One by One in Haiti: More Public Domain Images from the US Navy

 100131-N-6214F-015 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Jan. 31, 2010) A soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division based in from Fort Bragg, N.C., helps a woman carry a 55-pound bag of rice that she received from the World Health Organization at a food distribution site in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communications Specialist Robert J. Fluegel/Released)

Predictably, the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti is dropping out of the news. But on the US Navy image gallery Eye on the Fleet, the story continues to be documented. Surely of the military personnel in these Navy pictures never imagined that their duties would entail what they’ve spent the past weeks doing in Haiti. And yet what I see here is a great willingness to offer help where help is needed, to do what needs doing, brick by brick, box by box, person to person. If there is a grand scheme by which Haiti will be fixed it sure isn’t apparent. The pictures of the newborns and the children are especially poignant: does anyone really believe that these kids’ lives are likely to improve? It takes bravery to act as if there is hope.

Public Domain Haiti Relief Images from the US Navy

The US Navy’s Eye on the Fleet  library of public domain images continues to be updated with pictures of the relief efforts in Haiti. There are few new images of search and rescue efforts in Port-au-Prince, but more of medical evacuations and evaluations have been added.

In the past few days images of relief to rural areas of Haiti have been posted, and these show the means of getting supplies to coastal areas without harbors. A lot of pictures show the sheer volume of materials that have to be moved, somehow, from place to place. Since these are photos by  US Navy photographers, of course these are primarily of US efforts. But there are a few, like the one at the end of today’s post, that shows joint US and Mexican efforts.  

All captions are copied from the US Navy site.

100122-N-7508R-020 BAIE DE GRAND GOAVE, Haiti (Jan. 22, 2010). Haitians watch as a landing craft air cushion (LCAC) assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 4 offloads relief supplies from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) on a Haitian beach. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Julio Rivera/Released)

Public Domain Haiti Relief Photos

Here are some pictures of  Haitian relief effort, starting with these from the US Air Force:

 

Top: A C-17 Globemaster III delivers humanitarian aid into the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 18, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.)[100118-F-4177H-957.JPG]

More from Haiti

These images are in the public domain because they were taken by US military personnel to document relief efforts in Haiti. Captions are also taken from these sites; italics indicate that they are verbatim. Several are from the Coast Guard’s website; the others are from the Navy’s. These are just a tiny sampling of growing collections at both sites. 

Isn’t this amazing? Imagine being a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard and finding yourself delivering a baby on a flight deck. Well done, guys. 

 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An Air Station Clearwater, Fla., helicopter crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma assisted in the delivery of a male Haitian newborn on the cutter Jan. 16, 2010. A pregnant Haitian citizen went into labor on the flight deck as the helicopter was refueling aboard the cutter. The rescue swimmer from Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter CG6024 then delivered the five-pound newborn. The mother and child were taken to a hospital in Cap Haitien, Haiti for further medical treatment and were in good condition. Tahoma was transferring Haitian citizens to Cap Haitien from Port-au-Prince for medical assistance when the woman went into labor. U.S. Coast Guard photo. [100116-G-0000X-001 (top); 100115-G-0000X-002]  

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The images for this post are from US government websites that are in Haiti to offer aid following the earthquake that demolished Port-au-Prince on January 2010.

These aerial photos taken by Global Hawk unmanned aircraft on January 14, 2010 are from the US Air Force photo gallery. The first is of the National Cathedral; the next, the Presidential Palace.