News from a NG unit in Mississippi

[Catshrink]

My nephew's Georgia NG unit was deployed and has ended up near Gulfport, MS. He said the destruction is absolutely unbelievable. They are staying in a HS building that has electricity but no running water -- they hope to have water service restored by tomorrow.

He's supposed to be providing medical services however, he has no bandages and only one IV bag. He was sent to scrounge up medical supplies.

We were surprised to hear from him but his cell phone is working. He's trying to get a ham radio set up -- he has a license, just needs the equipment.

This news was from my sister, who is a Kool-Aid drinking Bush lover. I mentioned that Haley Barbour, the governor of MS, said everything was fine there and they had everything they need. She meekly admitted he was full of shit.

Eventually, my nephew will start going house to house to recover bodies. He knows about the Vicks. I am so sorry he must do that. I still think of him as "our baby" and want to shield him from these horors. My sister reminded me that he's 33 years old and not a baby -- I told her he's still "our baby."

Sorry -- just a very worried auntie here.

[shireen]

1. i'll be thinking of him....

the job of recovering bodies is going to hurt really bad. when he gets back, please encourage him to seek counselling.

[Catshrink]

6. Most definitely...

he's a very strong person, very kind and compassionate. If I were one of the victims of the storm, I'd be so grateful that he was the one tending to me. We raised him well!

[Melodybe]

21. I feel ya, kicked and nominated

[xray s]

2. we'll keep him in our prayers

there are thousands of heroes in this tragedy, and your nephew is one.

thanks for sharing your story.

[Catshrink]

7. Thank you...

He's always been my hero, now he can shine for everyone. He's always wanted to serve his country -- better here than Iraq.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. When he gets back he needs to debrief this

[Catshrink]

8. I agree.

I hope his unit has a process set up for this.

[Catherine Vincent]

4. Thanks for sharing this about your nephew.

I like the part about your sis meekly admitting Barbour was full of shit.:)

[Catshrink]

5. And I was gracious, knowing how much pain she is in.

What I really wanted to do was :rofl:

[Catshrink]

9. Another thing...

my nephew said there was a lot of cholera. They can't get supplies because "everything is going to New Orleans."

But Haley Barbour said everything was just fine in his state -- they had everything they needed. Fucking moran.

[amandabeech]

Cholera?

Maybe those reports out of Mobile were true. This is very, very bad news, on top of having no medical supplies to work with.

I've been praying some these days even though I'm pretty agnostic, and I'll include your nephew and his fellow guardsmen and -women.

[amandabeech]

10. Cholera?

Maybe those reports out of Mobile were true. This is very, very bad news, on top of having no medical supplies to work with.

I've been praying some these days even though I'm pretty agnostic, and I'll include your nephew and his fellow guardsmen and -women.

[Catshrink]

12. That's what my sister said he said.

I shouldn't be reporting it as fact -- he may have been talking about the chance of cholera. It's second hand.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear it.

[susanna]

11. Haley is the ultimate * whore.

IIRC, he badgered Al Gore about Buddhist (Chinese?) contributions when he (or a company he was involved in, can't remember offhand) raked in a boatload from Beijing.

Though I can never truly know the mind of God, I sincerely think that Mr. Barbour may have a rude awakening on his day of judgement.

on edit: accuracy

[Catshrink]

13. And he claimed he didn't know it.

Randi Rhodes was talking about this -- said Barbour claimed he didn't know because they guy didn't speak English very well. My ass.

[susanna]

14. LOL...

My ass as well. That man has never said anything less than USDA Prime 100% neo-con Republican bullshit.

I will say one thing that is sort of interesting, though; the man has AGED and aged badly. Last time I saw him (during the Clinton/Lewinsky affair), he coulda been twins with Jerry Falwell, albeit with darker hair. He actually looked kinda young back then.

Now he looks like an old man grasping on tightly to the gossamer strands of a imagined heyday. More to the point, he looks older than dirt. Portrait of Dorian Gray, anyone?

I'm not sure why the *-ies never rewarded him for good and faithful service though...? Based on that, why is he STILL carrying their water? The mind boggles.

[BamaGirl]

15. My husband as been there since Weds.

He's Bama Guard. Originally they were told to expect to be there 14 days, and now are being told more than 30. They're going to be part of the recovery. :( :hug:

[Catshrink]

16. Is he in Gulfport, too?

Bill was told 15-30 days but he expects it to be longer.

:hug:

[BamaGirl]

17. Last time I talked to him he didn't know where he was

He started in Biloxi, spent a couple of days in Gulfport, and now says he's in a little town "that's just gone".

They expect to get federal orders tomorrow for 30+ days. He had me activate his cc pin so he can try to get cash because he thinks it's going to be much longer than 30 days.

[Rowdyboy]

18. Could be Ocean Springs, Waveland, Gautier....the possibilities are endless

There are so many beautiful small towns that now only exist as toothpicks. God bless your husband and his family for his service. I cannot imagine how hard this must be on you guys but try to imagine how nightmarish it has been on those he is now trying to protect.

He's a real hero, and I, and many other of my fellow Mississippians thank both you and he for your sacrifices.

[BamaGirl]

19. Not necessary Rb ;)

If he wasn't there with his Guard unit, he'd be there as one of the volunteers from his police dept. He'd tell you that it's just what he does, and no big deal. (And after the last deployment, which was 22 months, I'm just really glad he's in the states.)

[Rowdyboy]

20. Heros rarely realize they are heros....

But it doesn't diminish the impact of their actions at all. So many miserable, foolish people chose to believe they could beat the storm and now he has to pick up the peices of their lives and keep them from dying.

I'm really glad he's back in the states too.

[Bozita]

22. a medic with 1 IV bag and NO bandages? ... How very Bushlike

good thing that "the adults are back in charge," eh?

[Catshrink]

23. It's hard work, ya know?

Being Prezadent & all. So many photo ops so little time for golf.

It is pretty ridiculous that they have to scrounge medical equipment. From where? Everything is gone!