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Photos: US Airborne Soldiers In Haiti

By R.Gregg, The Raleigh Telegram

Thursday, February 4, 2010

PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI - During our week long trip to Haiti to view relief efforts, we were privileged enough to get to know many soldiers on a first name basis.

You tend to get to know someone pretty well when you sleep next to them in an open field, eat food out of a bag with them, and walk with them on dusty streets in an unfamiliar city on daily basis.

Many of those in the Airborne that we met were in their low 20’s and perhaps it reflects the age of this reporter, but the face of much of the Army is a young one to be sure. However, we also met many career veterans who had been serving their country for decades or longer and who served in recent Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns but also in the original Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990’s.

If America is a great melting pot of cultures, then the Army is an even greater one, as we met white, black, and latino soldiers from all over the country and even soldiers from outside the United States who were happy to become US citizens and to serve their adopted nation.

The soldiers -- men and women -- that we met during the trip were quite frankly some of the nicest people we have ever met. Courteous and polite almost to a fault but also up front in their candor and demeanor, it was refreshing to meet such sincere people, who truly said what they felt.

Despite the lack of TV, air conditioning, shopping malls, and other amenities one comes to take for granted in the United States, sometimes being deployed overseas can create a simpler lifestyle. As one soldier joked, when you have everything you need in a rucksack, it can be quite liberating.

On the other hand, we talked to many soldiers who were going through divorces as they had been deployed frequently. The stress of being gone for months or even over a year at a time can be tough on military families and that is one of the many sacrifices that soldiers and their loved ones face as they defend our country.

Perhaps the military portrays itself as a no-nonsense type of job, but a sense of humor will get help get you through the day in the Army and we came across soldiers who made us belly laugh with their stories and jokes.

For example, the story of a soldier named “Geico” who they say looks like the caveman in the Geico commercial. The soldier seemed to embrace his nickname and said he tried out for the insurance company TV spots, but they turned him down.

That humor and friendliness helped us to forget the mosquitoes and heat for a little while.

As any soldier will tell you, when you spend time with people in an overseas deployment, you will develop a special friendship with them, so perhaps our perspective is a little biased.

However, in this reporter’s opinion, it is no exaggeration or hyperbole to say that the front lines of our nation are in good hands and that America’s best can be found in the military.

They are some of the hardest working and most down to earth people you will ever meet.

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