WASHINGTON –
Brig. Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, Commanding General (Interim) of the District of Columbia National Guard, delivers a command message from the D.C. Armory marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He honors the nearly 3,000 lives lost in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93, and reflects on the extraordinary courage of the first responders, service members and civilians who answered the call that day.
For the D.C. National Guard, that call was immediate.
Airmen of the 113th Wing scrambled F-16s to defend the skies over Washington. D.C. Army National Guard aviation crews supported medical evacuation operations at the Pentagon. Chaplains provided comfort to those confronting unimaginable loss. Soldiers helped secure the U.S. Capitol, and in the years that followed, more than 2,900 D.C. National Guard Soldiers and Airmen deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
Their service left a legacy that continues today through our Capital Guardians and the Soldiers and Airmen of Joint Task Force-District of Columbia.
Generations change. Technology changes. Missions change. But our responsibility does not.
We remember those we lost. We recognize those who answered. And we carry their legacy forward.