Anxiety in Iraq for Guardsmen From Gulf Area (4,200 LA NG home w/in wks)

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Captain Ryan and 4,200 other members of the National Guard from Louisiana have finished their yearlong tour of duty. Their replacements, from other states, began arriving last month. But the Louisiana guardsmen are not expecting to fly home for at least another week, maybe two, and the journey itself could take 4 to 10 days.

"It's our turn to help our own, and we're not there," said Captain Ryan, 37.

For some, the wait is excruciating. A handful of guardsmen have not been able to locate their families, and their fellow guardsmen in Louisiana have organized house-to-house searches to track them down.
....
"Once we heard that the storm came across the gulf, the TV's have been on 24 hours," Captain Ryan said in a telephone interview.

Sgt. First Class Errol Williams, 33, a full-time guardsman who lives in Marrero, a 10-minute drive from downtown New Orleans, said he felt fortunate that his family had the means to escape the storm. Three days earlier, his wife and two children packed up and drove to the home of his wife's aunt in North Carolina. "Everybody doesn't have automobiles and even money to stay in a hotel," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/national/nationalspecial/04soldiers.html

[mom cat]

1. GOV Blanco asked Bush for them to get an early returm! That should

have been granted immediately!