USS Bataan Rescues More Than 200 Hurricane Survivors

(WVEC TV-13, 1 SEP AUG 05)
GULF OF MEXICO -- More than 200 people have been rescued by the helicopters of the Norfolk-based USS Bataan.

The multi-purpose amphibious assault ship began search and rescue efforts in the New Orleans area Tuesday night. continued on Wednesday.

Crewmembers from Helicopter Sea Control Squadron 28 at Naval Station Norfolk and Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi launched three MH-53 Sea Dragons and two MH-60 Knight Hawks Tuesday night and again at daylight Wednesday to help out where they are needed.

“Our first mission was to provide food and water and to take some people to a safer haven and to help with the levee by providing sandbags,” said AS2(AW/NAC) Johnny Ramirez, MH-53 Aircrewman for HM-15. “We weren’t able to complete our assigned mission Tuesday night because it got too dark and it was too risky to land anywhere with all of the water and power lines. Instead, we just flew Tuesday night to survey the area.”

On Wednesday, a crew from HM-15 was very busy.

“My crew and I airlifted nearly 100 people from the roof of a building and onto a field where ambulances and busses were waiting for them,” said Lt. Cmdr. David Hopper, detachment Officer in Charge of HM-15. “Ten of those who we rescued couldn’t even walk; my crewmen had to carry them.”

The only downfall for all the crews is that they can’t save everyone, but they know saving one life is worth it.

“It’s rewarding to help our fellow Americans,” Hopper said. “The crew knows that these people don’t have a home to go back to. That is our motivation.”

One of the missions of the MH-60 aircraft is search and rescue. HSC-28 personnel have rescued 71 people in their first two days of operation, seven in the first 30 minutes. HSC-28 has three crews and two aircraft and is alternating flight and crew rest time.

“At first it was frustrating because it took so long to get involved,” said pilot Lt. Eric Lowry of HSC-28. “Now that we have started, we don’t want to stop.”

The crew of the MH-60 also ran out of daylight as it was difficult to see stranded personnel on the rooftops in a city that has limited electricity. For Lt j.g. Jeremy Browning seeing the destruction from Katrina is like seeing something out of a movie. “Everything just looked like somebody threw a bunch of dog houses in a swimming pool.”

Commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, embarked Bataan Wednesday for a few hours to survey the ship’s capabilities. Bataan has been the Maritime Disaster Service Coordinator for the U.S. Navy’s role in the Hurricane Katrina efforts.

The area stretching from Louisiana to Florida has announced a public health emergency and the President of the United States said that the recovery of the Gulf Coast could take years.

“We have jumped in feet first to provide as much assistance as we can,” said Capt. Nora Tyson, Bataan’s commanding officer. “Every Sailor on this ship will do everything they can to do to help. We’ll be prepared to have this ship filled up with people. If they need to sleep in the hangar bay because this is the only dry ground, then so be it.”

Bataan’s involvement in the humanitarian assistance operations is an effort led by the Department of Defense in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).