A Slap In the Face

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.

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. This week, Maloney and King will ask the Armed Service Committee to hold a hearing on the issue.

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