Honolulu, Hawaii -- U.S. Rep. Abercrombie has been honored  by the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) with the “Charles Dick Medal of Merit,” to recognize outstanding support for the National Guard.

NGAUS is a nonpartisan organization representing nearly 45,000 current and former Army and Air National Guard officers. Charles Dick Medal honorees “must have exhibited exceptional support and dedication to the National Guard over an extended period of time.”

“The National Guard faces challenges today that are unprecedented in U.S. military history,” said Abercrombie, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, which oversees the Air Force and Army. “They have been called to serve and sacrifice right next to their active duty brothers in arms in Iraq and Afghanistan, and just as they have for the last 233 years, they have answered the call.”

Speaking at the award dinner hosted by the Hawaii National Guard Association at the Hale Koa Hotel, Abercrombie noted that both the Guard and he work to earn and maintain “the faith and trust” of the people of Hawaii and the nation. “The question for all of us is, as we judge our lives, is whether we have lived up to that obligation.  That’s why I feel such a connection to you and am so honored to receive this award.”

The medal, he said, serves as a reminder of “my obligation and my duty” to serve the people, as well as the men and women of the National Guard,” Abercrombie said.

Hawaii’s Adjutant General, Major General Robert G.F. Lee, recounted his first time working with Congressman Abercrombie in 1998. Lee said he found the Congressman to be “always” visionary” and “a very special friend” of the National Guard.

He called Abercrombie the “Sonny Montgomery of the Pacific,” referring to the late Rep. Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi, credited for modernizing the GI Bill in 1984 for the nation’s volunteer force, adding education benefits for members of the National Guard and Reserve.

Abercrombie’s “legacy to us” is “the solid foundation that he built that started with the National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 that took care of people, especially the soldiers and airmen that served in the National Guard,” Lee said.

Lee noted that Abercrombie’s support then was important because it came when retiring Guard personnel were questioning the nation’s promise to care for veterans. As a member of the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, Abercrombie helped secure TRICARE for retired Guard members, Lee said.

(TRICARE is the Department of Defense's health care program for members of the uniformed services, their families and survivors. TRICARE also offers health care programs for retired service members.)

The Charles Dick Medal of Merit is named in honor of Major General Charles Dick, President of the National Guard Association of the United States from 1902 to 1909, Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard, and later a Member of Congress and the U.S. Senate. He introduced legislation in 1903 and 1908 credited with establishing the modern National Guard.

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