Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Cossel | When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, over 20,000 people took refuge in the...... read more read more
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Spec. Benjamin Cossel
196th MPAD
NEW ORLEANS -- When Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the city of New Orleans, it's estimated that more than 20,000 people took refuge in the Superdome. As conditions in the city went from bad to worse, moving the displaced in the Superdome to a safer location became a priority for city officials.
The call for help went out on the evening of Aug 31. Only 24 hours later, Citizen-Soldiers of the Ohio Army National Guards, 1st of the 148th Infantry Regiment were assisting in the evacuation of the Louisiana Superdome.
"We deployed so rapidly," said Company D Platoon Sgt. Jim Scally, 'that at first we didn't even know what are mission was."
Initially, the Soldiers flew into Naval Air Station New Orleans. Upon hitting the ground, commanders choppered to the Superdome to get an initial assessment of what their Soldiers would face.
"The scene on the ground was absolute chaos," said Toledo resident and Platoon Leader 2nd Lt. Patrick McHugh. "I was completely overwhelmed with the breadth of destruction I witnessed."
After determining where their platoons would locate, the teams deployed and began the huge task of evacuating the Superdome.
The first task was getting people through processing stations before they could be put on buses and taken to a safe location.
"We had to start controlling the flow of people," said McHugh. "It was like a gigantic rock concert with everyone trying to get out at the same time."
When the Soldiers of the 1-148 arrived, they became the first military unit to back up Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard.
"The Louisiana guys were doing everything in their power to manage the huge amount of people in the "Dome," said McHugh. "But they were simply outnumbered and just like almost everyone in the "Dome, those guys lost almost everything."
McHugh went on to explain that given the circumstances, members of the Louisiana National Guard did a tremendous job.
"If it hadn't been for the Soldiers of the Louisiana National Guard we wouldn't have been able to quickly accomplish our mission. They did a tremendous job giving us information about the Superdome, the situation on hand and pointing us to the places that needed our attention."
Getting everyone out of the Superdome took three days. With the majority of refugees out of the facility, the Soldiers mission changed to the awesome task of clearing every room within the Superdome.
"When we first walked into the place," said Scally, 'the first thing that almost knocked you down was the stench."
For nearly a week, the more then 20,000 people with no water, no electricity, no toilets and often with their pets, crammed into the domed stadium. When Katrina tore off sections of the "Dome's roof, water spilled in flooding much of the area.
As the Soldiers made their way further into the Dome, huge piles of trash and other debris slowed their progress.
"Inside the "Dome was the worst squalor I've ever seen," said Scally. "Moving through was extremely slow at first, as we had to make our way through all the trash and excrement and everything that was left behind. I mean, the whole thing reminded me of something you would expect to see in a third-world country."
During their search, Soldiers discovered 10 people who"d decided they didn't want to leave the "Dome's confines.
A few amount of people required a little bit of extra persuasion.
"Once we found them, most cleared out and got into the processing lines," Scally said, "But we had a couple that we had to take to the processing lines and put them on the buses."
With the Superdome completely secure, the Soldiers of 1st of the 148th moved on to their new mission of search and rescue operations. But for both Scally and McHugh, the memories of what they saw will stay with them forever.
"Even if they get this place completely cleaned up and running again I don't think I will be able to come in here," said McHugh. "I think the memories of the smells and sights would be just too much and too vivid."
Scally agreed.
"I know I'll never be able to forget what I saw inside there," said Scally. "But you know what? It's missions like that—where I feel like a very small part of this very large effort. But I feel like I was able to make a difference—and I'll never forget that either."
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2005 17:16 |
| Story ID: | 3036 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 388 |
| Downloads: | 174 |
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