ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN – Three members of the Everett-based USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier played key roles in getting life-saving supplies to victims of the tsunami that has killed more than 150,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean.
Shortly after the Lincoln arrived off the northwestern coast of the hardest hit region of Indonesia, Lancer Executive Officer Cmdr. Ted Williams, Lt. Cmdr. David Edgarton and Lt. Ken Velez were among the first group of people flown ashore.
They were to coordinate with an Australian-based detachment of Air Force C-130 personnel, who had flown in relief supplies.
They determined the best way for helicopters from the Lincoln to get in and out of the landing zone around the airport. Helicopters carried supplies to the more inaccessible areas of the devastated country.
They also were responsible for making sure the numerous members of the media would have an opportunity to view the destruction from the air as they accompanied relief flights.
At least, that is what they expected to do.
When they reached the ground at the airport they found they were needed for more than that.
When they landed at the airport in the capital city of Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra, they found hundreds of boxes of supplies sitting on the tarmac among various aircraft in the hot sun.
The landing zone for the helicopters that would be ferrying the supplies was large and away from the main ramp where the C-130’s were offloading cargo.
No one on the ground appeared to be in control so Williams began to organize the chaos.
“We were glad we were able to get there as quickly as we did, as it is evident there are people in great need,” Williams said. “All the Lancers and sailors from the Abraham Lincoln are anxious to help in any way that we can.”
Williams and his team immediately began to direct the helicopters in the air and the working crews on the ground to get aircraft loaded and on the way again in minimal time.
The task was made more difficult by the initial lack of communications gear on the ground.
“I must have run about four miles all around the airport as I was trying to get a helo to land in the right place, or to direct a truck full of supplies to the right place, or to get word to a helicopter where they would be dropping off the next load,” Velez said.
Velez helped to offload supplies from transport planes and also load numerous helicopters as they returned from their drop areas.
Despite numerous challenges, the seven helicopters from the Lincoln operating out of Sultan Iskandar Muda airport delivered more than 15 tons of relief supplies to the most-remote regions of the area on the first day of operations before they had to stop at nightfall.
Operating in the unrelenting sun, Williams, Velez and Edgarton worked nonstop from the moment they set foot on the ground until they boarded the helicopter for their return to the Lincoln.
During transit to and from the ship each of them got a good look at the devastation.
“It was truly incredible,” Edgarton said. “We flew along the beach on the west side and you could look down and not see one intact structure. The enormity of the destruction is unbelievable.
“You know by looking at it from the air that entire villages, along with their populations, were wiped out all at once. It’s terrible.”
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