In West Virginia, the National Guard is an opportunity and a lifeline : NPR

Webster Springs, West Virginia. — In West Virginia, many of the thousands of bridges that cross mountain valleys and gorges are named after local veterans, and small towns' main streets feature images of hometown soldiers, some of whom fought and died in past conflicts.

It is a state with one of the highest per capita veteran populations in the country. Serving in the military, including in various branches of the National Guard, has long been seen not only as a patriotic duty but also as an economic lifeline, especially in some of the poorest parts of the state.

Death of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom during the Washington, D.C. shooting and the wounding of another National Guard soldier, Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf, was another reminder of that reality in their hometowns and across the state.

The two were attacked while on patrol near the White House as part of the President. Deployment of Trump National Guard to American cities. Trump has said the deployments are necessary to fight crime, but Democratic leaders and federal judges have questioned their legality. There appears to be a growing chorus in deep-red West Virginia questioning the wisdom of sending troops to Washington.

Before moving to nearby Summersville after high school, Beckstrom, 20, grew up in Webster Springs, population just 800, surrounded by mountains and spruce forests. Kenny Kidd has been driving a school bus in the city for many years. He remembers all the children and Sarah, he said, “was a wonderful child.”

“She always had a smile on her face. She was always ready to help. And she always liked to give me a hard time,” he laughs.

In this part of the state, job prospects for high school graduates are quite poor.

“Coal mining is slowly fading away,” Kidd says. “Other than that, it’s… working in a grocery or hardware store. But there’s nothing special here.”

Financially, he says, Guard is a good deal for young people. Bonuses can help them put themselves through college, and paying for monthly training and annual tuition puts much-needed money in their pockets. And then there's the extra pay for deployments, like in Washington, D.C., where the West Virginia Guard he has more soldiers per capita than any other state.

At a prayer vigil for Wolf in his hometown of Martinsburg, Air Force Staff Sergeant Jason Mitchell says the need to pay off college debt led him to the National Guard. Mitchell, who serves in the same unit as Wolfe, the 167th Airlift Wing, served for 13 years but did not go to Washington because he was already deployed to the Middle East as part of a regular rotation. He plans to stay another seven years to receive full retirement benefits, including a pension and veterans' health care.

“Actually, my stepdaughter just joined and graduated from basic school. [training] while I was on a business trip,” he says. “She was kind of in the same boat that she was going to college and looking for… an opportunity.”

At Martinsburg High School, counselor Charity Powers provides counseling to seniors. According to her, there is more than one thing that motivates those who choose the Guard. Some people need money for college, some want to travel, and others feel it is a patriotic duty to follow in the footsteps of relatives who served.

“I think in this area, especially for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we have a lot of those students, this is a really good opportunity for them.”

Despite the state's enthusiasm for the military and the voluntary nature of D.C.'s deployment, Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey has taken a defensive stance on the issue. Amid reports that troops are being used for tasks such as garbage collection and landscaping rather than providing security as the White House suggests, West Virginia Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized Morrisey for signing the agreement. Several state newspapers supported this opinion on their pages.

Mike Pushkin, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and chairman of the state Democratic Party, says Beckstrom and Wolf “wouldn't have been there if the president hadn't called out the National Guard in this strange form of political theater, and it unfortunately put them in jeopardy.”

In a statement to NPR, Governor Morrisey said, “The state of West Virginia has steadfast support for our National Guard. Since its founding, our state has a proud history of military service, answering the call to missions around the world. The D.C. mission continues that legacy of service—and we fully support the Guard members who have volunteered to fight crime in our nation's capital.”

But in a state that strongly supported Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024, it's not hard to find people wondering aloud why sending the West Virginia National Guard to Washington makes any sense.

Rosanna Groves, who lives in Webster Springs and is related by marriage to Beckstrom, was outraged that the man accused of the attack – an Afghan national who worked with the CIA – was allowed into the United States at all. She blamed former President Biden for this, even though he was allowed into the Trump administration.

“I think something needs to be done” about immigrants like him, she says. But she doesn't understand Trump and Morrisey's decision to send the Guard to Washington. “I feel like it was crazy, I really do,” she says.

It's a sentiment echoed by Kidd, a school bus driver. He heard reports that Beckstrom, Wolf and others were busy cleaning up the area instead of “doing their jobs.” According to him, it's not worth it.

As for the rollout, “I think it's become much more political than anything else,” he says.

Referring to banners featuring local heroes in towns throughout West Virginia, “Sarah's photo… that'll be next,” he says. “But she will be missed.”