William,
I know you think I talk too much (you have said as much on multiple occasions), but stop asking me questions if you don't want a response
.
The details of the trip to Mississippi are provided below in an email sent the day after Hurricane Katrina. This email was sent to my mother who forwarded it on to people who serve on my dad's non-profit Vital Truth Ministries Board. I did not even keep a copy of itthe email, but tonight my mother graciously found her copy and forwarded me a copy when I told her that a pastor was asking if I was armed going into the hurricane zone. Wiiliam, here is your answer. I don't know how you feel about me being armed, but frankly, I don't care
.
From: Mary Burleson <___>Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 05:16:43 -0500To: VTM Board Members
Subject: <b>Story From Katrina</b>
Hey,Following is a pretty long e-mail. Believe it or not, I did condense it andtook the personal stuff about the grandkids out. This is a "live" report from Wade who went into the area of Mississippi hit by Katrina. Thought you might be interested. However, if you detest long e-mails and don't like toread them, stop now and hit the DELETE button. (I report, you decide! LOL) Mary B.
<b>[E-mail from Wade sent Friday, September 2, 2005] </b>
I returned last night from Mississippi. One of our members, Jeff Gwinn, the Vice-President of Atwoods Corporation, called and asked me to help him get his mother out of Diamondhead, Mississippi. Diamondhead is the place, according to the New York Times, that was Ground Zero of Hurricane Katrina. His 71 year old mother had a heart condition and he did not know if she was dead or alive but she lived in Diamondhead. Her neighborhood was featured in the aforementioned newspaper and at first he feared she might be dead (they couldn't convince her to leave before the Hurricane). However, they did get secondary word that she was alive, but trapped in Diamondhead. She needed heart medication rapidly.
I got my staff to fill in on two funerals I was supposed to lead (the families gave their consent for me to go to Mississippi) and we left Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. I needed to go because only law enforcement personnel were being allowed into the Ground Zero area. Jeff is a pilot and we took off in his Cessna 210 single engine plane enroute toMeridian, Mississippi. His plan was to drive from Meridian to Diamondhead (on the coast), but I soon realized it would take us 8 hours to drive.
When we landed in Meridian, Mississippi (we had camping gear, supplies, flashlights, etc . . .), the Highway Patrol at the airport confirmed that it would take us 8 hours to get to the coast by car. I called a friend of mine who is in the Mississippi Legislature named Philip Gunn. Philip will be running for Governor in two years (they already call him "Governor Gunn"). He was a quarterback at Baylor when his entire family (mom, dad, sisters) was killed by a drunk driver. He was also the chairman of the pulpit committee that tried to get us to move to Mississippi. He is a great guy and with his law firm's help I got through to the FAA and got clearance for us to fly through the TFR all the way to Gulf Port, Mississippi.
TFR is Traffic Restricted Airspace. It is the kind of zone over the White House, Crawford, Texas, and other highly sensitive areas. Jeff is a fairly new pilot and scared to enter the TFR, but I told him we had to if had any hope of getting to his mother quickly. The problem with this air restriction was that because of the hurricane there was no radar, no traffic control, and above all, absolute chaos in the air because of the military and rescue planes and helicopters. We had to fly visually while talking to an AWACS plane circling above the ground. It was about an hour of pure hell (the haze was so bad it was hard for us to see), and by the grace of God we made it into the Gulfport Airport (it was closed to everyone but the military, and in essence we lined up with other emergency planes and helicopters, crossed our fingers, and dove toward the runway).
Once we landed we found a parking space on the tarmac that was riddled with wood, nails, metal and other objects. The National Guard had set up their Forward Command Center for Hurricane Katrina at this airport. My job was to try to sweet talk the National Guard to be given a truck to transport us to Diamondhead, Mississippi (25 miles away). A guardsman took me to the Command Center and I explained that we needed to deliver supplies to Diamondhead Baptist Church (a church that had set up a rescue center in the center of Diamondhead) and medivac a woman back to Oklahoma. The chain of command was incredible. I began with a private who took the requisition and went through six offices until I was talking with the general in command. I explained that Philip Gunn in Jackson, Mississippi (the National Guard is under state control) would authorize the needed vehicle. In addition, Michael Brown, FEMA director, had assisted us with clearance through the TFR and we needed to get the woman out quickly.
Diamondback is in Hancock County, different from Harrison County where Gulf Port is located. The general said Special Forces were in charge of Hancock County and they would go look for Barbara in a Search and Rescue Mission and bring her back to Gulfport. I explained that we had supplies for the people in Diamondhead and it would be better if the Guard took us there and brought us back. He looked at me kind of funny, and then, to my surprise --- said ok. So . . .
Two National Guard trucks with 10 troops escorted us first to Pass Christian and then Bay St. Louis (totally gone) and finally to Diamondhead. The National Guard driver of the vehicle I was in asked if we had military police support. I said "What for?" He said word was getting back that when supplies were being delivered into Ground Zero shots were being fired and looters were taking over. I said, "Are you guys armed?" He said, "No."
I couldn't believe it. The federal government had only armed M.P.s, and the Guard were demanding either MP or police backup in the delivery of supplies because of the shootings and robberies taking place. An order had been given to go ahead and arm the guard, but the rifles had not yet arrived. I was the only person in the Guard truck carrying a gun (a ninemillimeter on my belt, with a knife on my left leg and my badge exposed promininently on my belt as well). The National Guardsmen, including the captain in charge, all told me that they were glad I was armed. By the way, at 5:30 that morning when I walked out of the house Rachelle said, "Wade, I don't you to wear your gun!" and she asked me to take it off. I didn't think twice about doing that, and I can say without hesitation, we got to where we needed to go BECAUSE I was armed, and I believe you will see policy change for the Federal Government. In the future, at any calling out of the National Guard for natural disasters, every soldier will be armed as a result of the problems associated with relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina (the Guard is armed in every other scenario but natural disasters).
Anyway, we got to Diamondhead, spent an hour or two asking questions and found Jeff's mom at a shelter. She had not eaten, bathed, or had anything to drink but water for 3 days. We gave her some food and she promptly threw up. Before we got her out of Diamondhead we went by her house and took photographs. She was one mile from the beach, but the water covered her home. The entire interior of her home looked as if itwas a dollhouse that had been shaken up and destroyed. She lost everything. We got some medicine out of her house and left to go back to Gulfport.
By the time we got back to the airport it was 3:30 p.m. Thousands of troops were beginning to pour in and we wanted to get out as rapidly as possible. We loaded up on the tarmac and had a pleasant surprise when wetook off --- the army had set up a temporary air traffic control facility (in preparation for the President's arrival Friday morning),and so we left the Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport without incident.
We stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas for fuel and food (Jeff andI had nothing to eat or drink all day) and we landed back in Enid at 10:00 p.m. We took some pictures. If I get a C.D. I'll send some to you. You WILL NOT BELIEVE the damage. Houses, boats, cars on top of each other closeto two miles from the coast. Jeff's mom is doing great. She is back on her heart medicine and glad tobe out. She will not be going back to Mississippi for anything. Insurance will pay what they pay, but she said nothing is worth going back to get. Anyway, sorry for the long email, but I thought you might be interested.
Wade
The world is too dangerous to live in - not because of the people who do evil but because of the people who sit and let it happen.
Albert Einstein