10 years ago today...
27/12/14 12:14![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpolitics...a 9.1 magnitude earthquake (third largest earthquake ever recorded) caused the seabed of the Indian Ocean to rise by several meters triggering a massive tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people.
I could say that "The Boxing Day Tsunami" was a defining moment for me but I would be selling it short. I feel like talking about my own experience would be trivializing it's impact, and yet I can't really let the day pass unmarked eitherso I might as well share.
The Indonesian flag flies at half-mast on a soccer field turned impromptu airport. This Tsunami and the ensuing humanitarian response would bring an end to the Sumatran insurgency. The main rebel group, GAM, declared a cease-fire on 28 December 2004 followed shortly by the Indonesian government, which resulted in a permanent peace agreement being signed 15 August 2005.
This mosque was one of the few building in our particular area of operations left standing, make of that what you will, it quickly became our primary navigational aid and casualty collection point.
The triage tent.
This picture was submitted to the Military Times photo of the year contest, and ended up getting used in a recruiting campaign. This annoyed Butters, the crewman pictured, to no end.
One if the things that stuck out at me was just how happy people were to see us. It feels like we got a warmer welcome from Islamic separatists who a week earlier would have been shooting at us than I did coming home from Iraq in 06 and 08.
On a related note, the kids were relentlessly, disturbingly, cheerful. Seriously it was amazing, uplifting, and at the same time kind of terrifying. Whenever I hear some SJWannabe going on about "trigger warnings" or being "traumatized" by "micro-agression" I think of these kids and it becomes very hard to take anything they say seriously.
We din'nt have many translators so communication was most often accomplished via a mixture of pre-prepared cue-cards, pictionary, and wild gesticulation.
Rice from above...
Gratuitous helicopter porn...
ETA:
Apologies as I just realized that it is Saturday rather than Friday. So I probably need to add some more material in an effort ti better comply with Rule 8.
I could say that "The Boxing Day Tsunami" was a defining moment for me but I would be selling it short. I feel like talking about my own experience would be trivializing it's impact, and yet I can't really let the day pass unmarked eitherso I might as well share.
The Indonesian flag flies at half-mast on a soccer field turned impromptu airport. This Tsunami and the ensuing humanitarian response would bring an end to the Sumatran insurgency. The main rebel group, GAM, declared a cease-fire on 28 December 2004 followed shortly by the Indonesian government, which resulted in a permanent peace agreement being signed 15 August 2005.
This mosque was one of the few building in our particular area of operations left standing, make of that what you will, it quickly became our primary navigational aid and casualty collection point.
The triage tent.
This picture was submitted to the Military Times photo of the year contest, and ended up getting used in a recruiting campaign. This annoyed Butters, the crewman pictured, to no end.
One if the things that stuck out at me was just how happy people were to see us. It feels like we got a warmer welcome from Islamic separatists who a week earlier would have been shooting at us than I did coming home from Iraq in 06 and 08.
On a related note, the kids were relentlessly, disturbingly, cheerful. Seriously it was amazing, uplifting, and at the same time kind of terrifying. Whenever I hear some SJWannabe going on about "trigger warnings" or being "traumatized" by "micro-agression" I think of these kids and it becomes very hard to take anything they say seriously.
We din'nt have many translators so communication was most often accomplished via a mixture of pre-prepared cue-cards, pictionary, and wild gesticulation.
Rice from above...
Gratuitous helicopter porn...
ETA:
Apologies as I just realized that it is Saturday rather than Friday. So I probably need to add some more material in an effort ti better comply with Rule 8.
(no subject)
Date: 5/1/15 21:49 (UTC)