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Show Training- The United States ' National Guard The only reason that we do not require an army of two or three million men thoroughly trained is the inability of Germany, Italy and Japan to attack us. They are rendered impotent by the combined com-bined British and American navies. Once either navy is destroyed de-stroyed the bars are down. One does not have to know that the dictator nations will attack the United States before believing that our fighting men should be trained. Already we know that modern warfare requires expert fighters. It is an art that cannot be picked up with the speed with which one shoulders a musket. Admitting the possibility that the British may be beaten in the present war, it seems to us, places upon this nation the duty of being prepared for any attack that might be launched against us. If the British fleet is put out of commission com-mission we know that our present fleet is insufficient to prevent foes from attacking this hemisphere hemi-sphere in one ocean or the other. So long as our navy is not large enough to insure us against an attack, regardless of the combination combina-tion against us, common sense requires re-quires that we prepare a second line of defense. The army is this second line. To be worth anything any-thing it must contain trained soldiers, sol-diers, with experience in the ways of modern warfare. This cannot be gleaned from books while National Guardsmen live at home. It must come from actual experience in the field. |