Paul sent this to our uptown mail group (a listserv for our neighborhood that Paul set up in the aftermath of the storm.) I wanted to share it here.<\/p>\n
—- – Paul<\/span><\/p>\n Hello NOLA.<\/span><\/p>\n I am out of the city for a couple of days and I just wanted to say a few<\/span> I feel like I did some good, but honestly, I am consumed by an<\/span> Please understand, no house was entered Uptown unless it was deemed<\/span> I wish I could have done more. Every day, we would have to acquire new<\/span> I drew my weapon twice, (I sleep with it), had one man pull a gun on me,<\/span> So many tough decisions had to be made. I can’t tell you how many times<\/span> I morn for your losses. I cry for the people we couldn’t save. And I<\/span> Please believe me, that most of the people working on the boats, and<\/span> I hope you find your family. I hope you come home. I hope all is well<\/span> Kenny Bellau,Civilian Intelligence Liaison to the U.S. Army<\/span><\/span>
For those of you who have not been following the forums on NoLa.com, I<\/span>
wanted to share with you a message from Kenny Bellau. Kenny is a<\/span>
professional cyclist who lives in uptown and stayed to weather out the<\/span>
storm. In the aftermath, he started working with the rescuers since he<\/span>
knew the city so well. He has been feeding information to his girlfriend<\/span>
who has been posting updates to the forums on NoLa.com. Together they<\/span>
have helped rescue countless numbers of people and animals as well as<\/span>
provided a great bit of insight into the real situation in the city.<\/span>
Kenny recently left the city for a few days to recover and posted the<\/span>
following message which I found particularly poignant.<\/span><\/p>\n
things about what I have been through. First, I want to thank all the<\/span>
people who helped me in so many ways from the outside. It was a bit<\/span>
surreal being there and getting words of encouragement , messages of<\/span>
gasoline drops and offers of food or any supplies I could find in some<\/span>
of your houses was very reassuring and comforting. And the coordination<\/span>
and information provided by Candy was invaluable. I wish I could have<\/span>
done more for all the requests I received, but as you can imagine I got<\/span>
extremely busy and was restricted to uptown.<\/span><\/p>\n
overwhelming feeling of guilt. There were people I couldn’t get to, or<\/span>
couldn’t convince to get in the boat. I honestly wish at times that I<\/span>
had never gone in. One person asked me if I enjoyed what I was doing. I<\/span>
can assure you that seeing dead Americans floating in the streets of New<\/span>
Orleans was not enjoyable. The hardest pill for me to swallow was the<\/span>
paint marks on all the brick houses in New Orleans East. The marks are<\/span>
permanent. They signify that the house has been searched, how many dead<\/span>
or alive and they say to me, “Goodbye”. The devastation is total and<\/span>
final. New Orleans East will not be saved. It was so lonely and dark. I<\/span>
couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but cry.<\/span><\/p>\n
absolutely necessary based on the information we had. Believe me, the<\/span>
National Guard is full of honest, hard working and caring people who do<\/span>
their best to protect life and property. These kids are professionals<\/span>
and it was recorded if there was an open door and patrols were increased<\/span>
past houses that were not secured. Several times we found people so<\/span>
incapacitated by starvation, that there was no possible way they could<\/span>
answer the door. Often, we found no one. There was no other alternative,<\/span>
but if you are still upset about your door, sue me.<\/span><\/p>\n
boats, shuffle troops to the deep areas where the boats were parked,<\/span>
search for looters and survivors and un-do all of this before 5PM. It<\/span>
was hard, dangerous and occasionally rewarding work. If there was a dog<\/span>
barking, there was a 50\/50 chance there were people inside who were<\/span>
hiding for one reason or another. We took with us every living creature<\/span>
that would come in the boat. The dogs were the easiest, but sometimes we<\/span>
would find houses full of people, all wanting to leave. The despair on<\/span>
their faces was unforgettable as they had to leave their home and many<\/span>
times you could witness the soldiers trying to hide their own tears.<\/span><\/p>\n
captured looters, delivered water, begged and pleaded people to come<\/span>
with me, almost punched a jerk of a pro golfer, hotwired and sank<\/span>
countless boats and drove at over 40 MPH down Claiborne in a 24 foot<\/span>
Skeeter getting a sick man to a doctor. This was no vacation. It was<\/span>
hard, depressing work. One of the boats I used carried over 400 people<\/span>
to safety.<\/span><\/p>\n
I had to leave people behind. Dehydration and starvation makes you crazy<\/span>
and some people believed that if they leave their house that they would<\/span>
never see it again. Mostly, they were right. Every dog I hear howling<\/span>
will die. Every desperate cat or kitten crying for help will cry no<\/span>
more. It hurt me beyond comprehension to leave behind any living being<\/span>
that wanted to or needed to get in the boat. I was told not to use<\/span>
force, and even though I don’t answer to those people, I would not rule<\/span>
out forcibly removing someone to safe ground. That never had to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n
miss the city I once knew and loved. I wish I could have done more. We<\/span>
were failed by our government and for several days, my American Flag<\/span>
flew upside down.<\/span><\/p>\n
most of the people carrying M-16’s are there to help. We needed the Army<\/span>
here 25 years ago. They are sad for us. They care about us and our<\/span>
houses and many have expressed moving here. They truly want to help. I<\/span>
would do anything for them. And when you return home, I hope you thank<\/span>
them. They are doing the work our police force was untrained, unpaid and<\/span>
unable to do. These guys truly are America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best and they are all here<\/span>
because they volunteered to be here.<\/span><\/p>\n
with you and your home. And I hope you can forgive me for any thing that<\/span>
I might have done to infringe on your privacy, your property or any<\/span>
insult you might have taken from my words or actions. I was only trying<\/span>
to save lives. I only wanted to help.<\/span><\/p>\n