Courtesy Photo | 20050809-A-8908C-00 (119) Sgt. Scott Crawford, a squad leader with 3rd Platoon,...... read more read more
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Spc. Benjamin Cossel
196th MPAD
NEW ORLEANS -- They're tough as nails on the outside. But, they hurt just like everyone else on the inside when they see something that tugs at the heartstrings.
"It's really sad," said Sgt. 1st Class James Scally, from Delaware, Ohio as his flat-bottom boat trolled through a flooded residential neighborhood here. "I'm looking in these peoples" houses and I see pictures on the wallâ?¦it breaks my heart."
With large portions of the city still underwater, Soldiers of Company D, 1st of the 148th Infantry Regiment, Ohio Army National Guard are going house to house looking for the living as well as for those who were claimed by Katrina.
"We had to clear a child daycare," Scally said. "We had to break a window -- there were toys in there and we knew that there were kids playing in there just a couple of weeks ago and now it's complete devastation."
Before these troops did house-to-house searches, they pulled a mission at the Superdome. Then, they drew the search and rescue mission.
"When we first got here, we were tasked with helping to evacuate the Superdome," said Wadsworth, Ohio resident Sgt. Michael White. "We've done so much in the little bit of time we've been here."
Their tough side presents itself.
"The situation inside the dome was really bad," said White. "We saw all sorts of horrible things but we got all those people out of there, onto busses, and off to wherever it was they were going."
After evacuating the Superdome, Company C, Company E, Headquarters and Headquarters Company as well as Company D were then tasked to help out with the massive search and rescue operations under way.
They begin their task every morning, loading into the back of five-tons and HUMVEES heading out to their area of responsibility. The convoy of six vehicles rumbled down the Chef Menteur Highway coming to a stop at what used to be a dry cleaning service.
The building's parking lots serves as the Command and Control center as the Soldier jump out of the back of their vehicles and reassemble into squads.
"Basically," explains White, "we're going house to house and looking for anyone left. Once we've gone through a house, we'll mark it with the date we searched it so other agencies working in the area will know not to waste their time and move on to areas not yet cleared."
The squads use spray paint on one of the outside walls to indicate the day the house was cleared. A "0" painted next to the date indicates no one was in the house, a "29" is the mark noting a body was found inside.
"Finding the dead is almost as important as finding the living," said White. "It gives the families a sense of relief to know one way or another what has happened to their loved ones."
White added that the mark also allows properly equipped agencies to go in and retrieve the bodies so proper burial arraignments can be made.
"Luckily, most of the area's we've gone through look like people were evacuated in time. Most of the belongings are either packed up or its looks like a lot of families took their stuff with them when they left."
Along with the rest of his Company, the squad leader with 1st platoon, 2nd Squad, Company D was on the ground just three days after Katrina wreaked devastation across this fabled city.
They prefer to go on foot, which makes it easier for a complete search of each house. In areas where water levels remain too high, they load up on boats, striking out across the putrid water.
While the mechanics of accomplishing their mission might differ from those on foot, for D Co. Soldiers that find themselves taking to boats, the final outcome is the same; search each house, mark it, move to the next.
The boats are picked up from where Katrina deposited them. Some are in better shape then others but each is capable of its task.
Sgt. Christian Walsh, of Tallmadge, Ohio, with 2nd platoon, captains one of the few boats with a motor. As they slowly work their way down flooded streets, tops of sports utility vehicles poke up out of the water.
"It's slow maneuvering through these parts," said Walsh. "You're not quiet sure where the low spots are or when you're going to run into someone's fence."
Downed trees and power lines with their wires crisscrossing the road slow the platoon further.
Mooring along side a house, Sgt. Scott Crawford, a squad leader with 2nd platoon from Orrville takes his oar in hand and smashes out the window. The stench of water combined with the molding innards of the house smack into him as he reels back for a second before calling in.
"NATIONAL GUARD! Is anyone in here?! We're here to helpâ?¦.is there anyone in here?!"
Crawford looks back at Walsh, shakes his head in the negative. Walsh marks the house: 9-8-05 "0."
Even with such a somber task, Soldier's morale remains high. They feel a sense of purpose in what they do and the interaction with residents, so happy to see them, makes the long days and "hot as hell" conditions bearable.
"No one here is complaining," said White. "Soldiers really came through. Our guys came from all over the state, dropped what they had going on and got here. We all know that we're doing a good thing. When you give someone a bottle of water or help get them out of their house to an evacuation pointâ?¦it really does make you feel like you're doing something with a purpose."
hkat
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2005 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 3037 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 166 |
| Downloads: | 48 |
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