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Marines Rescued Gulf Coast Residents, Delivered Supplies, Helped Clean Up
Following Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans, its surrounding parishes and the states of Mississippi and Alabama contained almost totally devastated disaster areas.
Nearly 2,000 leathernecks of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) Katrina moved in with air and amphibious craft to conduct missions to find survivors, deliver supplies and provide aid.
Joint Task Force (JTF) Katrina, a multiservice support effort headquartered at Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base, Belle Chasse, La., outside of New Orleans, reached into the affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Prior to the hurricane's landfall, Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES) headquarters in New Orleans relocated to NAS/JRB, Fort Worth, Texas, where it will remain indefinitely.
However, at least two MARFORRES Marines rode out the storm to be in a position to help. On Aug. 27, Staff Sergeant Matthew J. Davis and Sergeant Lorenzo L. Edwards, Inspector-Instructor staff for 3d Battalion, 23d Marine Regiment, volunteered to remain behind as a part of the Naval Air Station's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). As the hurricane descended on the Gulf Coast, the station EOC began planning for the monumental task ahead of them.
"I have been through typhoons in Okinawa, Japan, but this was worse than anything I ever saw there," said Davis, 3/23 electronics maintenance chief and a native of Hazelton, Pa.
"I volunteered because I knew my family was out of harm's way and I could be more useful here," said Edwards, a mechanic and native of Opp, Ala. "Growing up in Alabama, I have been through many hurricanes, so I knew what to expect."
Not long after the rain stopped and the storm had passed, the Marines, along with the other members of the EOC, immediately began working to get the station operational.
The 25-man EOC team cleared debris to assist in opening the U.S. Coast Guard's landing zones and hangar for the start of search-and-rescue operations.
Davis and Edwards also helped load 7-ton trucks with food, water, supplies and personnel to bring aid to those in need.
"We were loading, running and unloading two or three convoys a day," Edwards said. "The supplies were already here; it was our job to prioritize what went where, and get it...