Cleaning Up After the Storm

Dear Friends,

We heard from Jason today. He has been assigned to temporary duty aboard the USS Iwo Jima which is currently deployed to New Orleans. His job is to help escort the politicians and other officials who come to Louisiana for a photo-op, I mean, visit.

When the President visits Louisiana, he is escorted by members of the 82nd Airborne, while the members of the Louisiana Army National Guard watch from the sidelines. In my humble opinion, just another direct slap from the federal government against one of the states that has already suffered so much.

If I'm sounding a little bitter, it's probably because I am! I wish that certain politicians - and yes, that means you, Mr. President - would spend their time and energy on actually helping the people affected by Hurricane Katrina, instead of trying to prove to us how much they're finally doing.

But I digress. Jason is holding up well. He is eager to rejoin the troops of the 769th and continue the actual work of cleaning up. I look forward to his eventual return to family and school, but we have no idea when that will happen.

Christopher
chris.tobin@comcast.net