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DOT 11-06
Contact: Brian Turmail, Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta Says Air Force Rescuers from
Lackland AFB Who Evacuated, Cared For Gulf Coast Residents Are “Hurricane
Heroes”
Hundreds of Air Force men and women who helped rescue thousands of Gulf Coast
residents during Hurricane Katrina are “hurricane heroes” according to U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, who met with some of them
Wednesday.
Mineta visited Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX which served as a base
of operations for much of the rescue and evacuation work that took place in the
hours and days following Hurricane Katrina. The effort marked the largest
domestic airlift operation in U.S. history.
“You witnessed first-hand one of the most devastating disasters this country has
ever had to endure,” Mineta said. “And you rose to the challenge, meeting it
with a level of professionalism and compassion that is unmatched.”
In the 55 hours after the hurricane hit New Orleans, pilots flew 89 military and
civilian aircraft and 9,800 evacuees to Kelly Field located on the base, Mineta
said. At the same time, base personnel set up temporary living quarters,
assembling thousands of cots and preparing to comfort those who had faced the
wrath of the hurricane and survived, he added. Medical teams also received 517
patients, and treated 66 at the base medical center, he said.
“As I stand in this hangar today, I can only imagine how scared they were,”
Mineta said. “How reassuring it must have been, knowing they were in the hands
of our nation’s finest, the men and women of Team Lackland.”
“Thousands of lives and hundreds of families were saved because you, our
Hurricane Heroes, were ready to help,” Mineta said. “No American will ever
forget that,” he added. He said the entire nation owed the rescuers a “debt of
gratitude” and said their response “is the reason each and every American can
rest easy knowing you are standing guard.”
The Secretary is touring the Gulf Coast region this week to recognize people who
responded to the hurricanes. Tomorrow, he will visit employees of the New
Orleans Regional Transit Authority who are providing bus service for evacuees
from a temporary headquarters facility in Baton Rouge, LA. On Friday, he will
travel to Jacksonville, FL to meet with truck drivers who delivered thousands of
loads of life-saving supplies to the storm-ravaged region.
The Secretary's remarks can be found at
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/minetasp012506pm.htm.
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