Nearly 200 Iowa National Guard soldiers (Starting Point, page 6) and airmen were on state active duty late last month supporting tornado relief and recovery efforts for northeast Iowa.

State officials activated the troops May 26 and 27 in the wake of tornadoes and severe storms that snapped utility poles and toppled buildings.

Approximately 160 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry responded to one of the areas hardest hit-Parkersburg, a small farming community of about 1,700 people.

A twister flattened the southern half of the town, said Rick Breitenfeldt, a National Guard Bureau spokesman.

"I'm no stranger to tornado damage, but I've never seen anything like this," said Spc. Erik A. Borseth, a medic with the battalion. "It feels good to be here, like we're accomplishing something for these Parkersburg people. That's our job. That's what we're here to do. That's how lowans are."

Most of the Guardsmen in Parkersburg performed security missions, primarily during the curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Breitenfeldt added.

Other duties included providing power to the incident command center at a badly damaged fire station in town and staffing a communications center for emergency personnel.

"If I could do more, I would. The damage is overwhelming and surreal, "said Maj. Jay W Lohmann, chief of the Guard's communications center.

"Private citizens keep approaching me, asking for permission to do things. I can't give them that permission because the Guard is supporting civilian agencies," he said. "But it tells me that the public respects and appreciates the job that the National Guard is doing."

Another 15 Guardsmen from various Iowa Guard units, including the 133rd Test Squadron and 132nd Fighter Wing, augmented the l-133rd in Parkersburg. They assisted with communications, transported water and produced emergency electrical power.

In addition, the American Red Cross used the 1st Battalion's headquarters in nearby Waterloo as an operations center for American Red Cross relief efforts.

-Iowa National Guard release

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