To Honor and Celebrate – United States Army marks their 250th Birthday – Message from WDVA Director David Puente Jr.

 

To Honor and Celebrate – United States Army marks their 250^th Birthday – Message from WDVA Director David Puente Jr.

Two‐and‐a‐half centuries ago—14 June 1775—the Continental Congress voted to “raise and support an Army” to defend a nation that existed only as an idea. 250 years later, that idea has grown into the world’s most enduring experiment in democracy, safeguarded every day by the men and women of the United States Army.

Today we celebrate more than a date on the calendar. We honor generations of Veterans—to include Active-Duty, Guard, and Reserve members—who stood watch at Lexington and Concord, stormed the beaches of Normandy, patrolled the jungles of Vietnam, navigated the deserts of the Middle East, and now deter aggression in every domain, from the Indo-Pacific to cyberspace. We also remember the families who packed footlockers, prayed over late-night phone calls, kept homes running, and welcomed their Soldiers back with open arms.

Here in Washington, our history is woven tightly into the Army story. Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry mapped the Pacific Northwest. Fort Lewis (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord) trained the legendary 91st “Wild West” Division before it shipped to France in World War I. Stryker Brigades headquartered just south of Tacoma changed the tempo of land warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. Time and again, Washington Soldiers have proven that courage is our state’s greatest natural resource.

To our Soldiers past and present: you have earned the gratitude of a nation and the admiration of history. Your selfless service reminds us that America’s strength has never been found only in her weapons, but in the character of those who wield them.

Happy 250th Birthday, United States Army. May your next quarter-millennium be guided by the same values that carried you through the last: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage.

First in service. Always ready. Forever proud. HOOAH!