SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard died this week after being shot while patrolling near the White House. She was 20 years old. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, who is 24, remains in critical condition. Authorities call the shooting a targeted attack. Hundreds of National Guard members from West Virginia and elsewhere have been deployed to Washington, D.C., after President Trump declared a crime emergency. We're joined now by retired General James Hoyer. He is a former adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard. General Hoyer, thank you so much for being with us.
JAMES HOYER: Yeah. Thank you for having me, Scott.
SIMON: This must be a very hard time for you and others who have served in the guard. I wonder - what were your thoughts when you heard the news?
HOYER: Well, it's - it is clearly a tragic and sad time for not just the West Virginia National Guard but all of West Virginia. You know, we are a small state. The guard is woven into the fabric of our state because of the missions that we do to support our state, not just our military mission - or their military mission now - but also all the other missions. And it's a time for us to focus on the families of Sarah and Andrew, the communities that they're from and the broader guard family. And, you know, one of the things I used to reinforce to our leadership in the guard is you recruit a soldier or an airman, but a family serves and sacrifices along with that soldier and airman. So we really need to be focused, our prayers and our thoughts, and focus on those families right now.
SIMON: Remind us of what other duties guards fulfill for their communities and their neighbors and friends, if you could.
HOYER: So the guard is a unique asset, constitutionally based. And it has a mission to be able to carry out its military mission, whatever those missions, for those specific units. But also, the guard is that asset that comes in to assist law enforcement and first responders and communities in time of need. So in the case of West Virginia, the guard has responded to large-scale water contaminations, to the pandemic response, to 1,000-year flood events, to - in 2017, the West Virginia National Guard - the governor was asked by the mayor of the city of Huntington, West Virginia, to come in and provide support to law enforcement due to a series of violent, drug-related crime issues.
SIMON: What was your response when members of the West Virginia Guard were deployed to several U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., for law enforcement purposes?
HOYER: So from a guard standpoint, it was, you know, you're called to do a mission, and you respond and you do that mission. You're under the direction of the civil authorities of this nation, and you respond and do your mission.
SIMON: Another 500 National Guard members are being called to D.C. following this shooting, which comes just days after a federal judge ruled that the deployment is illegal, but it gave the Trump administration time to appeal. Do you feel it's - that's good reason to go ahead with this increased deployment?
HOYER: So that's not the purview of the leadership of the guard right now. Their role is to respond to the direction of the civil authorities and allow that to work out through the appropriate processes. So they've got to be prepared, whatever guard organization it is, to conduct a mission while the civil authorities work through what those other legal actions may need to be.
SIMON: Yeah. It must be a lot of mourning going on.
HOYER: There is. And you - I think it's important to focus on the fact that if you go back and look at the age of Sarah and Andrew and the dates of service entry, these were just young kids, 18 years old, when they made...
SIMON: Yeah.
HOYER: ...The decision to step up and be part of less than 1% of the population of this nation that serves in a military uniform. And they, along with that very small percentage of law enforcement, first responders and, you know, medical folks in this country, provide that first line of defense for our nation and our communities. And they're there to respond when other emergencies occur.
SIMON: Retired Adjutant General James Hoyer. Thanks so much.
HOYER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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