thedrifter
12-13-07, 10:17 AM
GLYNN: Marines face delicate task delivering food
A Line or Two
By Don Glynnglynnd@gnnewspaper.com
Niagara Gazette
This time of year volunteer organizations rally many troops to deliver food and other items to the needy.
For those who have coordinated such efforts over the years, the mission may appear routine. When the boxes are all packed, it’s just a matter of loading up the SUVs and trucks for the deliveries. In many cases, the driver knows the route because he was there last year.
Imagine for a moment though dropping off food to hungry people in Bangladesh.
Marine Capt. Andrew J. Broderick, 27, a former Lewiston resident, will tell you it can be an assignment filled with frustration.
When Broderick and his crew recently found a landing pad for their helicopter, their initial sense was that everything would be fine.
In a matter of minutes, however, about a thousand people came out of virtually nowhere. They swarmed around the chopper, obviously delighted that the Marines had arrived.
According to the account, when Broderick glanced back he spotted several hundred persons rushing toward the rear of the helicopter. “They were soon packed in the back and struggling for food,” he said, “Our crew chiefs were literally fighting them off and pushing them out.”
After all, it’s fair to ask, how are you going to distribute any food when you’re under attack like that?
At one point, it was even decided to pull the chopper up a little so the crowd might be encouraged to back off and perhaps settle down. But they still came back, Broderick noted.
To top things off, when all the food was gone, the Bangladeshi security finally showed up and started whacking people with sticks.
After the helicopter took off, it was obvious that some of those people scrambling for nourishment were in such a hurry that they didn’t care what they left behind. In fact, the Marines noticed several pairs of sandals at the rear of their chopper.
That delivery by the Marines had to be a welcome sight in a country often battered by devastating storms and floods.
Broderick, the son of Niagara County Treasurer David S. Broderick and Jane Broderick, graduated from Lewiston-Porter High School and the state University at Buffalo. He is assigned to an air base in New River, N.C.
Ellie
A Line or Two
By Don Glynnglynnd@gnnewspaper.com
Niagara Gazette
This time of year volunteer organizations rally many troops to deliver food and other items to the needy.
For those who have coordinated such efforts over the years, the mission may appear routine. When the boxes are all packed, it’s just a matter of loading up the SUVs and trucks for the deliveries. In many cases, the driver knows the route because he was there last year.
Imagine for a moment though dropping off food to hungry people in Bangladesh.
Marine Capt. Andrew J. Broderick, 27, a former Lewiston resident, will tell you it can be an assignment filled with frustration.
When Broderick and his crew recently found a landing pad for their helicopter, their initial sense was that everything would be fine.
In a matter of minutes, however, about a thousand people came out of virtually nowhere. They swarmed around the chopper, obviously delighted that the Marines had arrived.
According to the account, when Broderick glanced back he spotted several hundred persons rushing toward the rear of the helicopter. “They were soon packed in the back and struggling for food,” he said, “Our crew chiefs were literally fighting them off and pushing them out.”
After all, it’s fair to ask, how are you going to distribute any food when you’re under attack like that?
At one point, it was even decided to pull the chopper up a little so the crowd might be encouraged to back off and perhaps settle down. But they still came back, Broderick noted.
To top things off, when all the food was gone, the Bangladeshi security finally showed up and started whacking people with sticks.
After the helicopter took off, it was obvious that some of those people scrambling for nourishment were in such a hurry that they didn’t care what they left behind. In fact, the Marines noticed several pairs of sandals at the rear of their chopper.
That delivery by the Marines had to be a welcome sight in a country often battered by devastating storms and floods.
Broderick, the son of Niagara County Treasurer David S. Broderick and Jane Broderick, graduated from Lewiston-Porter High School and the state University at Buffalo. He is assigned to an air base in New River, N.C.
Ellie