By Stephen Smoot
The oldest military formations in the United States predate the United States.
From the Anglo-Saxon came the original word for part-time soldiers organized for local defense which was “fyrd.” The Norman Conquest brought Latin and French-inspired terms to English usage and by the 1700s, American colonies and their counties set up “militia.”
For the future West Virginia, militia served as the main, and often only, line of defense. Men fought desperately to protect their homes, but also went on long-range patrols and mission starting during the French and Indian Wars. By the War of Independence, they emerged increasingly in support of regular Continental Army formations, but they led the way to victory against the British Empire in the War of 1812.
By the early 1900s, federal law transformed militia into the more formalized National Guard.
It is not the history of the Guard organization that we mention today, but its most recent sacrifices for freedom. No military service or unit defends freedom or nation without men and women carrying superior heart and dedication to duty and country.
When America sends its fighting men and women to far-flung areas to the world to do battle and protect freedom, casualties all too often result. Those service men and women receive recognition through monuments or statues that commemorate their service and demand permanent remembrance of their sacrifice.
After the United States Civil War, Northern and Southern courthouse lawns alike featured the statue of a single Union or Confederate soldier to represent the loss and its legacy.
Someday, visitors to the Webster County Courthouse in Webster Springs may see a solemn reminder of the murder of West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom.
“My baby girl has passed to Glory,” her grieving father Gary Beckstrom posted to social media
Hopefully, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe of Martinsburg will not need to have a similar monument at the Berkeley County Courthouse, as he still battles for his life.
On a National Public Radio Broadcast, West Virginia State Senator Jason Barrett shared his thoughts and prayers, then added “it’s certainly something baffling to me . . . why anyone would want to just go and . . . have a viscous and unprovoked attack on two people who are there merely and solely to protect others.”
“When I heard that some of our Guardsmen were going to be deployed, I said a prayer for them, too,” related Nicolas Diehl, chief administrator of the Eastern Regional Airport that hosts the 167th Airlift Group
Beckstrom joined the National Guard to build a foundation that, as the New York Post reported, would likely have helped her achieve her dream of a career at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
While the rest of the nation responded in shock at the shooting that took place just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Webster County remembers and mourns the 2023 Webster County High School graduate. A number of national and international press outlets ran a photo of her in red graduation garb, smiling in happier times.
“There are no words big enough for this loss,” West Virginia Metro News quoted the Webster County Veterans Auxiliary as expressing.
She joined right after graduation, entering service in June of 2023 and serving in the 863rd Military Police Company 111th Engineer Brigade. That unit operates from the Glen Jean Armory. Her full time job lay in working at a center that treats people with mental illness
Severely wounded, but still battling, Sgt. Wolfe, 24 years old, serves with the Force Support Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard.
A week prior to their mission, the United States Army published an article on the impact of “DC Safe and Beautiful,” under which Wolfe, Beckstrom, and other Guard service men and women served in the Nation’s Capital.
One photo showed “US Army Spc. Ayden Holbert . . . and Pfc. Daniel Tippett, both assigned to the West Virginia National Guard, conduct(ing) a presence patrol in the Dupont Circle area.
The presence has a two-fold objective, to deter high crime and promote a sense of citizen safety while also participating in an effort to remove debris from the streetscape. As the Army reported “service members assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia have supported the mission through daily patrols, site cleanups, and logistical assistance aside civilian partners.
Said US Army Col Larry Doane, in command of the task force “people have told me they didn’t realize how tense they felt just walking home before. Now they feel safer and more at ease. These improvements send a message that this capital belongs to everyone – and we take pride in its care.”
Statistics show that the mission had success where it counts, total crime down 40 percent over the same period last year. Carjackings dropped 52 percent, robberies by 60, and violent crime 48 percent.
US Army Command Sgt Major Scott McKennon shared “when I walk alongside the troops and see the pride they take in making this city safer, it reminds me why this mission matters.”
Wolfe and Beckstrom were part of a group patrolling near the Farragut West Metro Station less than 1000 yards from the White House when allegedly ambushed by a handgun wielding Afghan immigrant with ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and its efforts in that country’s war.
Said Governor Patrick Morrisey, “those two West Virginia heroes were serving our country and protecting our nation’s capital when they were maliciously attacked.”
He added “their courage and commitment to duty represent the very best of our state” and requested that West Virginians everywhere pause at 2:15 p.m. Friday, the time of the attack, to pray for and remember the wounded and the fallen.
President Donald Trump called the attack “a heinous assault” and “an act of evil.”
