Military families urge governors to oppose Guard deployments

July 16th, 2005 5:38 pm
Link Associated Press AP

DES MOINES -- Military parents and spouses are calling on the nation's governors to oppose future deployment of National Guard troops overseas and work harder to bring home troops now serving in Iraq.

"We need our governors to raise their voices louder than ever," said Boston resident Nancy Lessin, who has a son who served in Iraq and traveled from Boston to speak at Friday's rally in Des Moines, where the National Governor's Association is meeting this weekend.

"Now is the time for the governor's to fully support the National Guard by honoring the fallen and opposing the deployment of their Guard by calling for all troops to be brought home now," she said.

The rally and a memorial service planned later in the day were organized by the American Friends Service Committee, Military Families Speak Out and a dozen other groups fed up with rising casualties, the lack of training and equipment and the overseas deployment of soldiers who are needed at home.

Highlighting the casualties, organizers set out 232 pairs of combat boots -- one for each National Guard soldier killed in Iraq -- along a public plaza two blocks from the convention center where the nation's governors are meeting.

Chief executives from 33 states are attending the annual summer meeting of the National Governor's Association, which opens Saturday. Education, health care and Medicaid costs and economic development highlight the agenda.

But concerns some governors have about the broader role of the National Guard and the stress deployments have had on states could come up, said Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, the meeting's host. Vilsack and others have argued that the size of the military is too small and too much reliance is being placed on the National Guard.

Celeste Zappala, of Philadelphia, echoed Vilsack's comments.

Zappala said her son, Sherwood Baker, was killed last year, the first Pennsylvania National Guard soldier killed in combat since World War II.

She criticized the decision to send Guard troops to war zones overseas, saying such missions betray how the Guard is marketed to recruits and contradicts its intended purpose of protecting the home borders or assisting during emergencies and natural disasters.

She joined others in criticizing the war and reports that Guard troops receive inferior training and equipment, and are underpaid.

"This war is a betrayal of the nobility of the Guard, our services and the democracy they seek to protect," said Zappala, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace. "And it's based on lies and fabrication."

At the rally, organizers also held enlarged photographs of Iowa guard members killed in combat and a banner stating: Stop the Occupation: Bring Home the Troops."