Military Officer - January 2006 - (Page 65)

need it. That was our theme during this: “We’re Americans helping Americans.” Cmdr. Brian Klock, USNR, 49, was on assignment in Washington, D.C., helping with recovery efforts for Navy air stations and personnel affected by Hurricane Katrina when he got word that his wife, Susan, and 9-year-old daughter, Taylor, were evacuating their home outside Houston as Hurricane Rita approached. It looked like Rita was really going to hit us on Thursday morning, so Wednesday night Susan and Taylor evacuated. They got in the car to go to Austin, which is usually a three-hour drive. It took them 18 hours. I didn’t sleep that night. I was a combination of guilty and worried. I knew Susan was tired and driving so I called her every hour just to hear her voice. And when I talked to Taylor, I heard a different voice. I no longer heard a little girl — I heard a young lady who was trying to be strong for her mom. I was so impressed. Rita tracked just to the east of us. We got 70 mph winds, and a tree landed on our house, but that’s it. It’s not too bad. I honestly thought we were going to be left with a slab. Everyone’s OK physically, I guess. Emotionally and ﬁnancially, not so much. I have friends who still live in the city, and one said the worst thing is that the storm didn’t sweep their house completely away. If it had, they would have been able to just walk away from it all. I grew up on the coast. I went through hurricanes Betsy and Camille in the 1960s. That’s kind of the problem: People who live here have been through big storms before, so when we see another one coming, we think, “We can make it.” But there are always bigger storms and it’s not a matter of if, but when. … It’s deﬁnitely going to inﬂuence our future decisions. I’m just glad everyone in my family is OK. All the material things can be replaced, and the emotions will heal, but you can’t bring people back from the dead. Brig. Gen. Michael Kiefer of the Indiana Army National Guard received honorary citizenship (top left) for his role in helping counties in Mississippi recover from Katrina. His photo of the sign above reveals the appreciation residents felt. Col. Glenn Zauber, USAFRet., of MOAA (below) confers with a fellow American Red Cross volunteer as they plan meal delivery routes. Zauber and a crew drawn from volunteers across the nation were tasked with delivering meals to Hurricane Rita victims in Liberty County, northeast of Houston. Col. Glenn Zauber, USAF-Ret., 60, is MOAA’s chief financial officer. In early October, he spent two weeks as a volunteer for the American Red Cross distributing meals to Hurricane Rita victims in Dayton, Texas. I’m at the stage in life where I have my work, but I realize that if I don’t go in for a few days, the place isn’t going to fall apart. And for something like [CONTINUES ON PAGE 78] PHOTOS: CENTER LEFT, STEVE BARRETT; BOTTOM LEFT, DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP; ALL OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY INTERVIEWEES JANUARY 2006 MILITARY OFFICER 65

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - January 2006

Contents Features Departments From the Editor Chairman's Page Board of Directors Nominations Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Member Books Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: On the Edge Storm Stories Our Brilliant, Bloody Future eXtreme Seniors Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - January 2006

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