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HIGH WATER  A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew and Mobile area paramedics help a flood victim onto a gurney during USCG rescue operations at the Mobile, Ala., Coast Guard base. |
The time when you know
your child grows up fast
of TheColumnists.com
Good news rarely
comes via long-distance calls in the middle of the night.
Tonight, the caller is a close friend and fellow cop. And like
me, he faced the challenges of a single parent struggling to
raise two kids in a world of chaos--an observation that was validated
during every night of our careers. Like every parent, we navigated
every bump and rough patch from their babyhood to adolescence.
And like every cop, we struggled to protect our kids from the
heart of darkness we knew was lurking just beyond our watchful
eye.
Twenty two years later, the kids are grown and happy--one of
those nano-seconds in time when parents stop and catch a breath
before whatever comes next. And when I hear the tension in his
voice tonight, I know that ‘whatever’ has just arrived.
He tells me his 22-year old son, now serving in the Coast Guard,
received his orders tonight, transferring him to the Tactical
Law Enforcement Team of the Coast Guard
operating in New Orleans. Per his orders, he’ll be there
for anywhere from 30 to 60 days.
The orders specified that each member of the unit should bring
enough materials, equipment weapons, body armor and ammunition
to self-sustain for at least seven days.
While other Coast Guard units have been deployed there for search
and rescue, his son will be serving with a TACLET (Tactical Law
Enforcement Team), the Coast Guard’s special operations
units that operate from helicopters and small fast boats. While
TACLET units have been active in Iraq, New Orleans is the newest
designated hotspot
While Hurricane Katrina’s relentless flooding and home devastation
left thousands of lives in peril, it’s the terrorism of
violence in the aftermath that needs to be halted now.
Earlier this evening, a TV news program showed extensive film
footage of New Orleans victims at the mercy of looters, gunmen
and warring gang members. Afterward, the reporter asked, “Who
would’ve imagined that the people of an American city would
be in more danger from criminals running wild than the ravages
of nature?”
A naive question, considering the times we live in, but one that
demands the best tactical support our government can muster.
Along with TACLET units, the Coast Guard has sent squadrons of
Blackhawk helicopters, which were specifically designed to have
a high degree of battlefield survivability--an important factor
in the presence of snipers taking potshots at New Orleans rescue
teams. Because these aircraft are built with the versatility
required for search and rescue, special ops, combat capabilities
as well as troop support, the Coast Guard will use some for search
and rescue while others will transport TACLET units.
“I asked him if he was scared,” my friend tells me.
“Hell, he’s 22 years old.....he doesn’t even realize
that he should be. All he knows is he’s pumped for action.
The government is going to stop the looting and killing, and
he’s part of that plan. Except that in riot situations,
who ever goes easy?
“When he joined the Coast Guard, I worried about him going
to Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Now he’s going to the Big
Easy and that might be worse!”
We talk a bit longer, but neither of us mentions the obvious--what
parents dread and cops have lived. This will be the defining
experience for his son, the one that lifts the veils. In between
those scenarios of life and death, pain and chaos, there are
no shades of moral gray, only landscapes bloodied by human behavior
at its worst, or briefly illuminated by its best. And like those
who’ve come before him, he’ll learn that regardless
of outcome, courage is defined as having the strength to do the
next right thing.
“This is a kid that could barely get through Algebra,”
my friend tells me. “And now he’s going to save the
country. Going down there with his eyes wide open and his 22-year
old heart in his hands.
“For years we were out there in the trenches, trying to
hold the damn line so we could keep them safe. And now he’s
the one out there, with not one single clue of how it’s
going to change him.”
His voice is gruffer now, but not nearly enough to hide the emotion.
“Is this the part where I’m supposed to let go? An
old man who’s had his turn, and now I’m supposed to
pass him the baton?”
No. This is the part where we pray.
©2005 by Gina Gallo. The illustration is courtesy of the
U.S. Coast Guard. The photo was taken by Petty Officer 2nd Class
Nyxo Lyno Canegnu. This column first posted Sept. 5, 2005.
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