Lah We, Lah His: The Interwar Nebraska National Guard, 1919-1940
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abstract
The Nebraska National Guard has been in service to the state since its creation by the territorial legislature. Its official Federal involvement goes back to the turn of the century. The period of the Guards existence covered in this book concerns the so-called interwar years between the two World Wars. Major General Herbert J. Paul as Adjutant General of the Guard from 1919 to 1938 shaped the interwar Guard, so his career intertwines with the history of the Guard. The policies and decisions Paul made affected the Guard from the post-World War I mobilization to the eve of World War II. This work will examine the Guard's evolution from the typical "citizen soldiers" portrayed in period recruiting to a professional, modern and well-trained force that was called out four times in the interwar years due to civil unrest and natural disaster. By 1940, the Guard was prepared for induction into federal service for the Second World War. Examining the major personalities, events, and actions of the Guard during this period presents a portrait of an organization in transition and modernization as the greatest cataclysm of the 20th Century bore down upon the country.
