Minnesota State Guard#World War I

The state of Minnesota authorized and created state defense forces during each of the world wars. As a response to the United States' entrance into World War I, the United States Congress passed the Home Guard Act of 1917, which allowed the states to create home guards, which could receive surplus weaponry from the federal government.{{cite web |url=http://legisworks.org/sal/40/stats/STATUTE-40-Pg181.pdf |title=Home guards, arming, etc., 40 Stat. 181 |author= |publisher=Legis Works |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103102623/http://legisworks.org/sal/40/stats/STATUTE-40-Pg181.pdf |archive-date=November 3, 2015 |url-status=usurped }} Minnesota's first State Guard, known officially as the Minnesota Home Guard, was created on April 28, 1917, and served for the duration of World War I.{{cite web |url=https://www.mnopedia.org/group/minnesota-home-guard |title=Minnesota Home Guard |author= |publisher=MNopedia |access-date=5 August 2020 }} Over the course of the war, the Home Guard eventually consisted of 23 battalions with more than 7,000 men.{{cite journal |last1=DeCarlo |first1=Peter J. |date=2017 |title=Loyalty Within Racism: The Segregated Sixteenth Battalion of the Minnesota Home Guard During World War I |journal=Minnesota History |volume=65 |issue=6 |pages=208–219 |jstor=26368707 }} The Home Guard included the Sixteenth Battalion, which was the first Minnesota-recruited African American military unit in the state's history.{{cite web |url=https://www.mnopedia.org/group/sixteenth-battalion-minnesota-home-guard |title=16th Battalion, Minnesota Home Guard |author= |publisher=MNopedia |access-date=5 August 2020 }}

The Home Guard handled a number of domestic emergencies. In late 1917, the Home Guard was deployed to restore order following riots in St. Paul.{{cite web |url=https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/02/1917-streetcar-riots-shook-st-paul-and-reshaped-minnesota-politics/ |title=How the 1917 streetcar riots shook St. Paul and reshaped Minnesota politics |last=Woltman |first=Nick |date=2 December 2017 |publisher=St. Paul Pioneer Press |access-date=5 August 2020 }} On July 1, 1918, a tornado struck the town of Tyler, and the relief effort was carried out by members of the Home Guard and National Guard. In October 1918, the Home Guard assumed management of the aftermath of the Cloquet fire. The remaining elements of the Home Guard were dissolved in December 1920.

In 1940, prior to the United States' entry into World War II, Section 61 of the National Defense Act of 1916 was modified to allow the establishment of state defense forces.{{cite web |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a497658.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115723/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a497658.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |title=America's State Defense Forces: An Historical Component of National Defense |last1=Sieg |first1=Dr. Kent G. |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |access-date=3 September 2015 }} The Minnesota State Guard was created in 1941.{{cite web |url=http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00868.xml |title=Adjutant General: National Guard: An Inventory of Its State Guard Records at the Minnesota Historical Society |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |access-date=3 September 2015 }} By 1942, the State Guard had reached a strength of approximately 6,100 members. By 1942, the First Separate Infantry Battalion of the Minnesota State Guard was placed on active duty, requiring prospective members to enlist for the duration of the war plus an additional six months.{{cite news |title=Recruits Being Sought For Minnesota State Guard |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1018&dat=19421105&id=UsUkAAAAIBAJ&pg=1221,1113940&hl=en |newspaper=Lake Benton News |location=Lake Benton, Minnesota |access-date=3 September 2015}} The battalion was responsible for providing full-time security for Duluth, Two Harbors, and the Thomson Dam in Jay Cooke State Park.{{cite news |date=6 November 1942 |title=State Guard Recruiter in New Ulm Next Monday |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1088&dat=19421106&id=v7VkAAAAIBAJ&pg=3884,822803&hl=en |newspaper=Lafayette Ledger |location=Lafayette, Minnesota |access-date=3 September 2015}} In at least one event, members of the Minnesota State Guard competed in a rifle competition against students from the Shattuck Military School.{{cite news |date=6 August 1956 |title=20 Years Ago: 1946 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19560806&id=JAdGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3416,2257297&hl=en |newspaper=Lawrence Daily Journal |location=Lawrence, Kansas |access-date=3 September 2015}}

In 1948, two battalions of Minnesota State Guard, equipped with one dozen M4 Sherman tanks, were deployed to quell a violent strike by the meat packer's union in the St. Paul and Newport areas.{{cite news |last=Thomis |first=Wayne |date=15 May 1948 |title=Minnesota Guard Moves to Scene of CIO Mob Attacks |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1948/05/15/page/1/article/minnesota-guard-moves-to-scene-of-cio-mob-attacks |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |location=Chicago, Illinois |access-date=3 September 2015}} After the violence was quelled, the troops withdrew from most of their deployed zones but continued to patrol the Wilson plant in Albert Lea, Minnesota.{{cite news |date=22 May 1948 |title=Meat Strike Ends, Troops Withdrawn |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1978&dat=19480522&id=26UoAAAAIBAJ&pg=5564,5774707&hl=en |newspaper=The Owosso Argus-Press |location=Chisago County, Minnesota |access-date=3 September 2015}}

State defense forces are authorized by the federal government under Title 32, Section 109 of the United States Code.{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/32/109 |title=32 U.S. Code § 109 - Maintenance of other troops |website=Legal Information Institute |publisher=Cornell University Law School |accessdate=3 September 2015}} Minnesota law also allows the creation of a state defense force.

• Minnesota Naval Militia
• Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol

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Category:State defense forces of the United States

Category:Military in Minnesota