Governor Tom Vilsack is urging Iowans to ring bells at noon every day to honor the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve who’ve been called to active duty.Vilsack says it’s important for Iowans to stop and think, every day, of the sacrifices these folks are making for us. Vilsack’s asking managers of government buildings, churches and any other organization with a bell to ring their bells as homage to servicemen and women.Vilsack held a ceremony over the noon-hour today, and rang the replica of The Liberty Bell which sits on the Statehouse grounds. Vilsack says a ringing bell makes a “solemn sound.” Vilsack, a democrat, invited one of the legislature’s top republican leaders to join in the ceremony. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows was a Marine during the Vietnam era.Iverson, who has two sons in the National Guard, says he supports the military’s resolve to “keep our freedoms alive.’ Vilsack says Iowans find many ways to commemorate the military service of their fellow citizens. He says during Desert Storm as the Mayor of Mount Pleasant, they left a light on in every public building. Vilsack says the bell-ringing is not about supporting the war, it’s about supporting the men and women who are responding to the nation’s call. Vilsack says Iowans have all sorts of opinions on the potential conflict with Iraq, but he says we should all be united on one thing. “We should never forget that there are men and women who are taking themselves from their families, their friends and their community and the jobs that’re important to ’em and they’re serving this country. They’re not questioning it…and this an opportunity for us to never forget that.” More than 24-hundred Iowa troops have been mobilized or put on alert status
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