Locals pitch in to help Katrina victims Locals pitch in to help Katrina victims (September 09, 2005)

Firefighters, civilians head to Southeast, but guardsmen stuck in war zones

UPDATE: After the Voice went to press Wednesday, the National Guard provided additional information regarding guardsmen from the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field. Contrary to earlier reports, 12 parajumpers from the 129th left for Louisiana over the weekend and returned to Moffett Field around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7. While in Louisiana, the parajumpers performed 212 rescues, according to Master Chief Liliana Ramos.

By Katie Vaughn and Jon Wiener

Three Mountain View firefighters left for Louisiana late last week to help with federal rescue operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Captain John Miguel, Captain Tom Kopeky and firefighter Geoff Dinger, all members of a FEMA-run urban search and rescue team, joined others in the 28-member unit, including a water rescue specialist from NASA, for a shift in the Southeast that could last as long as two weeks.

Fire chief Marc Revere said the three had brought credit cards only to find that the lack of electricity rendered them useless. "They can forage off the land if they have to," said Revere.

Firefighters weren't the only ones working to help with the recovery. By Tuesday, four Mountain View residents had already volunteered to join the Red Cross's relief efforts. Katherine Federovitch, the director of emergency services for the group's local chapter, was driving an emergency response vehicle between Miami, Fla., and Montgomery, Ala.

Meanwhile, back at home, individual donors and companies raised money and supplies for emergency assistance.

Schools and houses of worship across town took up collections. Tech companies established matching funds for employee contributions. Google pledged $1 million in community grants and matching contributions to relief efforts and put up a link on its Web site for people to donate. Trish Bubenik, executive director of the Palo Alto Area Red Cross chapter, said the group had collected more than $400,000 from Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford University, Moffett Field and Palo Alto.

Even smaller companies got in on the act. John Akkaya, owner of Don Giovanni's restaurant at 235 Castro St., donated the $3,000 he took in during dinner on Sept. 5.

"I cannot do nothing," Akkaya said. "This is the least I can do."

Many of the relief efforts, like that being made by Gulfport, Miss.-native Jimmie Dulaney, are spur-of-the-moment. Dulaney, a driver for Mountain View moving business Thomas Transfer and Storage Company, was en route from Minneapolis to Mountain View when Katrina hit his hometown. A coworker's daughter at Palo Alto High School who learned that he was headed back to Mississippi sent out a mass e-mail, and an impromptu supply drive was born. When Dulaney left for Mississippi on Sunday, his 53-foot trailer was packed with 30,000 pounds worth of donations.
National Guard overseas

But as victims cried for help from the rooftops of New Orleans last week, 200 guardsmen from Moffett Field's 129th Rescue Wing were arriving in Afghanistan and Djibouti to start months-long tours of duty in conjunction with military operations there.

Lieutenant Toni Gray, public affairs officer for the 129th, told the Voice that the Air Force National Guard unit did not have enough manpower to send help to the Southeast.

"It is something that we could have provided forces to," said Gray. "Civilian rescue is one of our specialties. [But] the bottom line is that most of our folks are gone."

In addition to the 200 members, the unit also deployed three HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters and two MC-130P Combat Shadow planes -- specially equipped for rescue operations -- overseas. In their first week in Afghanistan, the guardsmen made three rescues, Gray said. She added that the deployments had been scheduled for about a year. The 129th has a total of 900 members, though only 250 are full-time.

"Our primary mission right now is to stand ready for California," said Gray.

The Louisiana National Guard, which appeared to be shorthanded with so many of its members stationed abroad, asked Guard units across the country for a total of 20,000 people to help with the rescue and recovery efforts. California sent 500 guardsmen, but Gray said the state could have sent more had it been asked.

E-mail Katie Vaughn at kvaughn@mv-voice.com and Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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