DLR'sCock
04-25-2005, 04:28 PM
Guardsmen Denied Ground Zero Retirement Credit
By Maki Becker
New York Daily News
Monday 25 April 2005
Hundreds of members of the U.S. Army National Guard who helped protect New York City after the Sept. 11 terror attacks aren't getting credit toward their military retirement for their service.
While Guard members were paid for their time, not a single day they spent in the rubble of the World Trade Center helping dig for survivors, controlling crowds and keeping order around the city counted toward their military retirement.
The time spent at Ground Zero is considered state active duty - not federal.
Federal duty generally involves being mobilized for war, but it also includes the protection of federal sites in the months after the attacks.
Protecting the West Point military academy, for example, did earn credit for that service.
"Compared to Ground Zero, West Point was a luxury," recalled Francisco Sostre, 39, a sergeant with New York's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, known as the Fighting 69th.
Sostre spent several weeks in lower Manhattan before being transferred to protect West Point.
"At Ground Zero, we were breathing in all that aftermath," said Sostre, who was home earlier this month from Iraq, where the Fighting 69th is now deployed. "We didn't know if we were safe, if there were bombs or more airplanes coming. ... It should count equally."
To make sure the guardsmen get their due, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) and Pete King (R-L.I.) introduced bills that would treat guard-unit service in counties that were declared national disaster areas as federal duty.
"Clearly, all the National Guard who served during this unprecedented national emergency deserve equal status," Maloney told the Daily News. "This is wrong. We feel terrible about this. They deserve to be treated the same."
This week, Maloney and King will ask the Armed Service Committee to hold a hearing on the issue.
"It should count from the moment 9/11 happened," said Alan Colombani, 39, a National Guard specialist who helped patrol the street around the Trade Center site to prevent looters.
"It's not fair," said Ramon Santiago, another specialist. "You do a lot of work here. You leave your job and your family. ... We need a little support."
By Maki Becker
New York Daily News
Monday 25 April 2005
Hundreds of members of the U.S. Army National Guard who helped protect New York City after the Sept. 11 terror attacks aren't getting credit toward their military retirement for their service.
While Guard members were paid for their time, not a single day they spent in the rubble of the World Trade Center helping dig for survivors, controlling crowds and keeping order around the city counted toward their military retirement.
The time spent at Ground Zero is considered state active duty - not federal.
Federal duty generally involves being mobilized for war, but it also includes the protection of federal sites in the months after the attacks.
Protecting the West Point military academy, for example, did earn credit for that service.
"Compared to Ground Zero, West Point was a luxury," recalled Francisco Sostre, 39, a sergeant with New York's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, known as the Fighting 69th.
Sostre spent several weeks in lower Manhattan before being transferred to protect West Point.
"At Ground Zero, we were breathing in all that aftermath," said Sostre, who was home earlier this month from Iraq, where the Fighting 69th is now deployed. "We didn't know if we were safe, if there were bombs or more airplanes coming. ... It should count equally."
To make sure the guardsmen get their due, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) and Pete King (R-L.I.) introduced bills that would treat guard-unit service in counties that were declared national disaster areas as federal duty.
"Clearly, all the National Guard who served during this unprecedented national emergency deserve equal status," Maloney told the Daily News. "This is wrong. We feel terrible about this. They deserve to be treated the same."
This week, Maloney and King will ask the Armed Service Committee to hold a hearing on the issue.
"It should count from the moment 9/11 happened," said Alan Colombani, 39, a National Guard specialist who helped patrol the street around the Trade Center site to prevent looters.
"It's not fair," said Ramon Santiago, another specialist. "You do a lot of work here. You leave your job and your family. ... We need a little support."