"The Army National Guard (ARNG) is the oldest component of the U.S. armed forces. As early as 1607, militia companies were formed shortly after the establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. The ARNG traces its birthday to 13 December 1636, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized its first permanent regiments. Since then, soldiers serving in colonial and state militias, and later in ARNG units, have had a significant role in every conflict the United States has fought. Unlike more recent conflicts however, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, ARNG units were not deployed in large numbers to Vietnam. As a result, relatively little has been written about the estimated 13,000 National Guardsmen mobilized during the Vietnam War and those deployed to Southeast Asia.
On 11 April 1968, nearly three years after the United States began sending large numbers of combat troops to Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson reluctantly made the decision to mobilize a small portion of the National Guard and Army Reserve. The delay in mobilizing National Guard and Reserve forces resulted in the reserve components being seen by many young men as a way to avoid the draft and the prospect of going to war. While maintaining their role in assisting with disaster relief efforts at home, National Guard units were also activated to control riots stemming from anti-Vietnam War protests and other civil disturbances occurring on college campuses and in cities across the nation. The most notable incident took place on 4 May 1970 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, when Ohio Guardsmen, sent to the campus following a fire that destroyed the university's ROTC building, opened fire during a demonstration, killing four students and wounding nine.
Only a small portion of the ARNG units activated during the Vietnam War were deployed to Southeast Asia. Of the estimated seventy-six ARNG units called up to active duty, only eight units and 2,729 soldiers served in Vietnam, including Alabama's 650th Medical Detachment; Idaho's 116th Engineer Battalion (Combat); New Hampshire's 3d Battalion, 197th Artillery; Kentucky's 2d Battalion, 138th Artillery; and Indiana's Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry Regiment. Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry, had the distinction of being the only ARNG ground maneuver unit to serve in Southeast Asia…"
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