Image via WikipediaBy Randy Economywww.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
Monday, March 14, 2011
12:48 a.m.
Los Angeles, CA
Our hometown "heroes" are at it again.
It is called "Operation Tomodachi."
In case you are a tad rusty on your Japanese, (and since my Godfather Dr. Steven M. Sherman, MD is one of the world's most respected "medical translators" between the US and Japan) "tomodachi" means "Friend."
The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s acclaimed rescue team, just days removed from digging through earthquake rubble in New Zealand, is now saving lives a world away in Japan.
These men and women are a symbol of hope and determination to help the people of Japan in their darkest hour.
The 74-person team’s rescue efforts began in Japan on Sunday, local Los Angeles time. The death toll for the massive 8.9 Great Earthquake could reach as high as 10,000 victims or more. The Los Angeles County Fire Rescue Team will be assisting their Japanese counterparts in some of the toughest work imaginable in this horrific nightmare that has destroyed much of Northern Japan.
The Fire Department’s California Task Force 2 is only one of two urban search and rescue teams in the country regularly pressed into action by the U.S. aid agency’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The other is the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. The two had distinguished themselves as the nation’s best.
In a memo to the Board of Supervisors last Friday, newly named Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby wrote: “It is a source of great pride for our organization to not only have this highly specialized response capability but to be called into duty by USAID to help save lives and property beyond our borders.”
The mission at hand differs substantially from those undertaken in the wake of earthquakes in New Zealand and in Haiti, where the team earned international praise for its work in finding and freeing residents trapped for days under buildings. This one will include a swift water rescue component because of the massive tsunami flooding.
Here is more on the "Friendly" Mission to Japan:
Operation Tomodachi 友達; ともだち JAPAN EMERGENCY NEWS 地震と津波日本では日本国民は、ニュース速報 BREAKING EMERGENCY NEWS JAPAN EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI LOS ANGELES FIRST RESPONDERS DISASTER SEARCH AND RESCUE ARRIVES IN JAPAN Search and rescue teams arrive at Misawa Air Base to assist with recovery efforts in northern Japan. At least twelve rescue dogs, from Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue and from Los Angeles Search and Rescue arrived. Video shows the plane's arrival, passengers deplaning, customs agents briefing the rescue workers, and the rescue dogs.
Keep EVERYONE IN YOUR PRAYERS!
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