“There’s an old woman,” he said, pointing to a wheelchair covered by a sheet. “I escorted her in myself. And that old man got bludgeoned to death,” he said of the body lying on the floor next to the wheelchair….
…One of the bodies, they said, was a girl they estimated to be 5 years old. Though they could not confirm it, they had heard she was gang-raped.
“There was an old lady that said the little girl had been raped by two or three guys, and that she had told another unit. But they said they couldn’t do anything about it with all the people there,” Brooks said. “I would have put him in cuffs, stuck him in the freezer and left him there.”
Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks, who found gun fights in Iraq “fair” in comparison to guarding Katrina-battered New Orleans.
The body of an older woman lay under a gray blanket, pinned down at the corners by brick and slate, adorned with a plastic-wrapped flower bouquet. Above her, a yellow cardboard sign quoting John 3:16 had been taped to the window.
Alcede Jackson
Rest in Peace
In the loving arms of Jesus
…Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, Joint Task Force Katrina commander, said that allowing Jefferson residents to return was complicating the ongoing search and rescue missions in Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes.
“We’re still trying to find them (storm victims),” he said. “If it (traffic) does escalate to the point where we can’t continue doing search and rescue, we will bring that to the appropriate level of government to make a decision.”
Mr. John Wayne Dude Himself, General Honore, weighing in on the decision to let residents return to their homes to assess the damage.
“I am the only elected official who is in favor of doing this, but people need to understand that they’re not coming back to Wally Cleaver’s neighborhood,” he said Sunday. “I am doing this to jumpstart the economy, not the economy of Jefferson Parish. That is destroyed. I want to jumpstart the economies of the residents of Jefferson Parish, who need to find new jobs, new places to live.”
Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, defending his decision to let residents come and view their homes.
Incredibly, many resisted rescue efforts and wanted to remain. Sheriff Jack Stephens said he ordered deputies to handcuff and “forcefully remove” holdouts.
As hard as St. Bernard was hit, a few people didn’t want to leave their homes.
We dance even if there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we’re suspicious of others who don’t.
But we’ll try not to judge you while we’re in your town.
Chris Rose makes introductions to the rest of the United States, as displaced South Louisianans begin a diaspora.
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