[Rhodes22-list] Berkeley East?

[R22RumRunner at aol.com]

Brad,
Let me see if I understand your position. You are saying that our  government 
did an outstanding job in their effort to help the people after  Katrina?
 
Rummy
 
 
In a message dated 2/9/2008 8:40:37 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
flybrad at gmail.com writes:

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]
<javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Sit
e=TO&Date=20080209&Category=NEWS16&ArtNo=802090394&Ref=AR');>
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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e=TO&Date=20080209&Category=NEWS16&ArtNo=802090394&Ref=AR');>
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."
__________________________________________________
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