Four governors visit Guard troops in Iraq

By Spc. John Stimac
Joint Base Balad

Wyo. Gov. Dave Freudenthal takes time to meet Soldiers from the Wyo. National Guard deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, Nov. 10. "It won’t be possible for me to visit each and every person from Wyo., but I hope to see as many as possible, to shake their hands and tell them ‘thank you’ personally," Freudenthal said.
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq, (11/14/09) - Governors from Georgia, Mississippi, Oregon and Wyoming visited Soldiers and Airmen Nov. 11 here at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center.

Wyoming Gov. David D. Freudenthal said the trip gives him a chance to meet with military personnel from his state “with a primary emphasis on meeting with the National Guard troops from our state.”

Freudenthal said he was here once before, in 2005.

"This is the largest deployment of Soldiers we have had from Wyoming since the onset of the war," he said. "This is a chance to see people that are important to us at home. We want to make sure they know that on behalf of the citizens of my state."

People back home are concerned for them and their well being, said Freudenthal.

"Wyoming is a small state, it is more like a community," he said. "I want to relay the fact that people back home care about them."

After a meet and greet, the governors held a town hall style meeting with the service members of their state.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski spoke to service members about the state's unemployment rate and the new health care bill passed by the House and how it would affect the state.

Kulongoski also spoke about the state's education system.

"Oregon has the most students enrolled in post secondary schools in all of the state's history," he said.

He also said he hoped to have a baseball team in the future.

"Right now Portland is the largest media market that does not have a baseball team," said Kulongoski.

Sgt.1st Class Christopher G. Mcintosh, battalion liaison noncommissioned officer in charge with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, said he appreciated meeting the governor.

"It's not often I get to see the governor in person and get to have a conversation with him," he said.

Mcintosh, a Monmouth, Ore., native, said the meeting helped shed light on two issues that were important to himself and his family.

"The highest priorities for me, deal with health care and education," he said. "To find out what the state of Oregon is doing with those issues is very important, especially when we come back home and have to get our feet wet again."

Mcintosh said he could have discussed Oregon's issues with the governor all day.

"When you get a chance to talk to the person that runs the state, a person that really has a finger on the pulse of what's going on, you come away more educated," he said.

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