Off Topic post

As some of you may have heard, my brother TC is in Haiti as the Captain of a US Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Fleet aboard the MV Cornhusker State. Built as commercial container ships during the late 1960s, the Cornhusker and Gopher State are slightly longer than two football fields. The Navy acquired them during the 1980s and added cranes to their decks.
The reason: The ships can load and unload cargo containers without facilities, such as the ports that line Newport News, Portsmouth and Norfolk. The modification means the Cornhusker is often deployed to unstable parts of the world, such as Iraq and Cuba. You can check out an article here about the ship and its uses, my bro is mentioned a few times.

So I mentioned that he's been sending photos pretty regularly from the ship and from his trip onshore. He says its devastating down there, but he feels like he's making a difference and that the US Military has really been working hard and has been crucial in organizing things so that people can get the supplies they so desperately need.

As Haiti quickly slips from the front pages and news coverage dwindles, here are a few reminders of whats happening down there...and a reminder that its not over yet.

People and rubble of a nearby building in Cite Soleil

A destroyed building in Sun City

Without this equipment, their port is rendered useless

The trash in the water is so gross

Fresh produce awaiting dispersal in Sun City

A pile of trash in the center of a large public market

Unimaginable poverty

A pier brought down and assembled by a sister ship of his

Bro is in the plaid shirt. Some of these guys are a big deal.

Not much help when your gantry crane is falling into the water. This is in Port-au-Prince

The Cornhusker is anchored near the Colombian Red Cross, Bro says they've become friendly

More of the port with containers falling right into the water