Originally Posted by cisco2
I serve in the Air National Guard. I joined in 1989 and I have never been active duty. I am proud of my service to my country and I serve with many good men and women who might take more than a little offense at some of the tone about serving in the Guard. The roots of the U.S. National Guard go all the way back to the Minutemen who fought for our country's birth. Member of the National Guard have fought and died in every war the U.S. has ever been in. Even when it wasn't technically a war (Viet Nam, Desert Storm-commonly called Gulf War btw, the recent liberation of Iraq) men and women of the U.S. National Guard have been involved in the conflict. There are more than a few people from my base who have been to Iraq in the past year. A close friend of mine, recently retired spent three months in Kuwait helping our forces prepare before the invasion began. At 59 he was the second oldest person in the U.S. Military in Kuwait at the time. He was called and he went and served. Please don't denigrate service in the Guard. Snipe away at Bush if you must but the graves marking the final resting places of members of the U.S. National Guard who fought and died in conflicts the world around deserve a bit more respect. Serving in the Guard is not draft dodging, neither is Coast Guard service for that matter. Even in peacetime men and women of the Coast Guard risk their lives saving stranded mariners and intercepting international drug runners and smugglers. Well now I've gone and got all worked up...Rant off
