in that battle that day.
The New York Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at Syracuse, was one two Air National Guard units assigned to provide aircraft for the defense of the United States on March 1, 1953. Today the unit operates the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft.
In 2005 the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division served in Iraq and was the first National Guard division headquarters to deploy to a combat zone since the Korean War in 1953. The division headquarters commanded both Active Army and National Guard brigades.
There are 10,000 members of the New York Army National Guard and 5,800 members of the New York Air National Guard.
Just under 1,700 Soldiers and Airmen are currently on-duty responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the New York National Guard is participating in a Pentagon pilot program to provide a vaccine to military personnel.
| Date Taken: | 12.14.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.14.2020 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 384920 |
| Location: | LATHAM, NY, US |
| Hometown: | LATHAM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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