On August 31, 2005, two days after Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Patti Bader and her Soldiers’ Angels received their next assignment. The assignment arrived in the form of an email from Louisiana resident, Ricky John. Ricky told Patti,
“We are in the far northern part of the state and suffered no damage from the hurricane. However, we are experiencing a huge influx of ‘refugees’ from New Orleans and South Louisiana. One concern I have is for the families of our National Guard members who are in Iraq. I believe we have approximately 4,000 soldiers from the La. National Guard in Iraq at this time. Many of them are expected to return in the next couple of months. Of course many will be returning to displaced families, lost jobs, no homes, etc. I wanted to know if you had any suggestions on how these folks can be helped. I can only imagine the strain of readjusting to civilian life combined with the stresses of dealing with such devastation to your family. Any information or suggestions that you can provide will be appreciated.”
Patti realized that included in the ranks of the untold number of Americans whose lives had been decimated, were the family members of our soldier's serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Afghanistan. She knew that many of these soldiers would be returning home in the next few weeks to find that their families had been displaced and their homes and businesses destroyed. Others, who continued the battles in the areas of conflict, were just trying to learn information concerning there families whereabouts and safety.
Patti decided that Soldiers’ Angels would answer the call. Patti returned Ricky’s email and Operation Katrina Soldiers’ Relief Fund was born. Within a few short hours Soldiers’ Angels had partnered with Operation AC and BlackFive, a military blog, to established a relief fund to help our soldiers and their families cope with and recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. By nightfall Soldiers’ Angels received its first donations.
Patti tapped Ricky and Linda Dominik, of Arkansas, with the job of administering the fund and of locating soldiers and their families who needed help. This second task was accomplished with the help of the Louisiana National Guard’s Office of Family Programs. The National Guard was already swamped with request for help from their soldiers’ families who had escaped Katrina and at the same time was trying to help to those who were still trapped in New Orleans. In conjunction with the Office of Family Programs, Soldiers Angels was able to provide needed help. To date Soldiers’ Angels has been able to provide $20,000.00 in Walmart gift cards to enable the displaced families purchase the essential items needed for daily living. One Soldiers’ Angel donated a car to a soldier’s family and Soldiers’ Angels obtained an airline ticket for the soldiers’ wife to fly to Virginia to get the car. Additionally, hundreds of care packages were sent to the National Guard to distribute to the families as well as the soldiers who were activated to go to New Orleans, clothes and food products were taken to the Armories across the state to help the displaced families get back on their feet.
One email from a National Guard worker, stated “Thanks for the gift cards. I would love to have more gift cards.” It also noted that the 960 rolls of toilet paper delivered from Soldiers’ Angels would be enough “for now.” More gift cards and care packages were sent immediately.
The Operation kicked into overdrive on Saturday, September 10, 2005, when the National Guard Soldiers began returning from Iraq. Patti received a call from the National Guard at 3:00 a.m. saying that the first of the soldiers had arrived. The soldiers were given a four day leave. Without missing a beat she was on the internet making plane reservations for soldier after soldier. “HOOHRAHS!” were heard after every reservation. This continued all day long. By evening the last flights from Alexandria had left and seven soldiers remained at the airport. Patti was not willing to leave these guys to fend for themselves so the only thing to do was to charter a private plane. The airplane picked the soldiers up in Alexandria and made a swing through Houston, Austin, Memphis and Miami. The soldiers were with their families by that night.
With flights still coming in and no more flights leaving, Soldiers Angels contacted an Alexandria hotel and put soldiers up for the night. Eddies Bar-B-Q, across the street from the hotel, made sure that the Soldiers had dinner of some of the best barbeque in the South. The flights continued through Sunday morning with more soldiers being reunited with their displaced families.
More soldiers are due to arrive through the coming weeks and Soldiers Angels intends to get them home. Soldiers' Angels are dedicated to ensuring that our military know they are loved and supported during and after their deployment into harms way. It is their mission to get these Soldiers to their families and to get them back to base after their four day leave. The mission is far from complete. These soldiers and their families have lost their homes, their jobs and their businesses. Their needs continue.
Donations to Soldiers Angels can be made through their website www.SoldiersAngels.org or by sending a check or money order to Soldiers' Angels Foundation,Operation Katrina Relief, 1792 East Washington Blvd., Pasadena, California 91104. Soldiers Angels can also be contacted at (626)398-3131.
Soldiers Angels believes that “Now is the time to help protect those who have given up so much to protect us.”
To donate to Operation Katrina, you can click on the scrolling marqee at the top of the page.Patti and all - it never ceases to amaze.
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Staff Sgt. Jose Espola-Negron looks around his on-base house in disbelief. Most of his belongings were ruined from flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Before returning here from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where his family evacuated to before the storm, the only information he had about his house was that it had taken in a lot of water. During the highest point of flooding, more than 6 feet of water was in his home. Sergeant Espola-Negron is an air traffic control instructor with the 334th Training Readiness Squadron here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joe Piccorossi)
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