This afternoon I came across one of my photographs of the amphibious assault ship BATAAN in the Washington Post. It ran with a story about the current crisis in the Mideast. A few minutes later I heard from a friend, the young lady with the machine gun below, reminding me it was 10 years ago this month that the two of us got on the BATAAN at Naval Station Norfolk and headed south for Haiti on an earthquake relief mission.
During the trip I remember the commanding officer talking about the capabilities of an amphibious assault ship - they can carry thousands of marines; launch hovercraft and landing craft from the well deck; launch helicopters and certain types of fixed wing aircraft from the flight deck. "We can bring help just as well as we can bring harm," he said. I am glad we were there when they were bringing help.
7 comments:
Steve, I was there as well with a medical relief mission. It was life altering in so many ways.
Rick
Agreed.
steve
I remember those photos. They've stuck with me.
Thank you for remembering, MaryLou. Speaking to times past, I just sent an email to the Downrigging folks about this year's festival. Maybe I'll see you in November. steve
Thank you, Steve. That was a very nice way to start my day.
Good work Steve.
I remember it from stateside NC. I was a staff photographer at Pope AFB, now Pope AAF, next to Fort Bragg.
My photos ended up in an Air Force publication devoted to "Operation Haiti Relief". We were flying Air Force C-130's three times a day for about a week. I still have memories of seeing two & three dozen C-130's from around the country on the tarmac, loading food, water, and supplies.
All the best,
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