National Guard took Katrina battering

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http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/printer...

National Guard took Katrina battering
By UPI

NEW ORLEANS, LA, United States (UPI) -- Details are emerging of how battered the Louisiana National Guard, including flooded barracks and an angry citizenry, was when Hurricane Katrina came ashore.

Soon after the storm came ashore Aug. 29, the Guards` barracks was flooded up to the second floor, and troops had to rescue 35 fellow guardsmen -- mostly engineers -- who couldn`t swim.

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When the storm hit, 4,000 Louisiana guardsmen were on duty, including 1,250 in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, Guard officials said. By the next day, all 5,700 available Guard members were dispersed around the state, they said.

In interviews, Guard, state and local officials in Louisiana said the Guard performed well, but say it was crippled in the early days by a shortage of troops they blame on the deployment to Iraq of 3,200 Louisiana guardsmen.