As members of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Chris Jones (left) and Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas volunteered to do search and recovery at the destroyed Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The four-star hotel collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble. The two worked with search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and other branches of the U.S. military. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.

“It was hard,” she said. “Sometimes you could actually put a face with a name or an article or something that was inscribed.”

For many who worked at the site, it was an opportunity to provide a sense of closure to the grieving family members of those who died in the hotel.

“…we were recovering those that had fallen at the (Hotel) Montana, so that they could be returned to their loved ones and bring closure,” said Tech Sgt. Chris Jones, also with the 103rd AW. “We were sending them home.”

That was part of what made many who worked at the site go back day after day.

“Some people wanted to go out every day, no matter what,” said Putinas. “You think that you’re going to find somebody one day and you just keep on searching hoping to find someone.”

Though it is part of the services mission set, mortuary affairs is not a skill that unit members use on a regular basis.

“It was a lot of nerves the first time we went out there,” said Jones. “We do a lot of training, but this was our first real-world experience handling this aspect of our career field. It was a lot of nerves, a lot of anxiety, but everyone got out there and did their job and handled it very well.”

Unit members also relied on each other for support during the recovery operations.

“We kept an open door policy and set rank aside if anybody needed to talk or had any questions,” said Jones, who added that there were briefings and other opportunities for those at the site to discuss or work through any issues.

“We’re a pretty strong group to begin with,” said Putinas. “I think it was a great team that we put together, and we were there for each other.”

Jones recalled the day the remains of an Air Force officer were recovered.

“They said he was still in his uniform,” said Jones. “His body was covered, and he was moved out of the rubble and all of us stopped working and we went to attention and saluted as he was moved past us. It was our way of paying final respects to him.”

For those at the site, doing the job was something they took great pride in.

“We received a great sense of fulfillment in the job we were doing,” said Jones. “We had an extreme amount of pride in the job that we had done.”

And that is something that will stay with them long after they return home.

“I think I’ll be telling my family members about the team I worked with,” said Putinas. “And how great it was to work with the Army, the Navy, the French, the Canadians, and how people from all aspects of life could come together for one mission, in a country that none of us ever thought we would come to, and pull together and do a mission that needed to be done.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

Over 60 articles about the Haitian earthquake, U.S. military assistance to Haiti after the quake, American giving to earthquake relief and other related topics can be found at the link Haiti Quake 2010.

An Airman with the 118th Civil Engineering Squadron, gives candy to a child at the New Life Children's Home in Port au Prince, Haiti, March 12, 2010. Members of the squadron have been working at the home, a local orphanage that has also taken in many children injured by the January earthquake, building cabinets, storage areas and a medical clinic. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The U.S. military response to the January earthquake in Haiti was almost immediate.

Within hours, equipment, supplies and personnel began to arrive in Haiti to assist those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Many Air National Guard units and personnel were among the first to respond to the disaster.

For some, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Air Force Staff Sgt. Oscar Trevino of the 190th Civil Engineering Squadron of the Kansas Air National Guard was with his unit in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of its two weeks of annual training.

“People said they felt the earthquake,” said Trevino. “I grew up in Southern California, and I didn’t feel anything. I just rolled over and went to bed. Sure enough, we found out the next day they had a massive earthquake over here.”

Trevino’s unit arrived here a week later.

“We waited for a week to get transportation,” he said. “Really, they needed us as soon as they could so we could get the camp going and get the other people housed.”

When Trevino first arrived in Haiti, service members were sleeping wherever space was available.

“The first week I slept on some lumber, because I didn’t want to sleep on the ground,” he said.

Building a tent city is a bit more involved than simply erecting a few tents. It means leveling ground and setting up living, shower and laundry areas.

“We initially brought in what is called a ’550 kit,’ which consists of tents and will house roughly 550 personnel,” said Trevino. “We were at the north end of the airport, and it was nothing but tall grass. And we came in with our heavy equipment and leveled the place. We put up tents and then our shower and laundry and built it up to as you see it today.”

These operations are all part of what a civil engineering squadron does.

“When we hit the ground in an expeditionary or contingency environment, our job is to set up a bare base,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Craig Bradford, commander of the 118th CES in Nashville, Tenn., and commander of the 24th Expeditionary CES in Port au Prince, Haiti. “So, if we have a water source and an airfield, we’ll come in and bring in all the material to build a tent city.”

But that still means hitting the ground running.

“We got here Jan. 29, and I haven’t had a day off since then,” said Bradford. “But we’ve been working hard to build a tent city for all the joint members in the task force.”

Members of Bradford’s squadron have been responsible for building more than a tent city. They worked on other projects around the airport and were directly involved with getting it re-opened to commercial traffic on Feb. 19.

“We built a diversionary road around the airport, otherwise traffic would be worse than what it already is,” said Bradford. “We also fixed a water leak that was just outside the major terminal that was going to be used for the commercial re-opening. Without our work, that terminal would not have opened at all.”

They also fixed the landing lights on the runway.

“The airfield lighting has gone down multiple times while we’ve been here,” said Bradford. “The first night it happened, the president of Haiti couldn’t even make it in. They had to divert his flight to another Caribbean island and our folks stayed up until that system was working and ready to go and he landed in the morning.”

The squadron’s ability to get the airfield lights back up and operational came about, in part, because of the civilian backgrounds of many of the squadron members.

“From the civil engineering standpoint, most of our folks are craftsmen on the outside,” said Bradford. “They have the abilities and they are working in the crafts. They’re carpenters, they’re electricians. Those are some of the unique qualities that the active duty force doesn’t have that we bring in our squadron.”

Because many buildings within the city have been destroyed or damaged by the earthquake, local residents have been wary of returning to their homes or entering various structures, said Bradford.

So, the squadron provided structural assessments of those properties “to give people the warm and fuzzy that they can go back and live where they lived before and that’s just as important as providing food and water,” said Bradford.

Providing these services is what makes the mission worthwhile. “Morale has been fantastic,” said Bradford. “This is a different sort of mission than going to Iraq or Afghanistan. If the shops can afford to lose a few folks during the week, then we go ahead and send them out on a mission to help an orphanage or work in the clinic or wherever we can.”

And that’s all part of the squadron’s mission.

“There was a humanitarian mission before the earthquake and there will be one long after,” said Bradford. “At most, we can put a dent in it. We’re here to help as much as we can.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

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Locals sit by their stands, filled with everything from rice, to cigarettes, to Revlon lipstick. Men carry enormous bags of fruits and vegetables on their heads, zigzagging through the maze that makes up the “orange market.” It was dubbed this by the U.S. soldiers in the area because of the massive amount of oranges that lay in piles by the side of the road, waiting to be peeled by Haitian women, stuffed into plastic bags, and sold to locals as they walk the streets.

The market is a bustling place, as are the areas of Port-au-Prince where vendors fill the streets, selling second-hand clothing, beautiful paintings and hand-carved wooden sculptures. Seven weeks after the earthquake that devastated Haiti’s capital, and life is ever so slowly returning to normal.

Many citizens have spent these few weeks cleaning and restoring their places of business, just wanting to get back to work and restore some normalcy to their daily routine after the traumatic events following the disaster.

Medics from the Colombian army and air force are working side by side with U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy doctors at an intermediate aftercare facility in Port-au-Prince. They are in here to assist with the ongoing humanitarian aid their country is providing to the people of Haiti Feb. 27. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Richard Andrade)

Medics from the Colombian army and the air force are working side by side with U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy doctors at an intermediate aftercare facility in Port-au-Prince.

The fact that the IAF is so close to the port makes it easy for the medics to transport patients to and from the USNS Comfort.

Columbian army Col. Pedro Segura arrived to assist with the ongoing humanitarian aid their country is providing to the people of Haiti Feb. 27. He is in charge of the Columbian contingency that is in Port-au-Prince working with U.S. forces.

“We will be in Haiti as long as it takes,” said Segura.

“We will do our best to collaborate with the U.S. forces to help the people of Haiti,” he said.

The Colombian Red Cross is also in Haiti, handing out water, first aid kits and hand crank radios at many food distribution points. The newly arrived medics are eager to be part of the Haitian mission.

As the vaccination posts are installed, the Red Cross gently reminds people that by vaccinating themselves and their children, they are fighting back against the extreme vulnerability into which the earthquake threw them.

“We have done everything we can to support our community,” says Noel Ylmond, leader of Villambetta’s displaced.

“Our priority has been to put children first from the very beginning. But it’s difficult for people to accept that when other priorities seem more pressing.

“These children are our hope, our future”.

Five vaccination teams have been operational since 8 February, vaccinating as many as 10,000 in a single day.

The vaccination consists of five different components: measles, diptheria, pertussis and tetanus, as well as albendezol – a deworming agent – and vitamin A.

“We still have 50,000 more people to vaccinate,” says Dr. Guilbert, a former professor at the university medical faculty and the nurses school, both destroyed in the earthquake.

Thirteen dead. Submerged houses. Fields and banana plantations waterlogged. Drowned livestock. Impassable roads. Fresh trauma for quake-displaced thousands. This is the plight of Les Cayes, a city on Haiti’s south coast, after an unseasonal deluge. And hurricane season is not far off.

Trucks loaded with 4,030 meals left Port-au-Prince on 2 March for emergency distribution in and around Les Cayes. Food has also been sent to Nippes region, north of Les Cayes, which has experienced bad flooding.

The UN World Food Programme, with local authorities and NGOs, plans to supply 10-day rations to affected populations, including some 3,000 people evacuated from their homes.

“The poor state of the sewers caused flooding in every [district] of the city,” said the regional president of the Haitian National Red Cross Society, Jean-Yves Placide.

“In some places the waters rose to ceiling level in people’s houses,” he said. “The situation will be really worrying if it continues to rain. The sun is out now, but the storm clouds come and go.”

“People are used to dealing with floods, just not this early,” one aid worker in Les Cayes told IRIN.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) yesterday “decongested” an improvised settlement on the outskirts of Leogane where 635 families who lost their homes in the 12 January earthquake had taken refuge.

It’s believed to be the first exercise of its kind in the international humanitarian response to the quake.

The Danish Red Cross relief Emergency Response Unit (ERU) has resettled 126 families in a new tented encampment on privately donated land alongside the old site.

The other 509 families were given a choice of a family-size tent or emergency shelter materials – timber, tarpaulins and toolkits – and are returning to the general areas from which they came.

It was all done on an entirely voluntary basis.

The number of sites identified by the UN as priorities for decongestion in Port-au-Prince has now risen to 21, but an acute shortage of land is making this difficult.

The Military Sealift Command crane ship SS Cornhusker State docks peirside at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Cornhusker State is providing logistical support for Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response. (Photo by: Petty Officer 2nd Class Marie A. Montez)

More at the links

Port repairs

The main port of Haiti suffered severe damage during the earthquake. The largest North pier was destroyed, and the piles under the South pier crumbled leaving only part of it fit for use. With the assistance of the US Coast Guard, Navy and Army, who took over management of the port in support of the Autorite Portuaire Nationale, two crane ships were deployed which can load and unload cargo without facilities and then transport to shore on smaller landing crafts or lighters. The US Military has now completed the installation of two barges and placed them against the old wharf to serve as floating docks. These will be critical to operations following the redeployment of US assets. Interim repairs to the South pier are ahead of schedule and are expected to be finished as of the second week of April, after which full repairs will begin.

“I sat at home, on alert, hearing that aircraft one, two, three, then four, departed in front of me.

“By the time aircraft number four had departed, Haitian airspace was becoming dangerously congested with the vast number of aircraft trying to get to Port-au-Prince to provide assistance.

“The team of ten combat control team operators, using a picnic table as their air traffic control desk, were landing and departing aircraft as quickly as they could clear space on the ground; however, with a multitude of aircraft arriving unannounced, this was taking longer and longer.”

Whilst all of this was going on in Haiti the first aircraft returned to base to be swiftly turned around and reloaded so that it could make another return trip. Flt Lt Bailey continued:

“Finally, just prior to 1000 Central Standard Time, I alerted my crew and we headed into work. It took us about an hour from arriving in work to being sat in the aircraft with 18,000lbs [8,000kg] of medical supplies and equipment, the 20 personnel from the 1st Special Operations Wing’s specialist medical teams, and now I was ready to start the engines.

“The airspace was surprisingly quiet, the chaos during the day having abated, but most of the arrivals hadn’t informed the combat control team of their arrival, and in the dark of the night, amongst the mountains, the aircraft jostled and duelled for airspace whilst the controllers tried to ascertain where exactly each asset was, using only their observations and the charts they had with them. We sequenced in easily, allowing the fuel-critical arrivals in front of us.

“As we taxied in, the congestion was hard to believe. Each aircraft was parked with minimal wing-tip clearance, and in front of the parking line there was a throng of journalists, rescue teams and potential evacuees.

“Special Operations aircrew travel light and all the crew get involved in ground operations, assisting the offloading of the passengers and freight, reconfiguring of the airframe and the loading of the outbound freight.

“Typically, what we expected to extract had changed, and the whole crew found themselves assisting the loadmaster to set up the casualty evacuation stanchions at the rear of the aircraft so that we could take some injured people to hospitals back in the USA.

“Missions of this kind can be emotional; whilst my crew worked to adjust the aircraft configuration, I spoke with the surgeons about the passengers they hoped for us to move.

“Whilst there, my attention was drawn to one young boy who was almost inconsolable. The medics briefed me that he had lost one of his parents in the earthquake and asked if we could take him to Fort Lauderdale where arrangements would be made for him to be reunited with his father.

“I tried to console him with small-talk about flying and aircraft. I gave him my union patch and a chocolate bar and he seemed slightly less agitated, but the episode affected me emotionally and I found myself rather teary-eyed.”

It took the team approximately 30 minutes to convert the aircraft from a cargo plane to a medical support platform with stretcher stanchions, and so before they knew it, they were preparing to leave:

“As we took off I looked down into the deep black void where there should have been a well-lit town, and wondered how my seemingly inconsequential effort would actually improve the situation and lives of the people that must have been sheltering in the darkness,” Flt Lt Bailey said.

Feb. 23, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) donated a Federal Medical Station, valued at approximately $577,000, to St. Damien Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The pediatric hospital survived the 7.0 magnitude January 12 earthquake relatively unscathed, but was quickly overwhelmed by patients of all ages and unprepared for the numbers of adults requiring urgent care.

Father Rick Frechette, who runs St. Damien Hospital, said, “This gift from USAID gives us the chance to take the first few giant strides towards organizing a medical and surgical program for adults, especially those victims of the earthquake.”

The Federal Medical Station includes the components to stand up a 250-bed, acute-care facility, with an extensive medical cache to care for both inpatient and outpatient needs. This includes resuscitation kits for both adults and children and supplies to provide temporary stabilization for patients with respiratory failure. It also contains necessary items to stock a full pharmacy along with nursing, administrative, and housekeeping stations.

Residents of an isolated community on the outskirts of the town of Leogane, Haiti, on Thursday were overjoyed at receiving medical attention and supplies of food from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) contingent.

Led by the Jamaican Defence Force (JDF), the contingent carried out a medical outreach exercise in their neighbourhood as part of an on-going daily programme that began forty days ago.

The town of Leogane and its environs were earmarked by Haitian authorities for CARICOM’s health intervention following the 12 January earthquake.

The community which was targeted on Thursday was identified by the Mayor of Leogane and is about five miles from the town. Some 90 percent of Leogane itself has been devastated by the earthquake. Many persons made homeless by the earthquake have sought refuge on the outskirts of the town, fearful of the continuing tremors.

Haitian volunteers help unload supplies from a U.S. Army landing craft at a Haitian Coast Guard station in Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 19. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Since the beginning of Operation Unified Response, one of the primary missions of the Navy and Marine Corps civil affairs teams attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group is to unite the people and governments of earthquake menaced Haiti together with non-governmental organizations and international aid workers.

Children from Carrefour, Haiti, gather as local leaders conduct a humanitarian aid distribution in the city, Feb. 18. The Marines and sailors of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit transferred primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distribution to the local and national Haitian government throughout the month of February. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Using a facility called a civil military operations center, Marines from 4th Civil Affairs Group, attached to the 22nd MEU and sailors from Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, worked diligently to bring all these factors together to help organize a combined local and international effort to stabilize the Caribbean nation.

“The mission of the CMOC was to act as a bridge between the people and the local government,” said Staff Sgt. Jerrick D. Croston, a civil affairs team chief with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU.

The CMOC is located in the town of Carrefour, just outside the nation’s capital city of Port-au-Prince, on Landing Zone Argonaut, a small encampment operated by the Marines and sailors of Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd MEU.

At the facility, civil affairs personnel met with town leaders and NGO officials to plan distributions and combined operations for the people of the local area.

“As local Haitians and organizations had needs, they brought them up to the CMOC,” Croston, a Philadelphia native, continued. “The major achievement of the CMOC was getting the mayors [of Carrefour] and the local government to work with the community leaders of Carrefour.”

Croston explained that many of the one million strong population of Carrefour have strong loyalty to a few key leaders in the community, who are mostly pastors from local religious organizations.

“After the earthquake people looked to them,” he added. “So we brought the local leaders and the local government together.”

Bringing the local leaders and their followers together with the Haitian government and several NGOs, the Marines and sailors of the CMOC streamlined the aid process for the people of Carrefour, transferring the primary role of providing humanitarian aid, from the U.S. Military to the Haitian local and national governments.

The civil affairs personnel conducted the operation in multiple-steps, beginning with an assessment phase where the Marines and sailors found out what problems were occurring in the area. Once problems were identified, the personnel worked with Haitian leaders and NGOs to solve the issues.

“At this point we have transitioned the role of the CMOC to the Haitian government and are back in the assessment phase,” Croston explained. “We are making sure the needs are being taken care of.”

Chief Petty Officer Charlotte Reijo, a team leader with Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, meets with children from Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 18. Sailors with MCAT-207 and Marine civil affairs specialists with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct operations from a Civil Military Operations Center in Carrefour, aimed at uniting the people of Haiti and the Haitian Government with non-governmental organizations to transfer primary humanitarian aid responsibilities in the area from the U.S. to the local government. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Captain Rebecca A. Popleiski, a civil affairs team leader with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU, said the group of civil affairs specialists have come a long way in the month they have worked in Haiti.

The Marines began their operations in the towns of Petite Goave, Grand Goave and Leogone before moving to Carrefour. Those three areas had less involvement with community leaders and worked more specifically with NGOs, where as the Carrefour area of operations had a lot more grass-roots involvement, she explained.

“When we pull out of here, all the cities are going to be able to stand on their own,” Popleiski, a Washington D.C. native, explained. “Whether that’s local government or national government … they have stepped up and taken charge.”

With the aid of the Navy-Marine Corps civil affairs teams from the 22nd MEU and Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, the government of Haiti has taken primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distributions in the Carrefour area. Marines and sailors from the 22nd MEU have become a supplementary force as the Haitian Coast Guard and international NGOs take over.

DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Members of the local Haitian fire department dig for missing children at the La Petite Ecole school in Cap-Haitien, which was hit with a mudslide, Feb. 15. U.S. Special Operations service members assigned to Cap-Haitien also responded to the scene. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communications Specialist Robert J. Fluegel/Released)

Four children are dead after a landslide hit an elementary school in Cap-Haitien around noon, Feb. 15.

Members of the Nepalese police force working for the United Nations secured the scene at the Petite Ecole Francaise school while seven members from the Joint Forces Special Operations Component Command operating out of Cap-Haitien worked to pull the children out from under the rubble, according to one of the U.S. Special Operations service members who responded to the scene.

The team worked with members of a Haitian fire department and doctors from a non-governmental organization who also responded to the incident.

After recovering the first child, another landslide complicated efforts to reach the others, said the U.S. Special Operations member.

Four hours after responding to the scene, all of the bodies were recovered, and school administrators said all the children were accounted for. The four children were seated along the back wall of the school at the time of the incident.

The two-story school stood at the foot of a tall mountain in the northern city of Cap-Haitien. Both floors were crushed by the landslide, and a large boulder sat on all the rubble, according to U.S. service members.

The city has been experiencing heavy rain for the past two days. Members of U.S. Special Operations Civil Affairs teams continue to work with NGOs, U.N. representatives and the government of Haiti to assist citizens following the Jan. 12 earthquake.

DVIDS
Story by 2nd Lt. Victoria Brayton

A Paratrooper assigned to A Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division removes rubble from the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 26. 2BSTB Soldiers worked with troopers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. and the Center of National Equipment to clear the streets, making it easier to distribute aid to locals. Photo by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

Buildings lean dangerously, looming over soldiers in the street below attempting to remove mounds of debris, the remains of structures that have already crumbled. As a tractor fills its bucket with a new load of fragmented concrete, it snags a downed power line, causing loose bricks to fall from the structure above. This scene is evidence of why the engineering mission here is so important.

When the road is cleared, it will become a safe route for international aid organizations to access areas of Port-au-Prince in need of assistance, as well as increase traffic flow, open the streets for vendors, and generally enhance functionality of the city.

Soldiers from the Italian Task Force have teamed up with Paratroopers with 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, in addition to their continued work with the Center of National Equipment, to clear the streets of the city.

The Paratroopers are using their loaders and Bobcat utility work machines to remove the massive amount of rubble left by the Jan. 12, earthquake. But, their mission would be much more time consuming if it weren’t for the addition of the Italians’ large machinery. Each day the Italians will be introducing more equipment as the mission progresses.

“[The Italians] have better assets,” said Sgt. Robert Medders, an Ackerman, Miss., native and engineer with 2BSTB, while working with the Italian soldiers, Feb. 17. “Their equipment has come in handy,” Medders said.

Additional soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT, have been securing the site, roping off streets and stopping curious locals from entering the hazardous area. In the few days they have partnered with the Italians, the troopers are impressed with their work. “They’re good at what they do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ernest Rodriguez, a Camden, N.J., native and platoon leader of 2nd Plt., D Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT. “They’re pretty much doing it all on their own,” he said.

A 2nd BCT trooper stands with a group of Italian soldiers, taking a break from their work as the dust settles. They share a cigarette and swap unit patches – a custom that has become common among soldiers while working with their foreign counterparts – however, they exchange few words. This is not due to hard feelings or lack of interest in one another, but because neither speaks the others’ language.

1st Cpl. Giuseppe Colletto, an Italian army engineer, said at times it is difficult communicating with the American soldiers due to the language barrier and lack of interpreters, but they have had no problems completing their mission. Colletto said he is used to overcoming this obstacle after working with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but for some of the 2nd BCT Paratroopers this partnership is a completely new experience. “It’s cool working with another country,” said Medders. “Everyone works a bit different.”

The Paratroopers are showing the Italians how to coordinate with CNE, the United Nations and local police so they can pull their own security, without U.S. assistance. The Italians have everything they need to do this job on their own, Rodriguez said. “These guys are outstanding,” he said. “They have a good understanding of what’s going on here and they’ll get the job done.”

But as an airborne infantry unit, the capabilities of the 2BCT engineers are limited in the face of such overwhelming destruction. “Our light engineers are incredibly skilled,” said Lt. Col. Tim Kehoe, deputy commanding officer, 2BCT, “but their light equipment is not designed for this type of mission.”

The introduction of Italian soldiers and equipment has made the difference in the rubble removal and street clearing mission but there is still so much to be done. “We are filling the gap in support of CNE until the right elements arrive to complete this mission,” Kehoe said.

DVIDS
Story by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

Paratroopers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, assemble a tent for a needy family in Port-au-Prince, Feb. 16. Soldiers with HHC distributed and assembled five tents in four different locations around the city. (Army photo)

Haitian children explore the inside of a tent, using every flap and vent as an entrance, dodging their way between the legs of U.S. Army Paratroopers. Giggling, they pull at the ropes stabilizing the structure, testing its construction. The smell of freshly unpacked tents and the sound of children’s laughter fill the air.

This scene was replayed at four different sites around Port-au-Prince as Paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team went along their mission, providing shelter for Haitians in need. Despite the long hours, in the blistering sun, the joy of a child’s smile was considered the best part of the day for several of the Paratroopers present.

“It was great to see their smiles and appreciation for our hard work,” said Sgt. Greg Meyers, a native of Springfield, Ohio and forward observer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

More than a dozen Paratroopers assigned to HHC, 2BCT distributed and assembled five large tents, provided by the United States Agency for International Development, in four different areas of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for needy families and orphans. With the help of USAID, the Soldiers were able to locate people who were in need of shelter, which is becoming more important everyday due to the impending rainy season.

The Soldiers worked together to assemble the tents, first fitting together the frame, attaching the canvas, pounding stakes into the hard ground and finally tying the tent down. They even received help from the locals receiving the tents; stabilizing stakes while they were hammered into the ground and holding the tent steady as it was secured.

The Soldiers’ last stop for the day was the Christian Light Ministries orphanage. Starting as a school in 2002, Sherrie Fausey, a teacher from Jacksonville, Fla., began taking in orphaned children two years ago. “I came [to Port-au-Prince] on a one week visit. The Lord called me back to start a school,” Fausey said.

Fausey cared for 29 orphans prior to the earthquake; she now has 42. She has resumed classes for the children, however they are being held in the only two rooms of the building that are safe to enter as well as the courtyard. These locations also happen to be where the children sleep.

This will change, however, now that they have a shelter that can provide shade from the hot Caribbean sun during class hours and give the children a pest-free place to sleep.

Although it was a hard day’s work for the troopers, at the end of the day they still had energy to play with the children. When the Soldiers arrived, the orphans simply stood back and watched them work, but after a few minutes and receiving some well-deserved attention from the troopers, the children were giving them high-fives and hugging them around the legs.

Their appreciation for their new refuge was evident. Once the tent was erect, the orphans ran through it, surveying their new sanctuary. “It was nice to see someone get so excited about a tent,” said Clair Winstead, a native of Yanceyville, N.C., and intelligence analyst with HHC, 2BCT. “It seemed like, of all the people we could help,” Winstead said, “they were surprised we were there to help them.”

SouthCom
Story by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

This story caught my eye some weeks ago:

Haitian police and civilian volunteers, assisted by the U.S. military distributed more than 43,800 hand-held radios to survivors of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. In a collaborative effort, the team handed out self-powered radios at major distribution centers in Cité Soleil, the Presidential Palace, the Petionville Club and other affected areas throughout the city.

The radios allow disaster survivors to receive news and important information concerning international relief efforts and public safety messages daily.

“The radios make a difference (to the Haitian people) in terms of morale and isolation,” said U.S. Army Maj. Dan Castro, from Joint Task Force-Haiti. “The people displaced in camps told me they feel at least connected despite their plight.”

In close coordination with the government of Haiti, local radios stations and JTF-Haiti disseminate news, public health, safety and information regarding relief efforts to the affected populace.

“All were able to operate the solar, hand-cranked radios and are listening to local radio stations now back on the air” Castro added. “Along with critical information, many also are listening to faith-based messages from local radio stations, which are very important to this deeply religious culture.” All information is broadcast in Haitian Creole.

The small emergency radios, which do not require batteries, also are equipped with a small light that provides an added sense of security at night.

USAID

This radio is the Etón FR160B Microlink Self-Powered AM/FM/NOAA Weather Radio with Flashlight, Solar Power and Cell Phone Charger.

• AM (520-1710 KHz) & FM (87-108MHz)
• NOAA weatherband – all 7 channels
• Built-in 3 white LED light source
• Powered by solar or dynamo both of which charge internal Ni-MH battery
• USB cell phone charger (USB cable not included)
• Earphone jack – 3.5 mm socket
• Etón Corporation will contribute $0.49 to $1.00 of the sales price of each Red Cross product to support the American Red Cross.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Erin Hunter, health services technician from Miami, and Petty Officer 1st Class Kate Roberts, health services technician aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Oak, treat a woman's wounded hand at the Killick, Haiti, coast guard base, Jan. 28. The Haitian coast guard base has become home for members of the Haitian coast guard and their families after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed thousands and left millions homeless, devastated the Port-au-Prince area of Haiti, Jan. 12. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley)

Valentine’s Day 2010 brings little to the hundreds of thousands of Haitians still in need due to the earthquake last month. The NGO’s are squabbling among themselves and the Haitian government is next to useless. Fundraising, at the million dollar level, is all but dead though kindhearted Americans and others worldwide continue small efforts to raise funds for Haitian relief.

I have been tracking the giving by individual Americans, American companies and American foundations. I have been using the same methods I used to track the same information for the SE Asian tsunami and for Hurricane Katrina relief. The research is not exact, and does not claim to record every cash or in-kind donation. What I am doing is documenting the generosity of the American public, perhaps the most giving nation on the planet.

The data behind these numbers can be found in a PDF file here. $347,423,603.00 represents the total of cash and goods and services donated by Americans for Haitian earthquake relief.

All of the over 170 Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States have held special collections for Haitian relief. I have only been able to locate the data for 26 of them. Roman Catholic donations for Hurricane Katrina relief totaled over $25 million by the time I discontinued record keeping.

Sgt. Maj. Vincent Bond, chief medical non-commissioned officer, Joint Task Force-Haiti and XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C., speaks with (left to right) Pfc. Amy Triton, Spc. Victor Trelles, and Sgt. Christopher Johnson, all medics with the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Forward Operating Base Green Falcon Feb. 10. The Green Falcon medics have been working with local communities by setting up clinics, providing support to local hospitals, and easing logistical challenges. Photo by Spc. A.M. LaVey

For the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based enlisted medical personnel assigned to the Joint Task Force –Haiti, Operation Unified Response has been a tremendous learning experience and training opportunity.

“Our medics have been working with nongovernmental organizations, seeing 100 – 300 patients per day,” said Command Sgt. Maj. James Westover, senior enlisted adviser, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

When the squadron first arrived, they assisted with the disaster relief, but “the injuries that we are seeing now are not earthquake related injuries but normal routine care,” said Westover.

“Our medics have been performing amazingly, they are getting the training and experience with the NGO doctors – the experience and the lessons that they are learning, you could not pay for back in the States,” said Westover. “It has been amazing; it would take years for someone to learn all that they have learned here in this small amount of time.”

“They work hard, running day and night. It is a busy operation, but they are sticking through it. They feel a great level of accomplishment because they are down here helping people,” he said.

“Our medical knowledge has grown tremendously especially in the field of pharmacology,” said Pfc. Cameron Turk, a medic also with the 1/73rd “We are seeing the benefits of our work and seeing how it is helping those patients who return to us.”

“When we see that which we are doing is really helping people, it makes us feel better about that job that we do and we are seeing our training has been thorough,” said Turk. “When we get to Iraq we know that we’ll do a great job.”

The humanitarian mission here is a change-of-pace from the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan.

“In Iraq or Afghanistan you have improvised explosive device blasts, gunshots, and trauma, but here it is different,” said Sgt. Maj. Vincent Bond, chief medical noncommissioned officer, JTF-H. “The types of injuries our medics are treating here are different from those on the battlefield.”

“Our medical department personnel are getting a lot of hands-on training with other types of traumatic injuries and even obstetrical issues,” said Bond.

“These are experiences that our medics would probably never have been able to see in any other environment,” said Bond. “They are seeing amputations, secondary infections, and the training value that they are getting out of this will help them tremendously.”

The education that medical personnel receive at the U.S. Army Medical Center and School, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, provides the building blocks of medical knowledge, upon which unit level and on-the-job training builds upon. Humanitarian and disaster relief deployments however, provide much-needed, hands-on training that usually cannot be acquired in the garrison environment.

“Our medics have been training and training in garrison,” said 1st Lt. Kelly Collins, executive officer, Company C, 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division. “We have a lot of new medics without combat experience, and this is a really good training. They will be able to pass this knowledge on to the newer medics who come after them.”

Spc. Joshua Graff, a healthcare specialist with the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, supports a 14-year old boy while the boy's injuries are being cleaned and redressed by Spc. Aaron Kamiaz, a healthcare specialist also with the 1/73. Photo by Spc. A.M. LaVey

“Any opportunity we have to use our hands or watch someone work is an opportunity to learn,” said Sgt. Christopher Johnson, a senior medic with the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division. “This is really nice for our medics to get hands-on experience before they get deployed, he said. “This is a good opportunity for my younger medics to see more clinical time, to see more diseases, infections and being able to treat those.”

Medical personnel have also been out working with local communities setting up clinics, providing support to hospitals and easing logistical challenges.

“We are providing our type of world-class healthcare to the local community here,” said Johnson.

“This is a really great experience for us, after being deployed to Iraq it is really wonderful to get out and interact with the people and help them as much as we can, without all the healthcare being trauma related,” said Johnson.

“Most of the work that we are doing here, with the local community, is not related to the earthquake,” said Johnson. “We are treating people who haven’t had the opportunity to have any type of healthcare.”

“We are letting them know that the Americans are here to support them, however long they may need us,” he said.

In this joint environment, with the different uniformed forces working together with civilian agencies – both foreign and domestic, has provided a valuable lesson in cooperation.

“It is a tragedy what happened here, but it is amazing how, not only the USA responded but the other nations as well,” said Bond. “There are many different people helping out, with the main goal to be humanitarian assistance and medical care to the earthquake victims here in Haiti.”

“Anytime you have different military resources in one small area and you have to work together, it can be very challenging, but it is going very well here,” said Bond.

“I have learned a lot, working with the different services,” said Sgt. Rudy Nunez, a medic also assigned to Co. C, 407th BSB, “especially dealing with patient transfers and the different kinds of aircraft configurations.”

From the most seasoned senior medical NCO to the newest 68-series Soldier, the U.S. Army Medical Corps has more than 180 reasons to be proud of the work that is being done here.

“The Army runs in a chaotic environment, and Army medical personnel thrive and make sense of that chaos,” said Bond.

“If anything good is coming out of this, it is that our service members are getting the opportunity to train and see what happens in natural disasters so that in the future, when we have to respond, we will have trained personnel who will be able to understand what needs to be done,” said Bond.

The devastation caused by the earthquake “is one of those things that you hope will never happen again – but tragedy will eventually strike and when it does, we are now more skillfully trained to assist in these situations,” said Bond.

“Everyone is doing a phenomenal job,” said Bond. “They are not only supporting the people of Haiti, but they are also supporting each other – and that is the key here.”

DVIDS
Story by Spc. A.M. LaVey

A U.S. Navy poster designed to illustrate the U.S. Navy's support for Operation Unified Response. The U.S. Department of Defense is participating in a national and international relief effort led by the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Photo illustration by: Petty Officer 1st Class Mario Hair) Click for a larger image

The Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive indicated that there were more than 200,000 people dead, 300,000 injuries treated, 250,000 destroyed houses, and 30,000 disrupted businesses as of February 3. [snip]

According to the government more than 482,000 persons have migrated out of the capital increasing the demands on infrastructure and healthcare facilities outside the city. The provision of shelter also remains a high priority area given the upcoming start of the rainy season.

The Haitian government has also established settlement sites to house the displaced. Reports indicate that these new settlements have increased demands for public environmental healthcare, water supply and sanitation.

There has also been an increase in the price of basic commodities as migration continues to the rural areas. Schools have also reopened in unaffected areas.

More than 1000 persons daily are reportedly crossing the Jimani border into the Dominican Republic and unaccompanied children are prevalent particularly at the border increasing the risk of them being taken out of the country.

- Since the earthquake, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and partners have provided emergency food assistance to approximately 1.7 million people in total, including approximately 950,000 people through a 16-site distribution system.

- On February 5, members of the U.S. urban search and rescue (USAR) rapid-response team delivered three large tents, tent lighting systems, more than 1,400 bottles of water, a generator, and 40 air mattresses to two orphanages in the Port-au-Prince area. The USAR team’s structural engineer also conducted building assessments at both sites and provided orphanage management with information concerning the structural integrity of the buildings. In addition, the USAR team rebuilt one orphanage’s perimeter wall, which had collapsed as a result of the earthquake.

- On February 7, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) estimated cost for the Haiti earthquake relief effort increased to $224 million, bringing the total USAID and DoD humanitarian assistance to Haiti for the earthquake to nearly $523 million to date.

Map of Haiti earthquake damage and population displacement information. USAID. As of 1/28/2010. click for a larger map.

Canadian helicopters await missions at Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport in Port Au Prince Feb. 6. The aircraft and crews are part of a larger Canadian contingent in Haiti to support the relief effort. Photo by Maj. Paul Hayes

International Merchant Vessel Nicholas is moored at Haiti's main port here. Portions of the port's main pier were destroyed during the recent earthquake but 500 feet remain operational. The port is currently under Haitian control and is building capacity to down load and process cargo daily. Photo by Maj. Paul Hayes

A merchant vessel downloads cargo at Haiti's main port Feb. 6. To date, a partnership between the Navy, Army, and USAID has resulted in the off-loading of 838 containers at the port despite significant damage from a Jan. 12 earthquake. (Photo by: Master Sgt. Adam McKinney)

Haitian trucks loaded with rice from the World Food Program depart Haiti's main port facility en route to Logistics Support Area Sustainer Feb. 4. A partnership effort between the Haitian Government, USAID, and U.S. Military will distribute the food to Haitians in need of relief as a result of the Jan. 12 earthquake. Photo by Maj. Paul Hayes

Lance Cpl. Malarky Gene, a French/Creole linguist with Combat Logistics Battalion 22, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, and his son, sit at the battalion's command post in Petit Goave, Haiti, Jan. 28. Gene volunteered to go to Haiti after hearing the news about the Jan. 12 earthquake. Photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher Carroll

As Lance Cpl. Malarky Gene turned on the news Jan. 12, he couldn’t believe the horror that filled his eyes. Gene’s native country of Haiti was eclipsed in total chaos and confusion from a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that, without prejudice, claimed victims by the thousands.

He immediately picked up the phone to call home … no answer. He kept trying, still no answer. There was no way to know if his mother, brother, wife, son, cousins and other relatives … almost his entire family … were alive or dead.

Born March 19, 1984, in the agricultural town of Leogane, Haiti, Gene, is a stout Haitian native with a muscular build and average height.

After his upbringing in Haiti, Gene’s father, who became a U.S. citizen, convinced him to move with him to New York in June 2005.

In May 2009 he returned to Haiti to marry his high school sweetheart, and the couple now have a two-year-old son.

Gene said he owes a lot to his father’s status as a U.S. citizen and the United States that gave him opportunities he would not have in Haiti.

“It was easy to go to school and take care of my family,” he said, in broken English with a French/Creole accent. “When I was in Haiti, I didn’t have a Job.”

His father who worked in the U.S., sent him money to go to school while he lived in Haiti, he added.

While living in Haiti, Gene watched with the world as the terrorist attack unfolded in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, where his father lived and worked.

“My father was working when the buildings fell,” Gene explained.

He said the attacks helped him decide to eventually join the U.S. military. In Nov. 2008, Gene enlisted in the Marine Corps as a food service specialist.

After attending Marine Corps Recruit Training at Parris Island, S.C., Gene went on serve with Food Service Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.

That’s where he was when he found out about the earthquake in Haiti. From the beginning, his command pushed to have him deploy with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit as a linguist, to allow him to tend to his family, he explained.

“When they called me and asked, I said ‘Yeah, I volunteer to go,’” he said. “When I was on ship, I couldn’t wait to get off to help the people.”

Before leaving the United States, Jan. 16, aboard the Amphibious Assault Ship USS Bataan, Gene finally got in contact with his family in Haiti.

As the earthquake began, his wife and son were in their house watching television. When she felt the first tremors, his wife quickly grabbed their son and fled the house. Just as they exited the structure, the force of the massive earthquake collapsed the house, destroying everything they owned.

When Gene arrived in Petite Goave, Haiti, Jan. 24, his command gave his wife and son a tent to stay in at their compound and began working with the U.S. military legal system and U.S. State Department to get them transported to the U.S.

His wife and son are expected to fly from Haiti to the U.S. sometime in February.

Gene has assisted the 22nd MEU distribute over $1,000,000 in medical supplies, 40,000 rations and about 32,000 gallons of bottled and bulk water to the people of Haiti.

DVIDS
Story by Lance Cpl. Christopher Carroll

The amount of money donated for aid and assistance to the people of Haiti after the earthquake by Americans, individuals, foundations and corporations totals at least $333 million. That sum is dwarfed by the money donated at this same time interval for the SE Asian tsunami and for Hurricane Katrina.

Donations have slowed. The economy is in much poorer shape than it was at the end of 2004 and in 2005, when the other disasters happened. Corporations don’t have the money. Foundations have lost much of their endowments’ value in the stock market. People are out of work or restraining their charity due to the economy.

That said, the need of the people of Haiti is no less than it was on January 12. To add to the challenges they face, hurricane season is about four months away and Haiti is hit by several every year. Imagine living in a tent or under a tarp in a hurricane. Please consider how you can help.

At this point nearly every Roman Catholic parish in the United States has held a second collection for Haiti. We have located the amounts donated for only 8 dioceses and archdioceses out of over 175 in the country. Those eight have donated over $2.1 million to Catholic Relief Services.

We have prepared a pdf file listing some of the donations that we have been able to find for Haiti relief. That link is here. We recognize that it is incomplete. It will be updated often.

Aid organizations affiliated with churches did the best in delivering aid after the tsunami. Their people were on the ground and living with the people who needed their help. Large NGO’s and government agency types just flew in, stayed at the best hotels, and flew out. There was little attempt to work with the local leaders and address local needs. They just dictated and flew away.

This list is not complete. There are and will be many local and regional aid events, and groups to provide that aid. In addition, many groups do not have the resources to put out a press release and update a website.

USGS map showing anticipated shake damage areas due to the Haiti earthquake

Here are the websites for a few of the organizations responding to the Haitian earthquake.

• Action by Churches Together (ACT) International
• American Red Cross
• American Refugee Committee
• AmeriCares
• American Jewish World Service
• Caritas
• CHF International
• Compassion International
• Convoy of Hope
• Direct Relief International
• Episcopal Relief & Development
• Food for the Hungry
• GOAL – Irish aid group
• International Medical Corps
• Jesuit Refugee Service
• Lutheran World Relief
• Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International
• Medical Teams International
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Mercy Corps
• Mercy Ships
• Operation USA
• Oxfam America
• Partners In Development
• Real Medicine Foundation
• Rotary
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Save the Children
• United Methodist Committee on Relief
• World Concern
• World Relief
• World Vision

Updated information about the earthquake in Haiti at this link

For a growing collection of U.S. military photos from the Haiti earthquake, got to this collection at Flickr.

Members of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division help medically evacuate a Haitian girl and her mother to the U.S. Embassy for medical care. Photo by Antwjuan Richards-Jamison

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Erin Hunter, health services technician from Miami, and Petty Officer 1st Class Kate Roberts, health services technician aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Oak, treat a woman's wounded hand at the Killick, Haiti, coast guard base, Jan. 28. The Haitian coast guard base has become home for members of the Haitian coast guard and their families after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed thousands and left millions homeless, devastated the Port-au-Prince area of Haiti, Jan. 12. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley)

82nd Airborne surge food to needy Haitians

“We created posters, flyers and radio messages promoting the World Food Program and the government of Haiti, informing the people what to expect during the surge, where to receive coupons for food, and where the distribution sites would be,” said Capt. Ben Biver, operations detachment commander. “We are constantly out watching how our products are working and constantly judging their effectiveness.”

Over 50,000 hand-cranked or solar-powered radios were distributed in the past week by the 2nd BCT and other organizations to ensure those key messages reached the population. “We broadcast public service announcements about the food surge through Commando Solo, (an EC-130 Hercules Aircraft designed to broadcast public service announcements across a various outlets, to include AM and FM frequencies) and also through contracts with local, Port-au-Prince radio stations,” said SSG Carl Kipp, brigade operations NCO, HHC, 2nd BCT.

Early in the morning, paratroopers began the process of distributing aid to the people of Haiti. “We started at 4 a.m.,” said Judah Rothenberger, a canon crewmember with B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.

As soon as the food was loaded into vehicles and the Soldiers linked up with various non-government organizations, they moved to the distribution sites. “When we got to the distribution site at 5 a.m., people were already lined up,” stated Sgt. Hector Hernandez, section chief, B Battery, 2-319th.

We picked up the food and teams from World Vision Emergency Response, and moved to the distribution site, Rothenberger said. Once we got there, World Vision began unloading the rice and we set up security around the site.

Maria Chiara Mussoni, representative from the WFP, said “From what I see today, it’s very good. It seems to be very secure and very safe.”

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, the 2nd BCT paratroopers worked in concert with United States Agency for International Development, the WFP, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the Haitian government, and other non-government organizations, to distribute the bags of rice. Falcon troopers acted in a myriad of roles throughout the day.

Spc. Ryan Gonwa and Spc. Alexander Guzman, infantrymen with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, carried bags of rice that were too large for their recipients and assisted them in splitting the 100 pound bags into smaller portions so that family members could share the weight.

At another location supported by 2-319th “Black Falcons,” Pvt. Christopher Nordloh checked the vouchers of individuals in line to make sure they were in the right place and were informed of the procedures to receive their food quickly.

By mid-afternoon, 1,142,000 pounds of food had been distributed without any issues from the crowd or the distribution teams. “It’s always a good day when you can help people,” Hernandez said.

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. John Seth Laughter

Sierra Leone navy Lt. Amara Kallon (front left) and Italian navy Lt. Cmdr. Marco Campasso, part of a multi-national Africa Partnership Station staff embarked aboard USS Gunston Hall, carry an injured Haitian woman to the landing zone at the Killick Haitian Coast Guard Base to be flown to a nearby treatment facility. Click on image for the story.

U.S. Southern Command released the U.S. Navy carrier USS Carl Vinson, Feb. 1.

The ship and its embarked air wing distributed more than 1.1 million pounds of emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors in Haiti since commencing operations in support of Operation Unified Response.

Nineteen helicopters embarked aboard Carl Vinson, the first large-scale, airlift capability to arrive on scene, flew more than 1,000 hours in support of the operation and evacuated 435 patients requiring medical attention since their arrival off Haiti, Jan. 15.

Ten helicopters from the carrier will remain with Joint Task Force-Haiti and will continue to support international relief efforts from other U.S. Navy ships operating near the Haitian coast.

Approximately 40 additional U.S. military helicopters continue to provide critical logistics support to the relief effort.

Also departing after contributing to the relief efforts are the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson. The two ships were among the first U.S. Navy ships to join the carrier in the days immediately following the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation, Jan. 12.

DVIDS

This was the second humanitarian aid distribution the Red Falcons conducted for the town. This drop was more successful than the last, said Knight, due to the number of people present. Word spread quickly through the small town, made clear by the amount of people using their cell phones while waiting in line for food, he said.

The organization of this distribution was obvious as the townspeople stood in single file line with their children. Ten at a time, the locals approached the LMTV. Each was given an armful of high-energy biscuits and a 1.5 liter bottle of water for every two people. However, once everyone in the town had cycled through, they were able to come back for seconds or even thirds.

Ten thousand biscuits were given out as well as 500 bottles of water, which will feed 500 people for four-and-a-half days, said Lt. Ben Wackerlin, a platoon leader with Team D.

Although the biscuits are a source of food for the locals, they still need the staples of their regular diet, said Knight. Within a few days the Red Falcons will provide 80 pound bags containing rice, beans and cooking oil, and will feed a family of five for two weeks. This allows the people to concentrate on other essential tasks, such as searching for work, rather than waiting in line for food every day.

DVIDS
Story by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

Lt. Mark Heitzmann, a medical officer assigned to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, delivers a Haitian newborn at New Mission in Bonel. The multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan is on station in Haiti along with the amphibious dock landing ships USS Fort McHenry, USS Gunston Hall and USS Carter Hall as the Bataan Amphibious Relief Mission supporting Operation Unified Response, a joint operation providing military support capabilities to civil authorities to help stabilize and improve the situation in Haiti following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the island nation on Jan. 12. (U.S. Navy photo/Petty Officer 2nd Class Sergio Hernandez/Released)

“I had no idea I would ever be doing anything like this in the Marine Corps,” said Lance Cpl. Drivenel Alfred, who was born in Port-de-Paix, Haiti. “It makes me feel great to have this opportunity to help both the Marine Corps and my people.”

Assessment teams have traveled to different towns throughout Haiti since the end of last week, looking for the same information in each location. The translators have to quickly speak with hundreds of locals to find out where hospitals, schools and city government buildings and officials are located, in addition to reassuring the masses that gather at every landing zone.

“I talk to the Haitian people, get the information we need to assess a location and ensure they know that we’re here to help them as best we can,” said Pfc. Rodney Gustave, field wireman, CLB-24, 24th MEU, and a Miami native of Haitian descent. “I just want to accomplish the mission and get as much information as possible so we can further assist them.”

For Cpl. Reginald Chery, tank mechanic, A. Company, Battalion Landing team 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 24th MEU, his mission is more than a job, its a homecoming, as he visited Saint Marc, the town of his birth.

“It felt really good to get in touch with friends of the family who I saw during the mission and make sure they were all safe,” Chery said. “It was all familiar, a lot of places I already knew, I felt like I could really help.”

Though all are excited to contribute to mission success and getting help where it is really needed, the realities of the destruction nationwide doesn’t escape them.

“Being there is kind of sad, but I focus on my job,” said Alfred. “Its hard, we see some heartbreaking things, but we still have to get the job done. That’s what Marines do.”

U.S. Marine Corps
By Gunnery Sgt. Robert Piper
24th MEU