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May 2, 2024: Nebraska National Guard supports multiple agencies with storm response efforts
April 26, 2024: Nebraska Air National Guard to host Open Hangar event
February 1, 2024: Nebraska Army National Guard Aircraft Makes Emergency Landing
October 13, 2023: Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Air Refueling Wing to Welcome New Commander, Receive Unit Honors
May 5, 2023: National Guard Marathon runners return to Lincoln Marathon
March 16, 2023: Nebraska National Guard Soldiers to deploy in support of U.S. European Command
March 14, 2023: Ribbon-cutting planned for Camp Ashland military construction project
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Echoes of Valor: Nebraska National Guard Returns to Bastogne 80 Years Later
January 2, 2025 — BASTOGNE, Belgium -- The Battle of Bastogne, a pivotal World War II clash that took place in the frigid Ardennes Forest in December 1944, is etched into military history lore. In a historic battle of wills, German forces fought for control of the strategic city of Bastogne, which was defended by U.S. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who had been cutoff and surrounded during Germany’s final major offensive. It was a battle that captured the attention of the entire world. Far less known, however, is the role that Soldiers from the Nebraska National Guard’s 134th Infantry Regiment played during the critical days of the battle. Battling against deep snow, frigid temperatures and near-constant German counterattacks, the efforts of the 134th Infantry Regiment Soldiers helped raise the siege of Bastogne, allowing relief to flow into the devastated city and its airborne defenders. Eighty years later and a few degrees warmer, a new generation of Nebraska National Guard troops returned to Bastogne to honor the legacy of their predecessors and commemorate the anniversary of this hard-fought victory. ... MORE

Five members of the Nebraska National Guard travelled to Bastogne, Belgium, Jan. 9-14, 2025, where they helped commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the city by Soldiers of Nebraska National Guard’s 134th Infantry Regiment under the 35th Infantry Division, during World War II.

The service members participated in a wreath laying ceremony at a memorial honoring those who liberated the region from Nazi Germany. Joining them in the ceremony were local residents and officials from the city of Lutremange as well as the Timberwolves Remembrance Group Belgium, a reenactment group in Belgium.

The Nebraska Soldiers and Airmen also travelled to the Luxembourg American Cemetery Memorial where they visited the graves of service members laid to rest there while also placing a wreath at the grave marker for Technical Sergeant John Cantoni, a Nebraska National Guardsman from Omaha, Nebraska. Cantoni was killed in action on Jan. 4, 1944, when his foxhole was struck by German fire as he and other members of his unit were defending Bastogne. He had been with the company for less than a week after recovering from wounds he received during the Battle of St. Lo in July 1944.

Former Nebraska National Guard Soldier donates Olympic Gold Medal winning rifle to Nebraska National Guard Museum
January 2, 2025 — Like an aged warrior, Gary Anderson’s famed rifle is showing its age; the rifle stock, barrel and accompanying sights still bear the scars and marks of countless competitive battles, including a very historic one in Tokyo more than 60 years ago. Masking tape holds bent cardboard in place on the rear of the wooden stock. Similar tape clings to a silver front palm-rest where its “owner” steadied the rifle during its last competition with an athlete representing the U.S.S.R. In its totality, the rifle is understated, both gangly and elegant in appearance. Yet, despite its looks, the rifle holds an honored place amongst American Olympic lore. And now it’s part of the growing collection of artifacts at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward, Nebraska. “This rifle served me well during the years that I used it,” former Nebraska Army National Guard Lieutenant Gary Anderson wrote recently about the Remington 300-meter free rifle he donated to the Nebraska Guard Museum on Dec. 27. Did it ever. In 1962, Anderson used the rifle to lead the U.S.A. marksmanship team to two 300-meter World Championship Gold Medals. He also used it to win a gold medal in the 1963 Pan American Games in the 300-Meter (3x40) free rifle event with a score of 1,146, just one point shy of the world record at the time... MORE

Gary Anderson, former Nebraska Guardsman, donates his 1964 Olympic gold medal winning rifle to the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward, Nebraska, Dec. 27, 2024. Anderson used the rifle to lead the U.S.A. marksmanship team to two 300-meter World Championship Gold Medals. He also used it to win a gold medal in the 1963 Pan American Games in the 300-Meter (3x40) free rifle event with a score of 1,146, just one point shy of the world record at the time.

It was the same rifle that Anderson used to win a Gold Medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo on Oct. 15, 1964., the first of two consecutive Olympic Golds the Axtell, Nebraska, native earned in the 1960s while also serving as a Nebraska Army Guard engineering officer In Hastings and Grand Island.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gauret Stearns)

Nebraska Guard Infantry trains with Air Force on survival tactics
March 1, 2024 — Soldiers with the Nebraska Army National Guard’s Company B, 2-134th Infantry (Airborne) conducted survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) training, Feb. 3-4, 2024, at the Mead Training Site near Yutan, Nebraska. ... MORE

Soldiers with the Nebraska Army National Guard’s Company B, 2-134th Infantry (Airborne), conduct survival, evasion, resistance and escape training Feb. 3-4, 2024, at the Mead Training Site near Yutan, Nebraska. The 59 Soldiers were trained by six U.S. Air Force instructors from the 55th Operations Support Squadron from Offutt Air Force Base.

155th Air Refueling Wing demonstrates readiness in large-scale exercise
February 16, 2024 — The 155th Air Refueling Wing conducted a large-scale readiness exercise, or LRE, on Feb. 2-4, 2024, at the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln... MORE

Airmen from the 155th Air Refueling Wing, respond to a simulated injured airman Feb. 4, 2024, National Guard airbase in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nebraska Guardsman named U.S. Africa Command’s 2023 Bilateral Affairs Officer of the Year
February 13, 2024 — U.S. Africa Command announces Nebraska Army National Guard Maj. Jessica Pan as the Bilateral Affairs Officer of the Year for 2023... MORE

Nebraska Army National Guard Maj. Jessica Pan poses with her husband and three children after her promotion ceremony to the rank of major, Feb. 22, 2023, at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda.

Nebraska Airman: The Story behind the Uniform
December 2, 2023 — Nebraska Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Jarell Roach, a Religious Affairs Airman with the 155th Air Refueling Wing, recalls how a classmate's tragic story became the catalyst for his desire to join the military and fight to bring direction and hope to everyone he could... MORE

The Liberation of Nancy, France
September 15, 2023 — On Sept. 15, 1944, Col. Butler B. Miltonberger, and the 134th Infantry Regiment of the Nebraska Army National Guard, along with its combat partners, liberated Nancy, France, from German occupation... MORE

This photo was taken shortly after the liberation of the city of Nancy, France, on Sept. 15, 1944.

Czech leaders thank servicemembers’ families in Nebraska for the roles their World War II Veterans played in liberation
September 6, 2023 — On Aug. 26, 2023, senior leaders of the Czech Armed Forces honored the family of 1st Lt. Virgil Kirkham as well as the families of two other Nebraska service members who participated in the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945 during the opening ceremony for the 2023 Guardians of Freedom Airshow in Lincoln... MORE

The families of three American servicemembers with Nebraska ties are honored for the roles they played in liberating Czechoslavakia at the end of World War II by Lt. Gen. Karel Rehka, Chief of Defense of the Czech Armed Forces, and 1st Deputy Minister of Defense Frantisek Sulc.

Czech dignitaries travel to Nebraska to celebrate 30th anniversary of partnership
September 4, 2023 — Thirty years after they were first matched as one of the original collaborations within the National Guard’s State Partnership Program, members of the Czech Armed Forces and representatives from the Nebraska and Texas National Guard celebrated their ongoing partnership during a nearly-weeklong celebration in Lincoln, Nebraska, Aug. 23-27, 2023... MORE

Members of a Czech Delegation including Czech Armed Forces, and Nebraska National Guard leadership came to Nebraska to participate in the airshow this year in celebration of 30 years of partnership with Nebraska and Texas through the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program Aug. 26, 2023.

Guardians of Freedom Air Show returns with record attendance
September 1, 2023 — The Guardians of Freedom Airshow - hosted by the Nebraska National Guard’s 155th Air Refueling Wing in partnership with the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Airport Authority and 55th Wing, Offutt Air Force Base - returned to the Lincoln Airport for the first time since 2016 with a record number of attendees August 26-27, 2023... MORE

Crowds cheer on multiple acts as they perform, Aug. 26, 2023, during the Guardians of Freedom Airshow at the Lincoln Airport, Nebraska.

Videos

Video by Staff Sgt. Noah Carlson

155th ARW conducts NORE

155th Air Refueling Wing, Nebraska Air National Guard

March 1, 2025 | 1:41

The 155th Air Refueling Wing, Nebraska Air National Guard, conducted a three-day Nuclear Operational Readiness Exercise, Feb. 28 - Mar. 2, 2025, at the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln, Nebraska. As part of a joint effort, a KC-135R Stratotanker from the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard, joined with Nebraska’s aircraft to participate in the Alert Aircraft Repositioning Plan portion of the exercise, demonstrating a unified front, reinforcing strategic partnerships and interoperability. A NORE enhances combat readiness by evaluating a unit’s ability to execute nuclear missions with precision while integrating global operations with combatant commands, U.S. agencies and allies to deter, detect and, if necessary, defeat strategic threats. (U.S. Air National Guard video by Staff Sgt. Noah Carlson)