- In the days after the world began recognizing the scale of the tsunami disaster, a new kind of wave developed – one of help. It became one of history’s largest relief efforts – in which governments throughout the world donated millions and private citizens opened their wallets. The United States government pledged $350 million to the efforts and U.S. humanitarian groups gave an additional $122 million.
Maj. Dwight Neeley, a 38-year-old father and career U.S. Marine, remembers when he arrived in Indonesia three days after the disaster.
He and a dozen other Marines from Okinawa landed in Medan, far from the worst hit areas of northern Sumatra. Because communication lines were so damaged, few could comprehend the level of devastation in Aceh Province.
They soon found out.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with 5,300 sailors and Marines and the USS Bonhomme Richard amphibious assault ship with 3,000 aboard were dispatched to Sumatra.
On New Year’s Day, the Lincoln began to deliver water, food and medicine and bring aboard the injured via helicopter. The Lincoln flew more than 1,700 missions in support of Operation Unified Assistance. By the time the mission ended on Feb. 4, the Lincoln’s crew had delivered more than 5.7 million pounds of supplies, including 16,308 gallons of water, to the troubled shores.
Neeley is stationed at an air strip nestled between rice fields near Banda Aceh, the bustling main base of operations for distributing aid throughout devastated northern Sumatra Island.
This is a mission of mercy for the few U.S. servicemen who the Indonesian government allowed to set up tents on Sumatran soil, where the government has fought a civil war against a rebel army.
People in the devastated city of Meulaboh, about 90 miles from the epicenter, greet U.S. helicopters with handmade American flags made of strips of red, white and blue cloth, some of their only supplies, says Lt. Commander Michael Hsu, U. S. Navy test pilot who was coordinating the helicopter squadron from the Lincoln.
“I volunteered to come here once I found out what happened,” says Hsu. “With the loss of life, everyone was eager to come out and help. This is the best operation I’ve ever been associated with.”
Neeley tells of an Indonesian man, who volunteers to load trucks, who watched his wife and daughter get swept away in the waves. He hung on to his son.
“That’s all he has, is his son,” Neeley says. “And he comes every day to work. It’s hard to listen to that. It makes you think of your family. I can’t comprehend what goes through his mind. It’s beyond belief, the devastation. It’s not that this is easy to do, but it’s easy to be motivated.”
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