Soldiers of Hannibal Guard unit return from Haiti security mission

By Bill Phelan
Ngmo.pao@US.ARMY.MIL

GONAIVES, HAITI - Soldiers of the Missouri National Guard continue to provide recovery missions in Haiti six months after a devastating earthquake struck the impoverished nation.

About 120 members of the 2175th Military Police Company, based in Hannibal, recently returned from a two-week security mission to the rural town of Gonaives, a city that has doubled in size since the disaster.

"Gonaives has about 100,000 extra people that moved there after the earthquake," said 1st Lt. Shane Spellman, of Columbia, commanding officer of the 2175th. "The city went from a population of about 100,000 to 200,000, so they need more infrastructures - more schools and so forth."

The 2175th was tasked with providing security for engineer units building a school in the city center and for medical companies providing badly needed medical care to the Haitian people.

"The engineers and the medics do not carry weapons, so our job as military police was to make sure to stay with the equipment and the people," Spellman explained. "So we were basically their guards while they did their jobs and provide protection on-site."

With tens of thousands of Haitians living in tents and makeshift shelters, Spellman described the conditions as "austere" and typical of a poor, third-world nation. But in spite of the hardship, Missouri Soldiers found the Haitian people to be, for the most part, upbeat.

"They're very poor but they are receptive to the fact that we are there helping and they are a very positive people," said Pfc. Galen Tuley, of Palmyra. "I was surprised by that. I found it motivating that people living in those conditions kept such great attitudes."

While the 2175th had limited interaction with the Haitian people, Tuley managed to befriend a man named Nelson, who served as an interpreter and provided some local insight.

"Nelson was big help in helping us understand what the locals were going through," Tuley said. "The people were very happy that we were there and they realize we are trying to help them. That seemed to be the general impression of all the people there."

While in Haiti Soldiers of the 2175th lived in tents and endured a desert-like environment, but morale remained very high.

"The Soldiers absolutely loved this mission," said Spellman. "We have some Soldiers who have been out of basic or individual training for only a month and have never been out of the country or seen anything like this, so this experience was awesome."

Over all, Tuley and his fellow Soldiers said the Haiti mission left them with a renewed appreciation for life in America.

"It really showed me all the things in American life that we take for granted and how much better things are here," Tuley said.

"I've been in the military for 17 years so I've been around but for me (the mission) was just a reaffirmation of how great the United States is," Spellman added.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.

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For more information about this release, please contact UPAR Bill Phelan at 314-416-1868 or cell, 314-556-5428 or e-mail bill.phelan@us.army.mil .