Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego
-
0:14 - 0:17Two years ago,
after having served four years -
0:17 - 0:18in the United States Marine Corps
-
0:18 - 0:21and deployed both to Irak and Afghanistan,
-
0:21 - 0:23I found myself in Port-au-Prince
-
0:23 - 0:27leading a team of veterans
and medical professionals -
0:27 - 0:29in some of the hardest hit areas
of that city, -
0:29 - 0:30three days after the earthquake.
-
0:30 - 0:33We were going to the places
nobody else would go. -
0:33 - 0:35The places nobody else could go
-
0:35 - 0:38and after three weeks,
we realized something - -
0:38 - 0:42military veterans are very, very good
at disaster response. -
0:42 - 0:44And coming home, my co-founder and I,
-
0:44 - 0:46we looked at it, we said,
-
0:46 - 0:49"There are two problems.
-
0:49 - 0:52The first problem is
an inadequate disaster response. -
0:52 - 0:56It's slow, it's antiquated.
It's not using the best technology. -
0:56 - 0:58It's not using the best people."
-
0:58 - 1:00The second problem
that we became aware of -
1:00 - 1:02was a very inadequate
veteran reintegration. -
1:02 - 1:05And this is the topic,
that is a front page news right now. -
1:05 - 1:08As veterans are coming home right now,
from Iraq and Afghanistan, -
1:08 - 1:11and they are struggling
to reintegrate into civilian life. -
1:11 - 1:13We sat here and we looked
into these two problems -
1:13 - 1:15and finally we came to a realization.
-
1:15 - 1:18These aren't problems,
these are actually solutions. -
1:18 - 1:20And what do I mean by that?
-
1:20 - 1:22We can use disater response
as an opportunity -
1:22 - 1:24for service for the veterans coming home.
-
1:24 - 1:26Recent surveys show
that 92 percent of veterans -
1:26 - 1:29want to continue the service
when they take off the uniform. -
1:29 - 1:31And we can use veterans
to improve disaster response. -
1:31 - 1:34Now, on the surface
this makes a lot of sense, -
1:34 - 1:37our organization Team Rubicon
was born in 2010, -
1:37 - 1:39we responded to the tsunami in Chile,
-
1:39 - 1:41the floods in Pakistan,
-
1:41 - 1:44we sent training teams
to the Thai - Burma border. -
1:44 - 1:45And we went to South Sudan,
-
1:45 - 1:47shortly after the independence,
-
1:47 - 1:50to train doctors
in simple surgical techniques. -
1:50 - 1:54But it was earlier this year,
when one of our original members, -
1:54 - 1:57caused us to shift focus
in the organization. -
1:57 - 1:58This is Clay Hunt.
-
1:58 - 2:02Clay was a Marine with me, we served
together in Iraq and Afghanistan. -
2:02 - 2:06We served in the same sniper team
in the Helmand Valley in 2008. -
2:06 - 2:08Clay was with us in Port-au-Prince,
-
2:08 - 2:10he was also with us in Chile.
-
2:10 - 2:14Earlier this year, in March,
Clay took his own life. -
2:14 - 2:16This was a tragedy.
-
2:16 - 2:18It rocked our organization,
but it really forced us -
2:18 - 2:22to refocus what it is that we were doing.
-
2:22 - 2:24You know, Clay didn't kill himself
-
2:24 - 2:27[because of] what happened
in Iraq or Afghanistan. -
2:27 - 2:30Clay killed himself because
of what he lost when he came home. -
2:30 - 2:34He lost purpose.
He lost his community. -
2:34 - 2:38And perhaps, most tragically,
he lost his self-worth. -
2:39 - 2:44So, as we evaluated
and as the dust settled from this tragedy, -
2:44 - 2:47we realized that, of those two problems,
-
2:47 - 2:49and the initial iteration
of our organization, -
2:49 - 2:54we were a disater response organization
that was using veteran's service. -
2:54 - 2:55We had a lot of success
-
2:55 - 2:57and we really felt like we were changing
-
2:57 - 2:59the disaster response paradigm.
-
2:59 - 3:02But after Clay we shifted that focus
-
3:02 - 3:05and suddenly, now moving forward,
we see ourselves -
3:05 - 3:07as a veteran service organisation
-
3:07 - 3:09that's using disaster response.
-
3:09 - 3:12That might not seem
like a major shift in focus -
3:12 - 3:14for many people out here in this audience,
-
3:14 - 3:15but I'll tell you why it is.
-
3:15 - 3:18Because we think
that we can give that purpose, -
3:18 - 3:20that community and that self-worth
back to the veteran. -
3:20 - 3:24And tornados in Tuscaloosa and Joplin
and then later hurricane Irene, -
3:24 - 3:26gave us an opportunity to look at that.
-
3:26 - 3:30Now, I want you to imagine
for a second an 18-year-old boy -
3:30 - 3:32who graduates from high school
in Kansas City, Missouri. -
3:32 - 3:35He joins the army,
the army gives him a rifle, -
3:35 - 3:36they send him to Iraq.
-
3:36 - 3:39Every day he leaves the wire
with a mission. -
3:39 - 3:43That mission is to defend the freedom
of the family that he left at home, -
3:43 - 3:45it's to keep the man around him alive,
-
3:45 - 3:47it's to pacify the village
that he works in. -
3:47 - 3:49And he's got a purpose.
-
3:49 - 3:51But he comes home
to Kansas City, Missouri, -
3:51 - 3:53maybe he goes to college,
maybe he's got a job, -
3:53 - 3:56but he doesn't have
that same sense of purpose. -
3:56 - 4:00You give him a chainsaw and you send him
to Joplin, Missouri, after a tornado, -
4:00 - 4:00he regains that.
-
4:00 - 4:03Going back, that same 18 year old boy
graduates from highschool -
4:03 - 4:05in Kansas City, Missouri.
-
4:05 - 4:07He joins the army,
the army gives him a rifle, -
4:07 - 4:08they send him to Iraq.
-
4:08 - 4:11Every day he looks into
the same sets of eyes around him, -
4:11 - 4:14he leaves the wire, he knows
that those people have his back. -
4:14 - 4:17They've slept on the same sand,
they've lived together, -
4:17 - 4:19they've eaten together,
they've bled together. -
4:19 - 4:22He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri.
-
4:22 - 4:24He gets out of the military,
takes his uniform off. -
4:24 - 4:26He doesn't have that community anymore.
-
4:26 - 4:29But you drop 25 of those veterans
in Joplin, Missouri, -
4:29 - 4:32they get that sense of community back.
-
4:32 - 4:34Again, you have an 18 year old boy
who graduates high school -
4:34 - 4:35in Kansas City.
-
4:35 - 4:38He joins the army,
the army gives him a rifle, -
4:38 - 4:39they send him to Iraq.
-
4:39 - 4:40They pin a medal on his chest,
-
4:40 - 4:43he goes home to a ticker tape parade.
-
4:43 - 4:44He takes the uniform off,
-
4:44 - 4:47he is no longer sergeant Jones
in his community, -
4:47 - 4:48he's now Dave from Kansas City.
-
4:48 - 4:50He doesn't have that same self-worth.
-
4:50 - 4:53But you send him to Joplin after a tornado
-
4:53 - 4:55and somebody once again
is walking up to him -
4:55 - 4:58and shaking his hand and thanking him
for his service. -
4:58 - 5:00Now, they have self-worth again.
-
5:00 - 5:03So what? What's it mean?
-
5:03 - 5:05I think it's very important.
-
5:05 - 5:08Becasue right now, there's a void
in leadership in this country. -
5:08 - 5:12And somebody needs to step up
as we have corruption, -
5:12 - 5:16and scams on tops of industry and politics
-
5:16 - 5:18and institutions of higher learning.
-
5:18 - 5:19Somebody needs to step up
-
5:19 - 5:21and take that role
of leadeship in this country, -
5:21 - 5:23and move this country forward,
-
5:23 - 5:25in the direction that it's meant to move.
-
5:25 - 5:27And this generation of veterans
has the opportunity -
5:27 - 5:29to do that, if they are given the chance.
-
5:29 - 5:31Thank you very much.
-
5:31 - 5:34(Applause)
- Title:
- Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego
- Description:
-
Team Rubicon is a relief organization that utilizes the practiced teamwork, skills and experiences of US veterans by deploying them into disaster stricken areas. But, as Jake Wood shares, a recent loss in the organization changed its focus toward giving struggling veterans a chance at continued purpose, community, and self-worth.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 05:34
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
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