Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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mmMii 1 - 1 Uplifting Humanity | Monday, 12 September- President Bush remained overnight 1 aboard good ship IWO JIMA. the first time ever on a Navy ship according to ' the Secret Service foll s. He electrified the crew by showing up on the mess decks eariy this morning for breakfast. IWO JIMA ' s mess decks normally hold , about 100 seats. Within a few minutes, as word spread throughout the ship, the population of the mess decks swelled to three hundred to four hundred people. Hundreds stood in line to shake his hand. The President moved from table to table, greeting Sailors. Marines, Airmen, Soldiers, National Guardsmen, Coast Guardsmen, air crews, doctors, and civilians, shaking hands, taking a picture with them, and thanking them for their service. Would that his incredibly tight schedule permit him to do so. he would have spent all day on the mess decks greeting and thanking each and every service member. As he was departing the ship later this morning, I introduced him to IWO JIMA ' s veteran LDO Chief Engineer, Rick Shelar dressed in coveralls, naturally The President made a point of thanking him for the hot water and cool air - two commodities greatly appreciated by thousands of IWO JIMA guests this past week. We implemented a change in IWO JIMA ' s uniform policy on Sunday Hence forth, all long sleeves shirts have to be rolled up, in the style of the Commander-in-Chief. Like the President, we are ready to get back to work. The business of good ship IWO JIMA continued unintemjpted throughout the President ' s stay Several medical evacuations (medevacs) took place; a number by air and the flight deck and a number brought by ambulance to the quarterdeck. Flight operations continued throughout the morning. Deck department continued their extensive preservation work of the ship ' s port side and the golden anchor on the port side was brightened with a fresh coat of gold paint. The steady stream of soldiers and guardsmen coming aboard for showers, meals, laundry, medical attention, and meetings continued unabated as well as the steady flow of Sailors going off the ship to support a number of relief projects. The trashed and gutted RivenA alk Terminal was completely clean out -, s morning by a large contingent of IWO JIMA Sailors. The Command Master C lef had to hold them off before they went so far as to start waxing the decks. Tne Terminal building is slated to become the new FEMA office for recovery efforts. Twenty volunteers returned to the Plaza to continue the feeding of the First Responders. cooking and barbequing several thousand meals a day for firemen and policemen from New Orleans and from around the country, including some 300 from New York City. Last Sunday, teams of volunteers - including a group of brothers from Alabama - set up the soup kitchen to ensure that the First Responders were supplied with good food as they worked to restore the city A team of engineers conducted a s ite survey of Charity Hospital to drain the , facility ' s huge basement of flood waters. Other teams surveyed jobs to build

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itaged for pick-up. The GWOT (Global War on Terror) temporarily became the GWOD: the Great War on Debris , as coined by ABF3 Robert Bauer. The ever enterpnsing ingineers managed to repair, light off, and fully restore the famous (but highly complex) fountain within 30 minutes of arrival. The fountain continues to churn and shoot foam ikyward. The combined energies and talents of Hull Technicians (HT), Electricians Mates (EH I), Machinist Mates (MM), Enginemen (EN), and ICmen (IC) is a powerful force or good. Along the waterfront adjacent to the Plaza (and all the shops and restaurants) is a gangway that can connect cruise liners directly to the Plaza and the three story nail. At the end of the gangway stand two impressive 3 story towers with flag poles on top of each. On one flagpole stood the Louisiana state flag, slightly frayed but defiant, ind on the other stood the shredded remains of our National Ensign. Quarter Master Second Class (QM2) Shannon Crank ran back to the ship and secured another flag - in he same tradition as Coast Guardsman Resnick who provided the second American Flag for the famous flag raising on Mount Sunbachi on February 23, 1 945 as immortalized 1 the famous Joe Rosenthal photograph. Young Airman(AN) DaSilva from HSC-26 The Chargers helicopter squadron bravely scaled the towers, gently removed the attered flag, and then launched the new flag aloft into the stiff nver breeze. The assembled volunteers saluted the restored flag as it rose and cheered the intrepid Airman )aSilva. With this phase of our recovery efforts complete, many IWO JIMA Sailors volunteered to help out with cooking for the police and firefighters at a nearby barbeque. nd by late afternoon, morale was improving. ...And then President Bush came and morale went through the roof. As soon as his helicopter landed, the Commander-in-Chief was on the flight deck thanking each of the flight deck Sailors for their service and hard work in the ecovery efforts. Everywhere he went as he moved around the ship he took a moment to shake hands with each and every Sailor he came across, have a photo taken, and hank them for their service. The President left the ship to tour some of the sthcken areas, but when he returned a few hours later, the flight deck and port elevator were xowded with Sailors who cheered the President and roared with applause as he walked back across the brow onboard his flagship. WO JIMA is back in Phase 1

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showers for the city workers at a local gym and rehab the Orleans Parish City Han to get i; up and running. Around the city there are growing signs of recovery. Some of the parishes are reported to be allowing some residents to return to their homes. The Army Corps of Engineers indicated that dewatehng efforts were proceeding ahead of schedule with the water level dropping on the average of a foot and a half per day across the city. Louis Armstrong Airport is reported to be opening up soon. And as I looked across the night skyline this evening, I notice that the red Sheraton sign has been completely restored. There is still a gigantic amount of trash, debhs, and garbage to be cleared out. But inch by inch, areas of the city are being cleaned and reclaimed. As I went around the room this evening during our Department Head meeting, there was one worthy candidate for the amusing event of the day With such a large population of civilians and personnel from other Services onboard, getting around the ship and comprehending Navy terminology can be challenging. One lost civilian asked a crewmember how she could get to the Half deck Don ' t you mean Quarterdeck? was the response. I suspect it is the new math. Before the President left the mess decks this morning, he spoke briefly to the packed audience of hundreds of service men and women. He thanked the troops for what they had done in relieving the misery of the Gulf Coast and expressed his pride in their service, and he told them that by their actions and extraordinary efforts they were uplifting humanity and bringing hope to those without it.