Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Fla. Guard pulls out Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 16:56:27 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Fla. Guard pulls out \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT HOMESTEAD, Fla. HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) - The last National Guard troops will end their long post-Hurricane Andrew deployment today, and the nation's longest peacetime curfew will expire tomorrow. Master Sgt. Terry Brabham helped prepare for the closing of the Florida National Guard's hurricane headquarters in a storm-ruined motel on U.S. 1 as the sense of siege in south Dade County neared its end. "One man in Cutler Ridge said, 'Who's going to watch my home when you guys are gone?' I said, 'Who was watching it before we were here?' " Sgt. Brabham said. The Guard deployed 6,300 people, who were joined by nearly 30,000 U.S. troops after Hurricane Andrew cut a destructive swath through the southern portion of the state Aug. 24. They helped clean up, direct traffic, provide food and water, and enforce the 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew from the Kendall community south about 20 miles to Florida City. Officials had planned to leave the curfew in effect for a while after the Guard pullout but agreed to lift it as residents' complaints mounted. A typical complaint came from Toni Pierce of Homestead. She said she was "treated like a common criminal" by a military policeman at a checkpoint as she returned home late from a Miami concert by country music star Reba McEntire. A federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of residents against the curfew helped force the issue. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM