PETALUMA

The commanding officer of a California National Guard battalion that has lost three men in Iraq and suffered another 17 wounded on Saturday praised Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, an outspoken critic of the war, for her commitment to the soldiers.

A year ago, said Lt. Col. Walter Goodwater, Woolsey showed up early one morning at the Petaluma armory to see 93 members of the 579th National Guard Engineer Battalion ship out to Iraq.

"Her credibility with me is simple. There was no one here to see it, but she took her time to see my men," Goodwater told a group of 150 members of the National Guard and veterans. "She took care of my men, and that is what matters to me."

Goodwater was speaking at a meeting called by Woolsey at the Petaluma armory to talk about services available to active military, members of the guard and veterans.

Woolsey said the meeting was about helping the soldiers, not about politics.

"I am so against the war, but I'm concerned that the warriors not be shortchanged, and that is what this is all about," Woolsey said.

At the meeting, representatives of veteran service groups discussed available benefits, from home loans to medical help for physical and mental problems to help in repaying college tuition.

While the discussion was about helping the soldiers, the outcome of the war in Iraq, which has taken the lives of three members of the unit, was an unspoken concern.

"I personally don't like war either, but it is something that is necessary at times," said Norman Valdez of Upper Lake, who has been in the military 24 years and spent seven months in Iraq.

One soldier, Jenna Hause, 21, of Petaluma, is among 150 members of the unit scheduled to go to Iraq in November. She wore a black wristband in memory of Sgt. Michael Ottolini of Sebastopol, a unit member killed by a roadside bomb.

Woolsey has been a staunch critic of the war and is part of an effort by Democrats and Republican lawmakers alike to try to force the Bush administration to set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

But the focus Saturday was on the soldiers themselves.

"You are there, on your watch, to guard our freedom, and it is our job, on our watch, to help you," said Cathy Smith, director of the Oakland regional office of the Veterans Administration.

Stan Caulfield of Helmets to Hardhats said the program is working with 82,000 contractors and so far has placed 21,000 departing military personnel in construction jobs.

"And not just a job, but a career, the kind that you can buy a house, two cars and a boat for the weekend," Caulfield said.

John Woolley of Employment of Guard and Reserve, told the guardsmen there are laws that will protect their jobs, and his nonprofit group has a 97 percent success rate in disputes.

Bill Brotman of Petaluma, a World War II veteran, told the crowd how important it was they learn about the benefits to which they were entitled.

"We did not have meetings like this," Brotman said. "We were weary, we wanted to go home, and we took our disabilities with us. It took me 58 years to find out what I was entitled to."

The engineering and infantry battalion has 750 men in 11 armories from Paso Robles to Eureka.

In its yearlong mission in Iraq, the unit was part of a security force in Baghdad and also part of the force that conducted house-to-house searches in Mozul.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bnorberg@pressdemocrat.com.