More than 900 soldiers bound for Haiti - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

More than 900 soldiers bound for Haiti

WASHINGTON — The first Army troops are heading to Haiti on Thursday as the military ramps up what Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called a major effort to provide earthquake relief.

The first group of soldiers — about 100 — from the 82nd Airborne Division will leave later Thursday, the Army said. The troops will find locations to set up tents and other essentials in preparation for the arrival of another roughly 800 personnel from the division Friday.

They come on top of some 2,200 Marines, also to be sent, as the military prepares to help with security needs, search and rescue and the delivery of humanitarian supplies. More than a half dozen U.S. military ships also are expected to help, with the largest, the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, arriving Thursday.

Appearing on television network news shows after cutting short an overseas trip, Clinton said it is still too early to make a firm estimate of the number of deaths in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating, 7.0 magnitude earthquake. But she said officials know that approximately 3 million people, including 45,000 Americans, have been affected and that “tens of thousands, we fear, are dead.”

President Barack Obama, who earlier announced a wide-ranging U.S. assistance and relief effort, planned another public statement from the White House later Thursday.

Clinton noted that the small Caribbean country was still recovering, with help from Washington, the United Nations and other countries, from the damage wrought by last year’s storms, saying a key challenge now is to “get people back into some semblance of normalcy.” She called Haitians “resilient people” and said no one is giving up on them.

Before the earthquake, Clinton said, “We had a full government effort under the Obama administration to really help the people, and we were making progress. ... This is devastating on every level.” She said the United States will do “everything we can to help this country rebuild.”

In another interview, Clinton said, “We are doing all we can to figure out how to attack the devastation all around and this is going to be a long-term effort,” from saving lives and providing food, water and medical supplies, to beginning the reconstruction process.

“We have a [major effort] going on here at the president’s direction,” she added. “This is incredibly complex work. We have some of the best people in the world from the United States down there and we’re just going to do everything we can to be helpful.”

Clinton advised people worried about relatives living in Haiti to call a special information number at the State Department.

Of the damage in Haiti, Clinton said “the depth and scope is unimaginable” and said the small country has been plagued by a “cycle of hope and despair.”

The U.S. military said the Navy hospital ship Comfort will leave late this weekend for Haiti.

Lt. Cmdr. Heidi Lenzini of the U.S. Southern Command said Thursday the floating hospital will be on an open-ended humanitarian mission. The ship is staffed with hundreds of doctors, nurses and technicians. It has 12 operating rooms and space for 1,000 hospital beds.

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