Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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Oklahoma who was on his way to see his troops - our neighbors - the Oklahoma National Guard. The Congressman took the opportunity to meet with fellow Oklahomans on IWO JIMA and thank them for their support of the humanitarian relief effort. At the request of the ship, VADM Thad Allen addressed the ship at Admiral ' s Call. While the majority of the participants were IWO JIMA Sailors, there were Army, Mahne Corps, Air Force, National Guard, Coast Guard, Center for Disease Control, US Public Health Service, US Marshals, and local members in attendance as well. The Admiral talked at length at what had happened, how the storm had devastated the region and how its affects had impacted relief efforts. He talked about IWO JIMA ' s role in all this and I think the crew was left with a better understanding of what their conthbutions meant to the overall effort. He noted how this relief effort was unprecedented in history, that we had gone beyond having a Dept of Defense response, or a FEMA response, or a State response, but rather had set the course for one coordinated combined response... at all levels. The crew was engaged and asked a lot of questions - probably more than in a year ' s worth of Captains Calls. .. But as expected, the big event today was the second visit by President Bush. He flew aboard late this afternoon and after meeting with VADM Allen, LGEN Honore, Governor Blanco, the Mayor of New Orleans, Secretary Chertoff, and the new FEMA Director, he left the ship to address the Nation from Jackson Park. Upon his return, a large crowd of several hundred Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Soldiers, and Guardsmen had assembled to catch a glimpse of the President as he transited back up the Flight Deck to catch his flight. At the first sign of the President, the crowd erupted in applause and cheers. The President then approached the crowd and shook a couple hundred hands. He thanked the damage controlmen who recently completed the dewatering of the Charity Hospital. He thanked the Sailors who worked the Flight deck. He thanked the doctors and corpsmen who manned up the medical spaces. And the list went on. Since this was one of the last nights for our neighbors, the Rl National Guard, we invited them up to the Hangar as well, and a few dozen Rl guardsmen had a chance to shake hands with the President. And as he turned away to head up the ramp to the Flight Deck, the crowd erupted once again in cheers and applause. One of the Secret Service Agents told me he had not seen such an outpouring by the troops. He said the President really loves the troops. And it was evident to me that the troops love their Commander-in-Chief. In his address to the nation, the President challenged Amencans to ' find your role and do your part. The example has been set down here in New Orleans. The NYPD contingent found their role and did their part without anyone telling them what to do. The same with the Rl National Guard. The same with the brothers from Alabama who set up the soup kitchen across from Harrah ' s. There are dozens of examples. They all saw the need and stepped up to the plate.

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Thursday, 1 5 September- To be perfectly honest, most everyone onboard IWO JIMA has lost the concept of time. After a while you forget what day of the week it is or what the actual date is. Days are remembered by the big event: completion of a big project, the departure of a unit, or a visit by the President. Thursday 15 September is remembered on IWO JIMA as President Bush ' s second visit. We have now officially renamed compartment 02-59-4-L, formerly the Amphibious Group Commanders Cabin, the Presidential Suite. The ship gathered up seve ral dozen volunteers this morning for a clean up project at a local church. Holy Trinity Cathedral, one of the oldest Greek Orthodox pahshes in the United States. The church was located near the bayou and had sustained about 3 feet of flood damage. The flood waters had barely receded; one edge of the parking lot was still connected to the bayou. The interior of the church was covered in a slippery layer of brown scum. The team went to work clearing out all the furniture and holy items while the ship ' s chaplains cleaned up the altar The saturated carpet was completely pulled up and the beautiful marble floor was washed and cleaned. One group wiped down all the pews with Murphy ' s oil soap, so that by the end of the day the interior of the church was fully restored - ready for services this Sunday The church was aired out and the stagnant smell was replaced by the faint scent of bleach. My time on the project was cut short in order to return to the ship for the visit of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs who was onboard for a tour of IWO JIMA ' s medical facilities and talks with the JTF Commander along with other admirals and generals of the health services. I had to apologize for greeting the Secretary in a set of muddy coveralls. The ship was also visited by the Assistant Chief of NYPD who leads the 300 person NYPD contingent. He wears two stars on his collar and considering the size and reputation of the NYPD compared to most countrys ' armed forces, an Assistant Chief is probably equal to a two star general. With the streets secure, the NYPD contingent is getting close to returning back home. We also had an unexpected visit by a Congressman from

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What ' s in a name? Friday, 16 September- The ' high from President Bush ' s visit last night still has not worn off noticed a few Sailors, who had the opportunity and honor of shaking hands with the President, whose feet didn ' t seem to be touching the deck as they walked down the passageway. The cell phones were busy last night with hundreds of calls to parents, wives, friends and family members. Adozen Sailors had the privilege of having their pictures taken with the President by the White House photographer. It was another busy day on IWO JIMA. This morning, the ship hosted a delegation of 1 5 Senators, led by the Senate Majority Leader, along with several dozen staffers who came onboard for a briefing by JADM Allen and the CJTF Commander. The delegation flew onboard in four Army Blackhawk helicopters. As always, the tower and flight deck executed the event with precision: our flight deck operations have become well choreographed events. Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin were also onboard for the briefing. There was standing room only in IWO JIMA ' s cavernous wardroom. VADM Allen provided a detailed explanation on how the damage and destruction were caused by the storm, the impact it had on first responders and inifial recovery efforts as well as the impact on the ability of local, State, and Federal agencies to respond. He also outlined a detailed plan for recovery and relief efforts. A master of virtually every detail of this operation, VADM Allen handled the barrage of questions from the Senators with aplomb. With flood waters receding and services slowly being restored, the Mayor announced that he expected 1 80,000 residents to return to the City in a week or two. In the afternoon, the JTF Commander gathered his generals and admirals for another Commander ' s Conference. A delegation from the NYPD returned aboard to present the ship with the flag of NYPD. We promised to fly the flag the day the ship gets underway from New Orleans, once our mission is complete here. Already a contingent of policemen has already returned to the Big Apple; the rest are expected to depart after this weekend. In the meantime, IWO JIMA continued with the steady stream of support requirements. Despite the free hamburgers at McDonalds and the free pizza at a recently opened franchise - further indicators of restorafion - the mess decks were packed with hungry soldiers, airmen, guardsmen. Sailors, and Marines. The Engineers, specifically the DC men and the HTs. have neariy completed the dewatering of Charity Hospitals gigantic basement. This has been a huge joint undertaking It turned out that there was an underground tunnel connecting the basement of Chanty Hospital with the basement of another hospital across the street which was also flooded. In the end. the team ended up dewatering two basements for the price of one. Ever cautious engineers, they came back today with Self Contained Breathing Aparatus (SCBAs) and oxygen analyzers as they inspected the basement to flnd the source of the flooding. They discovered a number of body parts (the hospital ' s morgue was located in the basement) and worked with hospital officials to properly take care of the remains. With DC plugs and patching kits, they hope to stop the flooding and allow water to be restored to the hospital soon so that it can be up and running. The IWO JIMA Intelligence team has been the sole source provider of critical intelligence to the City of New Orieans Emergency Operations Center. The Intel Officer has been conducfing daily briefs and providing Intel training in order to get city officials connected self-sufficient. Of the many projects undenway one of the most important has been our volunteers to Eddie ' s Soup Kitchen in front of Harrah ' s. The Senate delegation ate there this afternoon. Long after the Senators left. I had the opportunity to spend a few hours at the grills with two of the ship ' s Informafion Technicians. IT2 Montgomery and IT3 O ' Keef. After getting off watch, they spent the whole day from 0900 in the morning unfil the kitchen was shut down and cleaned up after 2000 this evening, manning the grills non-stop, feeding soldiers, guardsmen, and First Responders, and cooking several thousand shrimp. They said they were ready to do it again tomorrow. Whether on the ship or off the ship, we always seem to be feeding General Honore ' s troops one way or another. As all of the Senators and their staff members were departing the ship this morning, one of them grabbed the