National Guard is hard work but satisfying

Jim Fraiser

Since the 1630s, when America’s colonies needed militia protection from hostile forces of two different continents, the National Guard has remained prepared to protect the homefront from would-be invaders and nature’s unpredictable fury. Northsider Lee Smithson, a colonel in Mississippi’s National Guard since 1993, has fulfilled those missions in more ways than most could imagine, abroad and stateside alike.