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| ready for Mardi Gras 1983 |
While stationed at the Naval Air Station in Corpus
Christi, TX, I celebrated my 21st birthday there in ’68. My
description of the place would’ve been: “interesting place, an alternative for
some adults to Disneyland”. In August of 1981 my NPS Ranger career brought Meme
& I from Arizona’s Tonto Basin to the bayous of southern Louisiana. The
city is rightfully famous for Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, and all night distractions,
but it also home to parks, museums and many quality pleasantries. After about
2-weeks of the summer heat & humidity, + the massive amount of trash
littering the local roadways, I found myself second-guessing this promotion: I
distinctly recall thinking “what have I gotten myself into?” In retrospect, it
was a good move. I worked as the Supervisory Ranger (Chief, Interpretation
& Resource Management) at the Chalmette Unit of Jean Lafitte National
Historical Park & Preserve. The Chalmette Plantation was the epicenter for
the grand-finale of the Battle of New Orleans (January 8, 1815), 200-years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans
It also was the final resting place (National Cemetery) for
veterans from the Civil War on… several musicians included. I worked with Unit Manager A. Wilson (Will)
Greene, who had studied at LSU as a graduate student, and has become a very
respected Civil War historian. The highlight of each morning & afternoon
was when the tour/river boat (Voyageur?) docked next to The Beauregard House,
disembarked its passengers, and Rangers provided talks about the events and
historic landscape: “and the British came from the area where you now see the
aluminum factory…” Along with French Quarter Unit Manager,
Linda Canzanelli, who founded the Jose Cuervo Training Center (JOCU), we worked
with an interesting cadre on National Park Rangers. After-hours we’d meet to
further various aspects of our ranger skills: I was often in need of
“additional training” at JOCU.
Living in
mid-city (on North Hagan Street), near Bayou St. John and City Park, provided many
special memories: commuting via motorcycle through the 9th Ward,
jogging along the bayou, Tulane & Saints football (yes, we had paper bags for our heads), patrolling in my
“pursuit Pinto” (Chalmette was exclusive Federal jurisdiction), St. Bernard
Parrish personalities (lunches at Rocky & Carlo’s were “must do!”), “The
Quarter,” the music (everywhere… but special for us were hearing Jimmy Buffett
at the Saenger Theater, Michael Murphy, John Stewart, The Rolling Stones). Then
of course, there is our son Justin- he wasn’t born there, but we first learned
of Meme’s pregnancy while residing in NOLA (before transferring to Fort
Laramie, Wyoming).
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| Susan Morton - Barataria |
Then, in
the late 1990’s I was asked to return, and assist the U.S. Attorney’s Office
regarding the theft of historic statues from local cemeteries. As a Special
Agent (SA) I had conducted several major Archeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) cases. SA Susan Morton (Regional Office in Denver) and I consulted,
conferred and helped where we could: some of the perpetrators were convicted of
theft under general state statutes (not statue statutes). It was a good trip
with visits to Chalmette (of course, Rocky & Carlo’s), the French Quarter
& Barataria Units of Jean Lafitte: didn’t realize it was my last visit until after the 2005 disaster
struck: Hurricane Katrina.
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| National Cemetery wall |
My first
insight to the federal response to Karina came a couple of days before its
landfall: I was asked to join a Type II Incident Management Team (IMT) being
sent to/staged in Alexandria, LA. I missed the calls due to hiking in the Pecos
Wilderness. However, within 24-hours I was asked by the Incident Commander (JD
Swed) of the NPS All-Risk Type I IMT if I was available to be his Safety
Officer on the Command Staff. I was. JD & I went back to “buck-Ranger” days
together in AZ; while I was at Tonto he was at Petrified Forest, and we’d
stayed semi-in-touch over the years. We’d soon be seeing the adverse effects of wind
& water on a U.S. metropolitan area.
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| Water level - National Cemetery area |
We were fortunate to have Steve
Holder, Logistics Chief extraordinaire, on the General Staff of the IMT. When
deployed one of our first decisions was whether to report to FEMA or the NPS
Director: we hemmed & hawed for milliseconds over that one… and decided for
the latter. Our initial objective was
search & rescue, followed by resource/values assessments & protection,
and restoration & repair. A NPS Special Events & Tactics Team (SETT) was
the vanguard of our efforts, and during my travels around Nawlins, St. Bernard,
and the West Bank (of the River) I usually had a uniformed driver: Public
Health Service (PHS) Officer wearing full “Bird” Navy Captain uniform (O-6). It
greased the skids at many a roadblock.
Some of my other memories include:
responders from agencies and departments coast-to-coast; total destruction of Rocky
& Carlo’s; mold, Mold, MOLD (everywhere, of course some of the mold in my
former office looked the same as 20+ years before); blown over oak trees in
National Cemetery with human remains in their root ball; R&R day trip to
Baton Rogue; Rita road trip (no, not margarita: when Hurricane Rita headed
towards us we evacuated to Tupelo, MS for a couple of days); the dedication by
so many, to achieve the above objectives.
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| covering remains |
I prefer to ponder the many positive
efforts, than the negative memories, and there were certainly enough, often
perpetuated by people that weren’t there and recounting 3rd or 4th
hand “information”; like the moderator at a public history conference that
held-up a T-shirt that said “FEMA Federal Employees Missing Again”
It got a cheap laugh at the expense
of a lot of emergency responders.
So again: THANK YOU to ALL that
were actually there, those that supported the folks involved with our efforts,
and everyone still going in Harm’s Way to protect others!
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| Roadway |
Great post Phil. What a gift giver you are with your words. - Pat, your favorite sister-in-law.
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