[Rhodes22-list] Berkeley East?

[Brad Haslett]

Contrary to popular belief because of MSM spin, our armed forces were all
over NOLA after Katrina.  The National Guard had headquarters set-up on the
fourth floor of the SuperDome parking garage.  One of my co-workers, an Air
Force reservist, personally flew the mission to move a temporary hospital to
the Mississippi Gulf Coast the very next day, as soon as the weather
cleared.  Another co-worker, a Marine, evacuated his reserve units
helicopters to Dallas and returned to NOLA immediately after the storm.  The
US Coast Guard flew thousands of rescue missions.The Navy had ships off the
coast that delivered water via helicopter. When my company arrived on the MS
coast, the National Guard kept the beach area secure for months. I say to
any city who doesn't welcome our armed forces - fend for yourselves during
the next natural disaster.  Toledo, you're next!

Brad

--------------------

Article published February 9, 2008

Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown
He says urban exercises scare people
  [image: Photo]
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 Staff Sgt. Andre Davis talks to his commanding officer as he leaves the
Madison Building after Mayor Carty Finkbeiner requested that the Marines
leave the downtown location.
( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH )
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Zoom<javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20080209&Category=NEWS16&ArtNo=802090394&Ref=AR');>|
Photo
Reprints <http://www.toledoblade.com/printroom>

By JC REINDL <jcreindl at theblade.com>
BLADE STAFF WRITER

A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown
Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. The 200 members of
Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
planned to spend their weekend engaged in urban patrol exercises on the
streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building,
607 Madison Ave. Toledo police knew days in advance about their plans for a
three-day exercise. Yet somehow the memo never made it to Mayor Finkbeiner,
who ordered the Marines out yesterday afternoon just minutes before their
buses were to arrive. "The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten
people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman. "He did not want them
practicing and drilling in a highly visible area." So after a brief stop at
a friendly base in Perrysburg Township, the Marines by early evening were
back on their way home to Grand Rapids. "I wish they would have told us this
four hours ago," Staff Sgt. Andre Davis said. Sergeant Davis, who traveled
ahead of the five-bus convoy, stepped from his vehicle into downtown about
3:20 p.m. and was told by a city employee that the mayor wanted him and his
soldiers packed up and out by 6 p.m. Members of the 1st Battalion, 24th
Marines have trained periodically in downtown Toledo since at least 2004 and
most recently in May, 2006. Past exercises have involved mock gun fights,
ambushes, and the firing of blank ammunition. The Marines' buses set a
course for their battalion's Weapons Company headquarters in Perrysburg
Township as soon as they heard of the mayor's decision. The Reservists'
visit was no surprise to Toledo police, who Tuesday issued a news release to
media outlets on behalf of the Marines that asked Toledoans not to be
startled by the sight of camouflaged soldiers toting M16 rifles. Police
officers were awaiting the Marines' arrival yesterday afternoon and had set
up a roadblock at Madison Avenue and Huron Street. "There was apparently a
break in communication somewhere between the mayor and the police
department," Mr. Schwartz said. "Where that break was, we don't know yet." Maj.
Jeffrey O'Neill, the company's commanding officer, said he was disappointed
by how events played out yesterday, especially because Toledo had been a
gracious host for Marine exercises in the past. "You can go to military
ranges for live fire [exercises], but there's no way to duplicate the urban
jungle unless you actually train inside a city," Major O'Neill said. Mr.
Schwartz said the Marines declined Mayor Finkbeiner's alternative offer for
them to practice their urban patrol tactics inside the former Jones Junior
High School, 550 Walbridge Ave. Major O'Neill said he was not aware of such
an offer. A pair of Marines spent the better part of yesterday setting up
the Madison Building with generators, heaters, radios, and food to become
the unit's overnight headquarters. After receiving the mayor's request to
leave, they began the task of moving the equipment back into an armored
Humvee. Lance Cpl. Brandon Bukrey-McCarty, 22, recalled taking part in the
company's 2006 urban patrol exercise in downtown Toledo. He said he learned
skills during that exercise that proved useful during the unit's deployment
to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006-2007. "It was extremely helpful," Corporal
Bukrey-McCarty said. The training "got me used to looking up on rooftops,
looking around every alley, every open door." Sergeant Davis and other
company leaders estimated the total cost of the aborted training exercise,
including travel, at roughly $10,000. Before he left downtown for Perrysburg
Township, Major O'Neill said he was not sure what type of training, if any,
his unit could undertake without access to downtown Toledo. "But we're
Marines," Major O'Neill said. "We'll adapt and overcome."