GOOD READ ABOUT KATRINA

The best book I have read on Katrina and its aftermath was, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley. Brinkley includes a detailed history of what happened and delves into the reasons for so much confusion following Katrina.

IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE KATRINA, YET THE WOUNDS REMAIN

Five years ago, on August 29, 2005, one of the biggest tragedies in terms of total devastation ever to hit the United States took place in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

This tragedy in New Orleans wasn’t by any means unexpected. Many warnings of just such a possibility had been discussed and published for years. But to millions of casual observers, as well as government officials, the hurricane and subsequent flooding appeared to come as a complete surprise. Despite warnings and official reports, local community, state, and national officials, and the city’s residents, were unprepared.

There had long been warnings that a hurricane that zeroed in on New Orleans could cause tremendous damage, loss of lives and homes, and disruption of public services, including law and order. This flood wouldn’t be the first to hit New Orleans, since major flooding had occurred on several previous occasions, including during and following hurricanes. The city sits in a giant basin, and water will always run to the bottom. In this case, thousands of people and their pets happened to live in that basin.

In 2002, The Times Picayune, New Orleans, published a 5-part series of articles, June 23-27, outlining the problems that a hurricane and flooding could bring to the area.

The articles reported on the probabilities of a major flood, and stated that many people would not be able to evacuate because of age, sickness, poverty, and lack of transportation to leave town. As for getting help from the outside following a flood, approaches by road would likely be impossible since roadways would wash out. According to the articles, thousands would become stranded, and most of them would be left homeless. Still, people were stunned as they watched the sickening aftermath on television.

As these Times-Picayune articles were being written in 2002, FEMA was studying evacuation procedures in case of a major storm, and rescue strategies to follow the expected storm. At the time the articles appeared, FEMA expected a preliminary report to be finished within months. At the time, FEMA director Joe Allbaugh stated to the Times Picayune, "Catastrophic disasters are best defined in that they totally outstrip local and state resources, which is why the federal government needs to play a role.” Yet the federal government failed to respond immediately.

We could all watch the drama and horror of the days following August 29, 2005, play out on our television sets. It took seeing it with our own eyes for most Americans to believe that such a catastrophe could happen in our own country.

Yet, in the aftermath, I heard complaints that the people there should have done more for themselves. For the ones left behind, those who lacked a home, money, food or water, utilities, and a roof to shelter them from scorching heat while they waited for help because there was no way to travel, what, exactly, could be expected?

The wounds still persist in New Orleans. Neighborhoods still remain devastated. Homes remain damaged and destroyed. Lives are still in limbo. Many of New Orleans’s former residents have not returned because there is nothing to return home to.

In my book, Looking Back, two essays appear that were written by Katrina survivors. Neither of them lived in New Orleans. One lived in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which received flooding from the storm surge. Air Force Major Risa Riepma and her family had relocated to Mississippi from Arizona just six months earlier. She (expecting her third child) and her husband and two children were required to seek shelter at Keesler Medical Center, while her parents, who had followed her to Mississippi, fled to Florida to find a place to stay until it was safe to return.

They were lucky in that they only lost things: their homes and all their belongings. The Riepmas also lost their vehicles, one of which was parked in the parking lot of the hospital. Yet they were still alive, had income, and were left with hope and an appreciation for what really mattered.

Maria Russell and her husband, Dave, who lived in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, also evacuated their neighborhood. They returned home five days later to find their entire neighborhood wiped out. All that remained of their two-year-old home were the footings of the foundation. They lost everything except what they evacuated with. Again, they were left with what really mattered, themselves.

You can read their stories, along with 22 other poignant stories about major historic events that have impacted the authors’ lives, in Looking Back: Boomers Remember History.

ILLEGAL ALIENS OR TERRORISTS? WITH SHRINKING RESOURCES, JUST WHO SHOULD WE TARGET?

It gets harder for me to understand government policies as I grow older. Is this a government by the people and for the people, or is it a government for those who hold the power and have the most money? I sometimes think it is only for the latter. And most of the time, it just doesn’t make sense.

I live in a state where the state's budget shortfall would scare any concerned citizen, where unemployment is rampant, where the housing market went bust, and where foreclosures on home loans continue to spiral upward. Instead of passing a budget and making hard choices to cut spending realistically or raise taxes, the state's leaders have chosen to try and pass an additional sales tax that will only hurt the already poor of the state who can barely afford to pay for necessities.

If the tax fails, supporters claim that teachers, firefighters and lawmen will be cut. Meanwhile, even while threatening to cut police protection, the state has passed a law that illegals are illegal, (really?) and people can be asked to provide proof of citizenship on the street, at home, or while driving. They probably won't be stopping people who are obviously white, even though any one of them might be an illegal immigrant from European background, plus any one of them might be a terrorist hell bent on destroying this country.

My concern is that with the budget cuts in law enforcement, less attention may be paid to preventing terrorists from entering this state and the country, but instead will focus on stopping those of Mexican descent to question them about their legality. Yes, illegal crossings into this country need to be stopped, but they need to be halted at the border by fences and law enforcement. Money needs to be allotted there, and then laws should be passed concerning what to do with those illegals already living in this country.

Most "illegals" who come here from Mexico are only seeking work so they can provide a living for their families. They're not interested in doing anything harmful to the place they seek refuge in. Most aren’t criminals intent on committing violent crimes, or drug runners. I do not condone anyone crossing our borders illegally, but a solution to the problem of what to do about them once they're here should be decided by the federal government--not at a state level by a state that claims to lack the necessary resources to enforce laws that protect the general public and prevent violent crimes.

We are all descended from immigrants to this country (except for Native Americans); many of our ancestors came illegally and later found ways to get legal status. Any number of our ancestors did exactly what illegal immigrants from Mexico are doing today--slipped into the country to seek the American dream and a better life. They managed to blend into society until they could manage to get legal citizenship. Most became contributors to society and upstanding citizens.

Intolerance towards one group of illegals only breeds suspicion, contempt and hatred on the parts of both them and us. Must we condone racial profiling in order to make sure that we get rid of illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America, or shouldn't we worry more about stopping the people who are entering this country legally and illegally each day and intend to do us all harm. Terrorists are our biggest threat, or has something changed recently that I don’t know?

I for one don't mind paying taxes in order to provide protection for our country and its freedoms, but I do resent seeing my tax dollars used in a discriminatory way to get rid of those who probably mean us no harm and may, some day, become upstanding citizens--teachers, doctors, lawyers, firemen, and police officers--if given half a chance. And yes, some of them survive with government aid, but shouldn’t studies be done to see just how much impact they actually have on limited government resources? Is it really as large as one terrorist who might kill and maim thousands, or at minimum, cause law enforcement to spend thousands to prevent their hideous acts while causing immeasurable fear among citizens?

So how will this latest uproar in this state play out in history? Several federal government and citizens' groups plan to sue the state to prevent this new law from becoming effective. Meanwhile, the governor is threatening to spend what little money she can commandeer from other budget sources to fight these lawsuits. So what will be cut next to pay for lawsuits?

Has society become too extreme to think clearly? Have personal prejudices blinded us to the real threats to our well-being? It's terrorists we need to target, then we can afford to worry about illegal families and what to do about them. We need to erect barriers that will prevent terrorists from entering the country. When those are in place, illegal entry should automatically cease. What has happened to common sense?

Book Review: Waiting for Snow in Havana

I recently finished a book by a Cuban who as a child, was airlifted out of Cuba following the Revolution. Those of you who have read my book, “Looking Back” probably remember the story by Celeste Cañizares Dieppa, who was on one of the last airlifts from Havana to the United States at the age of fourteen in 1966. This book, “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire, is about growing up the son of a judge, then having to evacuate Cuba at age eleven in 1962 with his older brother. He left behind both his parents to start a new life of freedom in the States, first in foster homes, then in the home of an uncle in Illinois until his mother could join them more than three years later.

This is a very warm, touching, detailed story of paradise lost followed by the tale of a marginal life in Chicago, and of never seeing his father alive again. I recommend it to those who enjoy reading about different cultures with a slant on history that is little understood today in this country. In the late fifties Cuba was almost like an extension of the United States because of its tourism and American business interests there, but possessing a unique culture of its own when Castro took over on January 1, 1959. He soon declared individually owned homes, land, and everything valuable to be “owned by the people” in what was to become a communist country in the midst of the Cold War, sending chills down the collective spine of the United States. After all, this country was within 90 miles of the United States, striking distance for communist missiles!

"Waiting for Snow in Havana" is a rich and very personal insider's story about what it is like to lose paradise and move to a very different climate and culture in search for the one thing that was deemed more important than both of those: to regain freedom.

History is Not Only About the Past

Have any of you noticed how history keeps happening every day? This was the premise of my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History, which noted many of the historical moments that have happened during the timespan from the 40s to the present. Of course, it couldn't cover every historical moment, but it does cover the important history-making events that 19 writers and I remember most vividly. We lived through it, we remember it, and we think it's important that those who weren't alive then understand the effect it had on our lives and theirs.

The most important point is that this book covers history as seen through the eyes of those who lived through it.

Lately, it seems that the most reported news emphasizes celebrities dying over true, important historical facts. Of course, the death of any person is important, but is it really newsworthy or will it make history?

We recently celebrated the anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling, when families in East and West Germany were finally reunited after being separated by a wall that the Communists built after World War II to keep their people from escaping to freedom. Lesson from history: if a country has to construct a wall to keep its people in, or to keep news from the outside world from filtering in, then something is terribly wrong. This was one wrong in our lifetime that was finally righted in our lifetime.

There are many lessons to be learned from history, but first we must all know what our history is. We can't ignorantly and blindly exist without concern for what has gone on before and what is happening now. It all matters!

If you haven't picked up a good historical non-fiction book lately, there's no time like the present to do it. I recommend my own book, of course, if you want to know the emotional toll some events in history have taken on the writers who penned their stories so eloquently. Or if you like a history book that is strictly facts full of dates, names and places, there are many such books in your local library.

And yes, I know how boring history lessons in school were to most of us. At the time we hadn't lived through much history, and all those dates and names just cluttered our brains with what we thought were useless facts at the time. However, history doesn't have to be boring! Most of us had teachers who were there to do a job, which was fill us with facts that we were somehow sure we would never need again. A little inspiration might have helped them do their jobs better, or accountability to the school board to make their lessons more challenging and compelling.

Try to find history books that tell the story of the past from the viewpoint of those who witnessed it. It's anything but boring when told more like a story than a book of dates and names. There are many books on politics that are written by people who were on the inside looking out, and they enlighten us with their view of what was happening at the time. Even books written about the distant past come alive when told by someone who writes about the people and events within the context of the times -- i.e.: through solid research into how people lived then, what their daily concerns were, what they ate and even how they raised their own livestock and food, and their housing and transportation.

History is not boring if it's told from a personal perspective. Characters should come to life. Scenes from the past should be filled with the sights and sounds of settings in which historical moments took place. Teachers should be able to bring history to life, and so should history writers.

Make a date soon with a good history book, and then watch to see how events portrayed there and then reflect on current issues. You'll be surprised at how much more interesting today's news events become to you as you come to better understand the past. And you'll be amazed at how much more you retain that you did as a student in history class!