COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us

I owe the Battalion Commander an After Action Report (AAR) on hurricane relief operations vicinity Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida. I'll write that up and I'll be posting the salient points here over the weekend.

I have to say I was super impressed by the Charlotte County community. Sure, some people were irritable, and tempers flared at a couple of ice distribution points. But even as thousands had had their homes and businesses severely damaged or destroyed, the gestures of support and generosity from within the community--not just to the hurricane victims themselves, but to the emergency services workers that arrived there from all over Florida, and to the mobilized guardsmen, were humbling indeed.

I'll never get them all, because I'll never know them all. But I'd particularly like to thank the management of Walgreen's Drug Stores on King's Highway, adjacent to one of the local staging areas for emergency workers. We had a couple of hundred guardsmen living in cots in the shell of a nearby minimall. All the guardsmen had to pack at a moment's notice, and many had arrived missing toiletry articles, flip-flops, and other basic neccessities of life.

Walgreen's was donating these articles free of charge to soldiers coming in to purchase them.

Thanks also to Carraba's Italian Grill, set up unbidden at the emergency services staging area on King's Highway every night I was there, and catered hundreds of free (and delicious) meals to emergency workers and guardsmen.

Actually, Carraba's meals were so good we had to lean on the soldiers to eat the Army food, since we were about to get in trouble for throwing so much army food away. (Note to future company commanders: If you decide not to order chow, or understate your projected meal headcount, But If you overstate your headcount, and wind up wasting food and money, it makes the brigade DFAC chief warrant's the brigade S-4's heads explode, with unappetizing results.)

Domino's Pizza donated hundreds of free pizzas.

Spirit Airlines, as I mentioned, donated my plane ticket to get back to Florida from California.

One company was located adjacent to a Hooter's restaurant on Highway 41. Hooter's squared them away with loads of free chicken (no beer), and all the posters and girlie calendars a troop could shake a stick at.

Outback Steakhouse set up an operation at the Charlotte County Airport Emergency Operations Center, and probably gave out thousands of free meals to relief workers.

Hardee's was comping meals to uniformed guardsmen for a few days. They stopped, but I still think they've got the best hamburgers of any fast food chain, bar none. It's not even close. Better milkshakes, too.

Burger King, these guys are going to kick your ass.

Dozens of private individuals or small churches showed up with free hot dogs for the troops. One church even wheeled into the Lee County Civic Center with an entire trailer barbecue stand. "What are you looking to do here," we asked.

"I want to feed hurricane relief workers!"

"Oh, great! Well, how many can you feed?"

"About 300."

Hurricane Charley was the only light infantry op I've ever been on where every soldier gained weight.

I believe in America. And Charlotte and Lee County, Florida, are great places to live.

Just don't live there in a trailer home.

Splash, out

Jason