A Tribute to Local Heroes of Hurricane Katrina

Floor Speech

Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to two heroes whose leadership following Hurricane Katrina is truly inspiring.

Randy Boone, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Survivalman, recently wrote me a letter describing the selfless actions of two soldiers from the Army's 1108th Blackhawk squadron: Sergeant Stacy Eubanks and Sergeant Kring.

Immediately following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, Sergeant Eubanks, whose own home was damaged, loaded his truck with ice and water that he delivered to the Mississippi coast. He went from house to house distributing all of the ice and water. He made a second trip that same day, and the following day was joined by a neighbor. Others were soon inspired to join him. Sergeant Eubanks and his fellow volunteers delivered over 5 tons of ice, hundreds of boxes of food, and several hundred cases of water throughout south Alabama and Mississippi. He also organized a caravan with a tractor trailer truck and pickup trucks with trailers loaded with food, water, ice and medical supplies from Mobile to Gulfport, MS.

Sergeant Kring and his family live in Waveland, MS, a community that was completely wiped off the map in the path of Hurricane Katrina. Thankfully, Sergeant Kring's family is alive and well, but their home was destroyed. When Sergeant Kring returned after the storm to what previously was his home, he spotted a group of displaced and disoriented survivors of Katrina gathered in a Waveland K-mart parking lot. Sergeant Kring organized the group, built a temporary shelter and a makeshift triage unit, and began assisting the injured. This parking lot was given the name ``Camp Katrina.'' Sergeant Kring remained there for days until he was able to get outside assistance. I understand that the location later became a portable military medical facility to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Waveland.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Sergeant Eubanks went to Waveland to locate comrades he had not been able to contact. Sergeant Stacy found Sergeant Kring at the ``Camp Katrina'' parking lot. The two tried to recover personal items from the remains of Sergeant Kring's destroyed home.

The 1108th Blackhawk unit stationed at Fort Shelby was training to go to Iraq in October, when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. Because of the massive destruction to our coastal communities and because many of these soldiers' homes were severely damaged or destroyed, it is my understanding that only 50 of the soldiers will be deployed to Iraq. Sergeant Stacy is one of the 50, and I was not surprised to learn that Sergeant Kring has volunteered to go as well.

Mr. Speaker, the selfless dedication of these two gentlemen to their communities in a time of crisis is a tribute to their families, their communities, and their service in the Armed Forces. I am grateful to have these men serving in our Nation's military, and I commend their service.

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