Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS (NNS) -- Operating initially out of a pierside warehouse and then the parish Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at a nearby oil refinery, corpsmen from USS Shreveport (LPD 12) conducted immunizations for more than a thousand local and federal relief workers in September. Six hospital corpsmen worked in daily shifts to provide Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and tetanus shots to Marines, National Guardsmen, sheriffs, firemen and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) personnel. Some evacuees and media members also benefited from the free inoculation service. Relief workers are particularly vulnerable to illness and disease because of potential exposure to blood,...

CHALMETTE, La. (NNS) -- Sailors from USS Shreveport (LPD 12) are restoring Chalmette High School’s football stadium for use as an auxiliary community gathering area. Chalmette is located just a few miles west of New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish, La. “After only a few days on the job, they’ve already got the place looking better. The whole track’s been cleaned,” said Hull Maintenance Technician 1st Class William Antrican. Observing the ongoing work at the stadium, Rear Adm. Joseph Kilkenny, commander of the Joint Force Maritime Component Command supporting Joint Task Force Katrina, commended Sailors for their progress. He added...

NEW ORLEANS -- From the bridge of the 844-foot-long USS Iwo Jima, a panoramic view of New Orleans provides few clues to the destruction that Hurricane Katrina left in her wake. But Rear Adm. Reubin Bookert, commander of Amphibious Group II and the Iwo Jima, knows better. "We've got a lot of work to do. Totally devastated situation. My first reaction was shock," Bookert said Thursday of his initial thought of the scene when he arrived in New Orleans earlier in the week. The multipurpose amphibious assault ship spent its third day in New Orleans on Thursday docked behind the...

  Wasp ESG Ships Return From DeploymentStory Number: NNS040917-12Release Date: 9/18/2004 1:30:00 PMFrom Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public AffairsNORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Nearly 2,500 Sailors reunited with family and friends Sept. 18 when the remaining three ships from the USS Wasp (LHD 1) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG 2) returned from a seven-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism. The amphibious assault ship Wasp and the amphibious transport ship USS Shreveport (LPD 12) returned to their homeport of Norfolk Naval Station, and the dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD...

22nd MEU better trained, equipped Don Bryan/Daily News Saying goodbye: Cpl. Larry Currie and his wife, Shekinah, left, spend time together while Sgt. Eddie Williams plays with his son, Elijah, as his fiance Lisa Parsley watches. February 19,2004Eric SteinkopffDAILY NEWS STAFF Col. Kenneth Frank McKenzie Jr. stood near Risley Pier on Wednesday and watched with a mixture of pride and satisfaction. The commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit was watching his old battalion prepare for another six-month deployment. "I was the commander of that battalion the last time 1/6 left for a float, from November 1998 to May...