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