Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, personally thanked National Guard Soldiers and Airmen for their work in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. In his remarks, made during a visit to Naval Air Station New Orleans, Blum noted that many of the Guard members who have answered the call to duty in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina have done so at great personal sacrifice.

Whether it be postponing a honeymoon, missing an anniversary or being absent for the birth of a child, when duty calls these volunteers don�t hesitate to respond.

Helping those in need was on the minds of many National Guard Soldiers and Airmen who were waiting at the air station to get their mission orders.

Sitting on a New York City transit bus which would transport him to his temporary home in the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans, 2nd Lt. Chris A. Bird, a platoon leader with the Oregon Army National Guard�s Company D, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry, noted that a fellow officer, 2nd Lt. William Morgan, was married on Sept. 3.

In a matter of days the new groom boarded a military flight bound for New Orleans. Bird said Morgan, a platoon leader for the battalion�s Co. C, left with the rest of the state�s contingent on Sept. 7.

According to Bird, the Oregon National Guard deployed about 1,400 Soldiers to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Soldiers are operating in and around the French Quarter and Super Dome. Besides providing security, Bird said Soldiers are trying to prevent any more damage to the civilian infrastructure.

�We also help with evacuations when necessary,� he said.

Bird said that Spc. Heath Cooper, a Soldier from his company, will miss the birth of his second child, which is due within the next week. Cooper�s first child � a girl � was born while he was on an earlier deployment to Egypt, Bird said.

Births, marriages, anniversaries � all are among the milestones missed when duty calls. It�s a fact of military life that Guard members accept without hesitation.
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