Many of you read the post here one week ago called "A Call For Help - Mississippi".
I wanted to post this follow-up today from Keith Miller:
I wanted to post this follow-up today from Keith Miller:
First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank you for posting my letter on
your website. The response has been overwhelming with the outpouring of
individuals offering donations and any help whatever it may be. I had no idea
this would grow as it has. Your posting significantly made a difference and for
that, I thank you
We had successful missions all last weekend. David McGiffin and I along
with our wives loaded our two planes more than you could imagine and launched
off for Stennis International Airport in Bay St. Louis last Saturday. When we
arrived, we finally found the right contacts after much searching. I met the
local airport manager, Bill Conner, told him who we were and what we were doing
and after a minute of wiping his eyes, said that was the area he and his family
lived in and they lost everything.
He immediately arranged transportation for us and I got his daughter in law to go with us a show us how to get to where we wanted to go. Two separate forester crews, one from Wisconsin and the other from New Mexico, formed lines while offloading our supplies on to trucks. We have some great photos I'm getting together to email you for your viewing. As expected, nearly everywhere we went, we were the first people to offer help which is sad being that we have a well funded government with a whole lot more individuals smarter than I.
As the day progressed, we were told of downtown Bay St. Louis having shelters that desperately needed help. We parked our convoy at the courthouse and eventually found three sheriff deputies. Telling them the same as before, they again after wiping there eyes said we were the only ones who had been in to check and bring supplies. He took us to the Baptist Church and the High School. We unloaded, asked what else they needed and said we would be back some time Monday afternoon.
We stopped by Kamp Katrina in the Kmart parking lot and gave out medicine and supplies to the people Bob Echols and I met Friday. I was even able to find the stranded National Guard sgt. and tell him we got word to his parents in Dallas he was alive and needed fuel. You can use your imagination from there. Also, all the children there were badly sunburned and had numerous bug bites. After getting home to B'ham, we got back to work getting stuff that was requested. I have to also give a much needed thanks to Chris who is a pharmacist at CVS on Rocky Ridge in Vestavia. I called him that night and told him what we were doing and the situation with the children. I had him mix up a 50/50 mixture of viscous Lidocaine(aka novocaine) and benedryl of all he had and to get a bag full of 2 & 4 oz bottles for us to dispense the medicine in to. He paid for this to donate because he knew it would be hand delivered on Monday by us. This can be applied like a lotion to numb the burn and itch and help heal as well.
He immediately arranged transportation for us and I got his daughter in law to go with us a show us how to get to where we wanted to go. Two separate forester crews, one from Wisconsin and the other from New Mexico, formed lines while offloading our supplies on to trucks. We have some great photos I'm getting together to email you for your viewing. As expected, nearly everywhere we went, we were the first people to offer help which is sad being that we have a well funded government with a whole lot more individuals smarter than I.
As the day progressed, we were told of downtown Bay St. Louis having shelters that desperately needed help. We parked our convoy at the courthouse and eventually found three sheriff deputies. Telling them the same as before, they again after wiping there eyes said we were the only ones who had been in to check and bring supplies. He took us to the Baptist Church and the High School. We unloaded, asked what else they needed and said we would be back some time Monday afternoon.
We stopped by Kamp Katrina in the Kmart parking lot and gave out medicine and supplies to the people Bob Echols and I met Friday. I was even able to find the stranded National Guard sgt. and tell him we got word to his parents in Dallas he was alive and needed fuel. You can use your imagination from there. Also, all the children there were badly sunburned and had numerous bug bites. After getting home to B'ham, we got back to work getting stuff that was requested. I have to also give a much needed thanks to Chris who is a pharmacist at CVS on Rocky Ridge in Vestavia. I called him that night and told him what we were doing and the situation with the children. I had him mix up a 50/50 mixture of viscous Lidocaine(aka novocaine) and benedryl of all he had and to get a bag full of 2 & 4 oz bottles for us to dispense the medicine in to. He paid for this to donate because he knew it would be hand delivered on Monday by us. This can be applied like a lotion to numb the burn and itch and help heal as well.
We took last Sunday off from flying to reorganize and prepare for Monday
morning. At approx. 9:00am Labor Day, Bob Echols, David McGiffin, A.C. Frese and
myself left out of BHM with our planes loaded full of supplies. I left room for
five passengers in my plane so only the front and rear baggage space along with
the area normally occupied with a sixth seat was loaded. My wife, Kim
Trobridge (friend and RN), Lynn Oldshue (John's wife) and myself left a little
earlier and stopped at Dothan to pick up Bill Conner and take back with us. We
had evacuated Bill and his family to Dothan to stay with friends and family. We
all met up at Stenniss airport and Bill arranged transportation for us.
We had two military HumVees (with trailers along with MP'S) and two large pick-up trucks provided for us. An airport employee named Paul drove us around for directions. I had brought two 2-way radios so we could communicate with each other. We started in the Lakeshore area southwest of Waveland just going house to house giving out living supplies and clothes; whatever they needed. Again, we were the first faces these people had seen. They had gotten just enough for a few days because they didn't think it would be that bad. We continued east through the rural parts of Waveland and Bay St. Louis doing the same. The medicine we had made up was probably the biggest hit.
Oh, and by the way, as we were heading back to the airport, we stopped at Kamp Katrina and gave the ones who needed the medicine and off loaded their supplies they had requested. I even got to meet the Sgts. parents from Dallas that day. What a successful mission we had.
James, I haven't even scratched the surface with the stories I have to tell as well as the experiences. Each plane we took other than mine had one other passenger to help once we got there. Teri Kirkland, who works at UAB and the Kirkland Clinic, went with David in his plane and was truly instrumental in helping organize these missions. She got a lot of the nurses at UAB to help call for donations, load the planes and man the hanger for when more stuff got there. We all would come back exhausted, but a good exhausted.
This was an experience that I will never forget and will always be able to look back on. We made many friends with our neighbors that otherwise, probably would have never happened. We sent out a truck this morning loaded with the remaining supplies and he was to go to the Baptist church in downtown Bay St. Louis. I spoke with Bill Conner yesterday and he said power is slowly being restored in isolated areas and more supplies are finally being dispensed out. He could not express his thanks in what our team did.
We had two military HumVees (with trailers along with MP'S) and two large pick-up trucks provided for us. An airport employee named Paul drove us around for directions. I had brought two 2-way radios so we could communicate with each other. We started in the Lakeshore area southwest of Waveland just going house to house giving out living supplies and clothes; whatever they needed. Again, we were the first faces these people had seen. They had gotten just enough for a few days because they didn't think it would be that bad. We continued east through the rural parts of Waveland and Bay St. Louis doing the same. The medicine we had made up was probably the biggest hit.
Oh, and by the way, as we were heading back to the airport, we stopped at Kamp Katrina and gave the ones who needed the medicine and off loaded their supplies they had requested. I even got to meet the Sgts. parents from Dallas that day. What a successful mission we had.
James, I haven't even scratched the surface with the stories I have to tell as well as the experiences. Each plane we took other than mine had one other passenger to help once we got there. Teri Kirkland, who works at UAB and the Kirkland Clinic, went with David in his plane and was truly instrumental in helping organize these missions. She got a lot of the nurses at UAB to help call for donations, load the planes and man the hanger for when more stuff got there. We all would come back exhausted, but a good exhausted.
This was an experience that I will never forget and will always be able to look back on. We made many friends with our neighbors that otherwise, probably would have never happened. We sent out a truck this morning loaded with the remaining supplies and he was to go to the Baptist church in downtown Bay St. Louis. I spoke with Bill Conner yesterday and he said power is slowly being restored in isolated areas and more supplies are finally being dispensed out. He could not express his thanks in what our team did.
I wanted to share this with you and if you want to hear any more, just let
me know and I can talk until you are tired of hearing. Thanks again James for
all you did in helping us in this hopefully once in a lifetime tragedy.
Keith Miller