BOSTON (AP) – A group of National Guard soldiers who were ordered to protect possible targets after the Sept. 11 attacks sued the state and federal governments Wednesday, seeking tens of millions of dollars in living expenses they say were never reimbursed.

The soldiers, who are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, say they traveled hundreds of miles to security postings – such as Quabbin Reservoir, the Boston area’s primary water supply – and used their own money for gas, food and lodging, expecting to be paid back.

But the soldiers say in their complaint that their requests for compensation were repeatedly denied until they were told by their commanding officers that they could be taken off their missions if they didn’t stop asking for reimbursement. The response, they said, had a “chilling effect.”

“Plaintiffs concluded they could not seek the … reimbursement compensation they felt they were owed, without extreme and negative repercussions on their military careers,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by four soldiers, but it seeks to include hundreds of other guardsmen as a class action. It names the U.S. Department of Defense and the Massachusetts National Guard and seeks a total of $73 million in unpaid expenses.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Defense Department referred calls to the Justice Department, where spokesman Charles Miller declined to comment until after the agency reviews the lawsuit.

The Massachusetts National Guard was investigating the allegations and had no immediate comment, said spokesman Major Winfield Danielson.

Following Sept. 11, guardsmen were called to fortify potential targets around the state, including reservoirs, military bases and the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth.

Plaintiff Louis Tortorella, a retired National Guard captain from Brookline, N.H., said starting in December 2001 he commuted up to 126 miles one way during assignments at Quabbin, Westover Air Reserve Base in western Massachusetts, and Camp Edwards on Cape Cod.

Tortorella said his commute started at 4:30 a.m., and he sometimes didn’t get home until midnight. He was forced to sell his shares in a Tewksbury car dealership and blames a heart attack last year on stress from his assignments.

He says he spent $14,625 of his own money during 21 months of active duty.

“I never want to see another soldier get hurt the way they’ve been hurt with this,” he said. “I think this (suit) will stop it.”

The plaintiffs say that if the soldiers had been reimbursed properly, the state would have paid out tens of thousands of dollars per day in expenses, based on a minimum of $126 per day for every soldier in the roughly 320 Guard jobs involved in the mission.

The plaintiffs multiplied that daily cost by the 1,570 days of the post-Sept. 11 mission to get the $73 million estimate, said John Shek, their attorney.

The suit says federal law provides military personnel with meals and travel allowance while away from home on active duty. But Massachusetts guardsmen received orders that read: “Government quarters not available; … government meals are not available; … per diem: not authorized.”

Shek said he knew of no other state where similar orders were given.

Constance Driscoll, a military law specialist advising the plaintiffs, said the state was overwhelmed by the sudden and urgent security needs and “just didn’t know what they were doing.”

“If you’re at the Quabbin Reservoir, are you supposed to sleep in your car?” Driscoll said.

Wayne Gutierrez of New Bedford said he spent as much as $18,000 for basic living expenses while working at Camp Edwards, which left him struggling to pay his family’s bills. He said he feels no bitterness toward the military, he just wants equity.

“Be fair to the troops,” Gutierrez said. “We’re the ones out there on the front lines.”

Besides Tortorella and Gutierrez, the plaintiffs are Steven Littlefield of Plymouth and Joseph Murphy of Derry, N.H. All but Tortorella are still in the National Guard.