Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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Perseverance Tuesday, 13 September- The schedule of the ship has settled down to a dull roar. It was a slow day on the flight deck, relatively speaking, compared to the high optempo 1 5-16 hour days of last week. Deck department continued their preservation work and conducted a number of stern gate marriages with TORTUGA ' s LCM-8 landing craft to bring supplies on and off the ship. Hotel IWO JIMA remains open for business and the steady stream of customers continues. The engineers have set to work a joint project with the Army to dewater the basement of the venerable Charity Hospital. Navy pumps and an Army generator with Coast Guard oversight - it doesn ' t get more joint than that. I had a delegation of five New York City police officers visit me aboard IWO JIMA. They were part of a 300 person NYPD contingent that arrived on station last Monday. They took to the streets on their own initiative and established order. Some of the members are seasoned veterans of 9 1 1 . Who better to set the first line of defense than New York City ' s finest. With the break in the action, I took the opportunity to tour the City and surrounding areas by air, courtesy of the professionals of Charger 61 from HSC-26 helicopter squadron. We flew as far north as Slidell and as south as the lower part of New Orieans, across all the City ' s parishes. It was a grim and sobering hour and a half flight. From our perch on the bridge of USS IWO JIMA during our transit up the Mississippi we saw a significant amount of damage along the river and a few miles across the river delta lowlands. And even from our travels through downtown New Orieans, we have only seen a fraction of the devastation. It is different from the air. The wide expanse of Katrina ' s cruelty spreads out for dozens of miles. There are sfill neighborhoods flooded with waters from the once broken levees, miles of low one story homes still suffocating and choked in the black Stygian waters. In other areas where waters the color of olive green have receded, the entire landscape IS coated with brownish, olive colored mud: roads, sidewalks, cars, shrubs, lawns, sidewalks and driveways, swimming pools, decks and :iatios, layered in mud and dried scum. But not content to just suffocate and drown in black water and mud, Katrina elected to smash with savage winds. In some areas, homes were flooded off their foundations and then pushed into a pile at the edge of a ' evee. In one parking lot, a bunch of smashed cars were placed n the same way Noble trees uprooted and smashed. Pleasure ijoats piled in a mass half a mile from the nearest water. Homes, businesses, hotels, restaurants, everything smashed, choked, or crushed. And the devastation carries on for miles. After a while, one becomes anesthetized to the carnage. What seems to be completely lost in the press is the nsidious nature with which this massive storm struck the Gulf Coast, particulariy New Orieans. General Honore called this the perfect storm - an enemy who conducted a perfect, flawless, - I 3 1 9 1 mk mr i J 1 3 -9 Uii s [ K 1 9 1 M 1 1 1 1 i 1 F ifl 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.

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devastating attack on New Orleans. First, Katrine savaged the area witti winds as she moved northward, knocking over telephone poles, power lines, and cell phone and microwave antennas. Then as the storm passed and moved northward, expanding in size as it gathered up moisture over the Mississippi valley, it brought a calm to the ravaged city New Orleans, lulling the residents with the false belief that they had dodged the worst of it. Then Katrina poured a sea of rain into the Mississippi valley swelling the river and Lake Ponchatrain and all the tributaries beyond their banks, tunneling massive amount of raging water through New Orleans and the delta, weakening some of the levees until they broke without warning. The water rose quickly, several feet within minutes in some cases, covering huge areas. There was no time to evacuate, no way to escape, and no way to call for help - all the phone lines and cell phone services were down. Flooded streets denied rescue workers access by road. Downed trees impeded access by boat. The storm knocked out bridges and causeways cutting off sections of the city - separating and dividing friendly forces. Smashed or flooded air fields denied aircraft staging bases from which to launch search and rescue efforts. Rescue workers inside the area were trapped, isolated, unable to communicate with outside support and with victims, and unable to get around to conduct rescues. It is an absolute miracle, surveying the wide expanse of destruction, that so many thousands were rescued. And it is astounding that 1 .3 million people were safely evacuated to safe havens and refuges under such difficult circumstances within 24 hours - a feat of coordination without precedent. The first thing you notice about the damage from the air is black water and mud. But the second thing you notice is movement . There is movement in the flood waters and on dry land. Flooded areas were being patrolled by Coast Guard boats and teams. Neighborhoods still covered with brown scum were being patrolled by Marines and their amphibious assault vehicles (or tracks ). In areas where the waters had receded Army Air Force, and National Guard personnel walked the streets, checking homes for potential evacuees and people in need. A military helicopter was adding huge bags of cement to a recently repaired levee, reinforcing its banks. Countless utility company trucks were engaged in rigging wires and repairing lines. Strung along the bank of a number of levees were fleets of portable pumps, six to ten in a line, drawing massive amounts of black water from flooded neighborhoods. In less damaged areas, residents were out piling debris from their yards and homes on the edges of the street for some future collection. In another neighborhood, dried mud was being scraped off the street by a bull dozer. And at the Superdome, pieces of heavy equipment were extracting debris and piling it for removal. From the air you occasionally see a sign painted on the roofs of houses. Some had calls for help or noted that a pet had been left behind. But one in particular struck me as inspiring. On a flat, black shingled roof was painted the following message in large white letters: No Phone.. .1 Dog. ..2 Cats...1 Person... Bring Supplies... STAYING! - a sign of stubborn defiance! Foremost of the qualities of Americans, along with charity and good will to others, is perseverance. America throughout her history has prevailed against all forms of adversity: civil war, worid wars, economic depression, civil stnfe, and natural disasters, will be perseverance and a determination by her citizens to rebuild a new New Orieans, despite the challenges of time and the daunting recovery ahead. t: