Greg Abbott uses our young men’s lives to promote his political career without considering the damage he often causes. Those young men and women must put their lives on hold for one year. Abbott is destined for Hell.

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Greg Abbotts’ political stunts have resulted in at least 17 deaths, including four or five by suicide.

At least 17 Texas Guardsmen have died while deployed during the contentious mission to secure the southern border in the past three years,a Texas military official told state lawmakers earlier this month.

Others who died for a variety of reasons while serving on Operation Lone Star include a Guardsmen who suffered a medical emergency at his unit’s hotel, at least two others who were killed in accidental shootings as well as at least four others who died by suicide.

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How long do the National Guards have to serve on Operation Lone Star?

Deplorable conditions, unclear mission: Texas National Guard troops call Abbott’s rushed border operation a disaster

The governor has sent waves of troops to the border as Guard officials scramble to execute a massive mobilization that would normally take months to plan. Some Guard members say the operation has set back their income, education and well-being.

Never before has Texas — or any other state — involuntarily activated so many troops under state active duty authority for such a long-term mission. Nor has it been done so quickly.

A few days after being told he’d likely sit the deployment out, the NCO was ordered to report within 72 hours, he said. If he didn’t, his commanders told him, the state would issue an arrest warrant.

“I had to cancel $60,000 worth of business contracts,” the NCO, who requested anonymity because he feared retaliation from Guard leaders, said in a text to Army Times and The Texas Tribune. His employees all quit.

After “three weeks of sitting on my ass with zero task or purpose,” he was sent home. But it may be too late to save his business. He says he still hasn’t found a new project and had to sell his company’s van to pay his mortgage, car payments and business loans.

“I didn’t want to get out of bed for a week,” the soldier said. “I was unemployed … and [I] felt exactly as if [the Texas Military Department] put me there because of their … lack of planning and leadership.”

His story is just one of many hardships service members say have resulted from Abbott’s unprecedented border security push, called Operation Lone Star.

During a two-month period beginning in September, Operation Lone Star ballooned from a lean 1,000-volunteer outfit to a mandatory mobilization of up to 10,000 members of the Texas Military Department. According to a senior Guard leader’s leaked comments during a virtual town hall for unit leaders, they’re expecting the current wave of troops to be there for a year, and they’re preparing for yet another wave of deployments.

The troops there say they faced a deluge of problems when they were mobilized — some of which have been slowly improving in recent weeks:

• As many as 1 in 5 troops in the 6,500-strong “operational force” who have been sent to the border have reported problems with their pay, including being paid late, too little or not at all for months.
• Service members say they have struggled with shortages of critical equipment, including cold weather gear, medical equipment and plates for their ballistic vests.
• Many are living in cramped trailers with dozens of troops.
• Some say they feel underutilized and rarely see migrants while working isolated observation posts that in some cases lacked portable toilets for months.