Guard policy bewildering

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It's a decision so bewildering it almost takes your breath away: The Oregon National Guard has ordered local residents to close a food bank at the Merlin National Guard Armory.

The food bank is run primarily to benefit the families of citizen-soldiers who have been shipped off to serve in Iraq. Yet, the head of the Oregon National Guard, Maj. Gen. Raymond Rees, has said using a National Guard facility to host the food bank violates policies established by the federal National Guard Bureau.

The pantry isn't even in the main armory building in Merlin. Rather, it's in an outbuilding, in a room about the size of a walk-in closet. The food bank is run mostly by members of the local VFW and its auxiliary and does not require any significant resources on the part of the National Guard itself. Yet, in ordering the pantry's operators to find new quarters, Rees said, "It doesn't fit with what we're doing."

This attitude is difficult to understand. Part-time soldiers are uprooted and sent to a foreign land to serve their country, but are not paid enough to support their families back home. Unlike members of the full-time military, there is no on-base housing, subsidized by taxpayers, for their families. And yet, when others try to help, the military throws up roadblocks.

Those trying to help know the need is real. This is the third deployment for the National Guard soldiers based at the Merlin Armory. In the past, many of the families left behind have struggled financially.

The citizen-soldiers of the National Guard make huge sacrifices to serve their country. Their families sacrifice right along with them, as soldiers who also happen to be spouses, fathers and mothers are sent to war-torn countries.

The long separations are hard on everyone involved, but they beat the alternative. Some soldiers may never return home — 19 members of the Oregon National Guard have already died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now, the food bank is looking for a new home. It is likely one will be found, but that such an effort is even necessary is disheartening. The military should be helping, not impeding, this cause.

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