It's Become Clear To Me....

THIS IS A TIME FOR HEROES !!!

THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS TO ME, RIGHT NOW, IS EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE OF HAITI.... AND, IN THE FACE OF SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS, THE UNITED STATES MILITARY AND CIVILIAN RESPONSE HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL !!!



EVACUATION AND RESCUES :

• As of Jan. 17, a total of 1,760 American citizens have been airlifted out of Haiti.

• USAID/DART reported that a U.S. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team had rescued an additional three individuals at the Caribbean Market.

• As of Jan. 17, U.S. USAR teams have rescued 26 individuals.

• There are currently six U.S. USAR teams operating in Haiti along with 21 international USAR teams from around the world. US teams are based out of Fairfax VA, Los Angeles CA, Miami FL (two teams), New York NY and Virginia Beach VA.

• Each USAR team includes approximately 70 team members.

FOOD AND WATER :

• U.S. military aircraft have airlifted 130,000 humanitarian daily rations and more than 70,000 bottles of water to Port-au-Prince.

• Three water purification units are operational and can supply 180,000 liters per day.

• USS Carl Vinson continues to provide potable water production.

• U.S. military aircraft will continue to support the delivery of an additional 600,000 daily rations over the next several days.

• Six additional water purification units are scheduled to arrive in the coming days from USAID stockpiles in Dubai. Each unit provides 1000,000 liters of safe drinking water serving 10,000 people per day.

• 12,000 water containers have arrived from Miami.

• Yesterday, the U.N. World Food Program distributed high-energy biscuits to a total of 50,000 people.

• The World Food Program Port-au-Prince metropolitan areas schools feeding program is now serving hot meals to 50,000 affected people.




U.S. AIR FORCE CAPTAINS JEFF SMITH AND ANDY MARSHALL, LANDING A C-17 AT PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI.


WHERE ROADS ARE FEW OR NON-EXISTENT, THE 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION IS BRINGING FOOD AND WATER FROM THE USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70).


ASSESSING THE THRONGS OF THIRSTY SURVIVORS, CIRCLING FOR A LANDING.


THESE "WATER DROPS" ARE MADE HASTILY BECAUSE JET FUEL IS PRECIOUS


FAIRFAX COUNTY URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM, AT WORK IN THE RUINS OF THE MONTANA HOTEL IN PORT-AU-PRINCE.


TEN YEAR OLD JUDITH BERTRAND, RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE FROM A NURSE WITH THE DOMINICAN RED CROSS


U.S. NAVAL AIR CREWMAN 2nd CLASS JASON HAROLD RECEIVES AN INJURED HAITIAN CHILD FOR TRANSPORT TO THE USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70).


JEAN ZACHARIE, WITH THE HAITIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY, CARRIES DEBORAH FATIMA TO A WAITING AMBULANCE.


MEMBERS OF "NEW YORK CITY TASK FORCE ONE", BRINGING THEIR 9/11 DISASTER EXPERTISE WITH THEM, ABOARD A HAITI-BOUND C-17 "GLOBEMASTER".


THE SALVATION ARMY, LONG ESTABLISHED IN HAITI, ARRIVES WITH PARAMEDICS, AMBULANCES AND DISASTER RELIEF COORDINATORS.


THE SALVATION ARMY EMPLOYS PILOTS FOR THE RELIEF EFFORT, AS WELL.


SURVIVORS STILL GAZE IN AMAZEMENT AT THE DESTRUCTION.


U.S. NATIONALS, SHOWN HERE WAITING TO BOARD A C-17 "GLOBEMASTER", BOUND FOR THE U.S.A.


U.S. CITIZENS, EVACUATING HAITI, ARE GIVEN EARPLUGS BEFORE BOARDING A C-17 "GLOBEMASTER" FOR THEIR FLIGHT OUT.


VACATIONING AMERICAN SAMANTHA ESKVOWITZ, SHOWN HERE WITH SURVIVOR BEATRICE ABBOTT, VOLUNTEERED HER SKILLS AS A NURSE, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE JANUARY 12th EARTHQUAKE.


ELEMENTS OF THE 22nd MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT, SHOWN HERE BOARDING THE USS BATAAN, BOUND FOR HAITI.


LOS ANGELES COUNTY URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE, MOBILIZING FOR THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORT.


U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON, ON THE GROUND IN HAITI, USES THE MEDIA TO PLEAD THE CASE FOR HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS.


SO MUCH MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE....


BUT SOMETHING TELLS ME THE NAVY WON'T LET US DOWN.