Dignitaries from around the world, officers and enlisted men, families, friends and the general public gathered at various sites around Springfield to celebrate the Illinois National Guard’s 300th Birthday.

On May the 9th, 1723 a group of rag tag militia men first drilled in a place called American Bottom in the small Southern Illiniois village of Kaskaskia thus marking the birth of the Illinois National Guard.

The Guard has gone on to establish a proud tradition of service to the people of Illinois and to the people of the nation when needed.

Representatives from the Belgians and from Australia came to Springfield to speak about how the Guard joined with their nations in times of crisis including World Wars One and Two.

Patrick Van Nevel, special counsel to the Belgians, addressed a crowd at Union Station on Saturday about how 7 brave officers with the ILNG made a daring rescue of King Leopold III and his family from their Nazi captors using cunning, stealth and a stolen German staff car!