New Orleans - Day Three

You know it has been a hard working day when you come home and discover pieces of drywall in your underpants

Today was harder in a lot of respects from yesterday, in that this house had furniture and carpet almost entirely through the house....under several inches of muck. But ultimately we all agreed that today was a lot more satisfying.

Today's house was the home of Patrick and Antoinette Duffy, and their house backed up to the levy leaving the house under 20 feet of water. Patrick is 85 years old, a retired New Orleans Policeman, and a veteran of World War II. When we got to the house, we asked if there was anything specific he wanted to salvage or look for as we worked. He said that there wasn't much he cared to salvage, but he wanted to find the rifle he carried when he stormed Omaha Beach.

He had tried to come in and search himself, but this house was so full of junk and sludge, there was no way he was going to find much of anything. At 85, he was in great shape, but still somewhat frail. Regardless, he sat out in the 90+ weather, watching us gut his house, and helping wherever and whenever he could.

Now, like most other policemen, he had other guns somewhere in the muck, and ammunition to go with them. All of the guns were loaded, so we had to be exceedingly careful as we worked, but we did not want to leave until we found his rifle.

I found his service revolver early in the morning, and it was so covered in mud that it looked like something salvaged off the Titanic, one of our marines (an artillery guy, go fig) cleaned it off as best he could, and returned it to him.

We didn't find his rifle until about an hour before our job was done. Our artillery guy looked up in the rafters and found it just above his head. Mr. Duffy was amazed and thrilled at the find, and couldn't thank him enough. It suffered some water damage, but not nearly as much as the other weapons. He participates in a lot of veterans ceremonies locally, and he said that there was a support group that would take it and clean it thoroughly for him. It probably wouldn't be serviceable, but would still be saved for display for him.

Before we left, we got a photo with him and our entire team, and one of him and the servicemen (3 marines and one soldier) on our team. I can't wait to send those along.

That aside, his house was an immense chore. The resulting debris pile was probably 10 yards long, 3 yards wide and 6 feet tall. With the exception of some bumps and bruises here and there, everyone seemed to do pretty well. This is an amazing group of people to work with, and not once have we heard a single complaint or whimper out of anyone....in spite of the fact that every single one of us has plenty of reason to. When we finished, he thanked us profusely, and wanted each of our addresses so that he could send us individual thank-yous. We got the address of where he is living, and promised to send him a list.

We headed back to base camp, and there the chow line was ready for us with the best jambalaya I have ever eaten. This charity group is exceedingly well organized, and the food is extremely satisfying for hungry workers at the beginning and end of each day. There are lots of families camped here, younger kids just out of school for the summer have been brought here by their parents, and lots of college kids from all over the country.

At dinner we spoke with one of the organizers of the group and asked a lot of questions about how the process worked. He said that their group intended to stay camped and working until the job was done.....possibly another 2-3 years. Residents sign up with the charity to have their home worked on, and priority is given to those 65+, and financially in need.

The residents have to meet us at the house at the start of the work session for two reasons. First of all, it is exceedingly hard for the workers to stand this muck without knowing who they are working for. It's a real motivating factor. Secondly, having the residents there means that we will not find them inside the house. They pulled another body out yesterday, and more will undoubtedly come as there are countless houses that have not yet been touched. The group has found many dogs and cats, and occasionally we run across something alive. Today our guys lifted a mattress to the intense displeasure of a giant rat living underneath it, and a water moccasin was found by another team yesterday. We keep our eyes open at all times, as we never know what's going to be found around the corner.

Well, it's waaaay past my bedtime, and there's another home to look forward to tomorrow.