Day 5: Guardsmen offer food and water to stragglers while scouting neighborhood

NEW ORLEANS -- With a breathy series of whistles, Staff Sgt. David McClure was almost pleading: "Come here, boy, come on."

The exposed ribs on a gaunt black dog told a sad story. Flies buzzed around his quizzical face as the canine considered the camouflaged men from the 1140th Engineer Battalion. Friend or foe? The dog -- apparently abandoned in the rush to escape Hurricane Katrina -- seemed unsure.

Finally, he shoved his fear aside in favor of what McClure was offering -- food and clean water.

Other soldiers brought over more food and water and smiled as the dog gobbled up the mound of cold chicken tetrazzini from a MRE -- meal ready to eat. McClure patted him on the head.

"Poor guy," McClure said soothingly. "Somebody left you here. You've just been trying to survive."

The 1140th Engineers, it seems, have made a friend.

Capt. Kevin Compas of Jackson briefed his section sergeants Monday about where cleanup would begin for the 1140th Engineer Battalion in New Orleans. (Don Frazier ~ Southeast Missourian)

Each of the battalion's four companies -- Headquarters, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie -- performed reconnaissance trips Monday into the areas in New Orleans where they will be working for the next three weeks or so.

They came to scout out the streets that need to be freed of downed trees, smelly sludge and other debris. The work will start at 7 a.m. today in residential areas near Lake Pontchartrain in the Lakefront Airport area in east New Orleans.

Along the way, they managed to feed several dogs and came across two hurricane survivors holed up in an otherwise abandoned apartment complex, sharing as many MREs and bottles of water as they could spare.

Eugene Thompson said he has seen National Guard troops from across the country stop by in the days since Katrina wreaked havoc on his life.

"Every time, they give me bottled water and MREs," he said. "It's been a blessing. God bless these guys."

Thompson, a retired IRS worker, said he stayed in New Orleans despite frequent warnings to leave because he didn't want his home to get looted. On this day, he has two long knives stuck beneath the belt of his shorts. He sent his wife out of town before the hurricane hit. Since then he's been living without power, clean water and little food.

"I couldn't reach my wife for nine days," he said. "She reported me missing. I'm sure she was worried sick. But my cell phone went back on, and I finally reached her."

The guard soldiers told him he should leave again Monday. He said he is staying only until the airport reopens and he can join his wife and stepdaughter in Houston.

"I know these are just things, but I couldn't stand the thought of looters getting my things for no reason," he said. "But I'm getting out now. I can't take it."

Meanwhile, the guard learned it would be doing "curb to curb" cleanup. The guardsmen will be using saws to cut downed trees and other equipment to move all other debris to the median, where civilian contractors will be removing it.

As they work on one street, other teams will recon the next area.

The areas the 1140th saw Monday were in a poor section of town. Filthy water was still as high as 6 feet in some places. Johnboats were left behind in others.

Capt. Kevin Compas, company commander of Bravo Company of Jackson and Perryville, estimated his company could clear three or four streets a day. He warned his troops to respect people's property.

Spc. Joseph Dilley, left, of Cape Girardeau, handed Hurricane Katrina survivor Eugene Thompson of New Orleans a box of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and bottled water Monday near Lake Pontchartrain.

"Treat them like your own," he said. "If you've got to move a car out of the street, move it as gently as you can."

He also warned that they may come across some bodies.

"But don't touch them," he said. "Civilian contractors will be coming to get them."

The soldiers were told to wear gloves and to stay away from the standing water, which is likely loaded with unhealthy levels of E. coli. They were also reminded to carry dust masks to shield themselves from the smell.

The houses, many marked with zeros indicating the number of people inside, were heavily damaged. Many looked beyond repair.

"It's sad," said Sgt. Steve DeClue, 30, of Jackson. "It's very sad. They're going to have to start fresh."

While their primary mission is clearing roads, several soldiers said they would give out food and water to any refugees they came across.

"We can do so much more than clean roads," said Sgt. Brian Hoefer, 28, of Uniontown in Perry County. "What we're doing is helping. I'm going to do that any way I can."

Staff Sgt. Rodney Sebaugh, 34, of Jackson, agreed. He said Southeast Missouri could be hit by disaster just as easily -- an earthquake.

"If that happened, they'd do this for us," he said.

After stopping to eat an MRE and heading back to their base camp, McClure took one last chance to pat his new friend's head.

"Be well dog," he said. "I hope you survive. I hope you all do."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137