Lawmakers from Massachusetts managed to outflank their Virginia counterparts on the House floor last week, powering through a bill that officially designates Salem as the birthplace of the U.S. National Guard — based on the town's claim to having the country's first militia starting in 1629.
The bill still needs approval from the Senate, and Mr. Griffith said he will be alerting Virginia's two senators — Mark R. Warner and Jim Webb — in the hope that they might make a stand in the upper chamber as well.
Massachusetts militia scores another victory over Virginia →
"By the time the Pilgrims got here, the trail had already been blazed, and most everything they claim — 'We were first at this; first at that' — we'd already done it, except for doing witch trials," Mr. Griffith said.
Massachusetts militia scores another victory over Virginia →
