Michigan National Guard members complained of receiving badly cooked meals or food containing metal shavings during their stay in Washington, DC, to protect the United States Capitol, according to reports.
Tuesday’s disclosures were the latest reports of alleged ill-treatment of National Guard officials in the country’s capital, where members of the Guard from various states were sent before and after the January 6 riot.
Members of the Michigan Congressional delegation and Governor Gretchen Whitmer were briefed on food issues in mid-February – and the problems were initially resolved – but new complaints emerged last weekend, the Detroit News reported.
Guard members are increasingly spending their own money on meals because they do not trust the food being provided to them, the report said.
A message delivered to a lawmaker stated that “several soldiers” fell ill with meals, with much of the food being thrown away.
SMALL NATIONAL GUARD CONTINGENT THAT IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE CAPITOL OF THE UNDEFINITELY
“Morale is very bad,” read the message. “Many have served abroad and cannot believe in the quality of the food being fed here.”
US Representative Bill Huizenga, a Republican from the Netherlands, Michigan, said he heard that members of the Guard were discarding up to half of the meals they received.
“What I was told is that if they had ten meals, they would throw four or five out,” he told News. “They couldn’t even eat them.”
Huizenga ate with members of the Guard outside the Capitol last week, the News reported.
In a Facebook post, US Deputy Jack Bergman, a retired lieutenant general in the Marine Corps representing northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, asked Michigan Guard personnel to return from DC
“They responded to the call,” wrote Bergman, “dealt with adverse conditions and continue to make us proud.”
Michigan lawmakers called for the replacement of the contracted firm that provided the meals – and a daily allowance for members of the Guard in the meantime to cover meal costs until the problem is resolved, Washington’s WUSA-TV reported.
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It was not clear whether the meal problems affected members of the Guard from states other than Michigan.
Previous reports of alleged mistreatment detailed members of the Guard being forced to spend time out in a parking lot near the Capitol and being forced to rest on the floor inside the building until a crib was provided.
After some 25,000 Guard members from various states reported to Washington after the turmoil, some 6,000 were expected to remain in the capital until mid-March.