"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." President George Washington

For 47 years, from 1965 to 2012, a grateful Pennsylvania honored its military members by exempting active-duty military pay from local income taxes.

In 2012, despite Pennsylvania's soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines serving our military around the world and 91 percent of the Pennsylvania Guard serving away from family, work and homes on multiple deployments, Pennsylvania ended the 1965 exemption and made active duty military income subject to local taxes.

We are seeking your support to restore the 1965 exemption.

The Pennsylvania National Guard was founded in 1747 when Benjamin Franklin formed the Associators in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania National Guard is comprised of both the PA Air National Guard (PaANG) and PA Army National Guard (PAARNG). The Pennsylvania National Guard represents a great value in the overall cost of the defense of our nation. Your Pennsylvania National Guard stands ready to deploy at a moment's notice to protect the citizens of this great commonwealth and the citizens of the United States of America. We take this responsibility seriously, and you will never hear word of complaint as we faithfully execute our duties.

When The Guard is called up, we go. With every crisis, we immediately leave behind families, jobs, community commitments and friends.

Not left behind are mortgages, bills and financial commitments, which these families struggle to meet.

As a direct result of these duties and obligations, in 1965 a grateful Pennsylvania provided some tax relief while Guard members battled floods, catastrophes and military engagements over seas and at home.

With more than 20,000 Pennsylvania National Guard members and thousands of retirees across the commonwealth, getting this legislation passed in both the Senate and House and signed by Gov. Tom Wolf is our No. 1 legislative priority.

You can help by contacting your state representative, senator and Gov. Wolf and kindly asking them to "Support the Guard, Restore the 1965 Exemption."

You can sign up to Support the Guard at http://goo.gl/forms/e5hf1GhkpZ.

We greatly appreciate your support.

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Editor's note: Tim Gwinn is executive director of the Pennsylvania Guard Associations, a professional 501(c)(6) organization representing nearly 20,000 Pennsylvanians who proudly serve their state and nation in the Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard. For more information, go to pngas.org.