O'Malley, Mikulski seek more funds to help returning troops

More post-deployment aid urged
O'Malley, Mikulski seek more funds to help returning troops
By John Fritze Sun reporter
8:30 PM EDT, March 27, 2008

Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski told a group of soldiers Thursday that the government must do more to help returning troops by increasing mental health funding and cutting bureaucracy in existing programs.

During a meeting at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore, both officials heard accounts from about a dozen members of the Maryland National Guard who had emotional and financial problems after returning from deployment overseas.

About 1,500 members of the Guard are expected to return to Maryland in the next six months, a wave that is likely to strain state-funded integration programs. Last year, 1,300 members of the Army National Guard and 350 Air National Guard members from Maryland were deployed, according to the governor's office.

"When they come back home, just like they stood by America, America has to stand by them," said Mikulski, who vowed to seek an additional $45 million for integration programs nationwide. "We've got to help these guardsmen."
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