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 - 0:20and deployed both to Irak and Afghanistan,
-
0:20 - 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 - 0:32We were going to the places nobody else would go.
-
0:32 - 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 - 0:51"There are two problems. The first problem is an Inadequate Disaster Response.
-
0:51 - 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 - 1:04And this is the topic, that is a front page news right now.
-
1:04 - 1:05Those veterans are coming home right now,
-
1:05 - 1:07from Iraq and Afghanistan,
-
1:07 - 1:09and they are struggling to reintegrate into civilian life.
-
1:09 - 1:12We sat here and we looked into these two problems
-
1:12 - 1:13and finally we came to a realization.
-
1:13 - 1:16These aren't problems, these are actually solutions.
-
1:16 - 1:18And what do I mean by that?
-
1:18 - 1:21We can use disater response as an opportunity
-
1:21 - 1:23for service for the veterans coming home.
-
1:23 - 1:25Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans
-
1:25 - 1:28want to continue the service when they take off the uniform.
-
1:28 - 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 organisation 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 - 1:46shortly after the independence,
-
1:46 - 1:50to train doctors and support 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 organisation.
-
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 out the organisation, but it really forced us
-
2:18 - 2:22to refocus what it is that we were doing.
-
2:22 - 2:26You know, Clay didn't kill himself [because of] what happened in Iraq or Afghanistan.
-
2:26 - 2:30Clay killed himself bacasue of what he lost when he came home.
-
2:30 - 2:34He lost purpose. He lost his community.
-
2:34 - 2:39And 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 organisation,
-
2:49 - 2:54we were a disater response organisation that was using veteran's service.
-
2:54 - 2:55We had a lot of success
-
2:55 - 2:57and we really thought like we were changing
-
2:57 - 2:59the disaster response paradigm.
-
2:59 - 3:01But after Clay we shifted that focus
-
3:01 - 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 - 3:13That might not seem like a major shift in focus for many people out here, in this audience,
-
3:13 - 3:14but I'll tell you why it is.
-
3:14 - 3:17Because we think that we can give that purpose,
-
3:17 - 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 the 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 highschool 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 - 3:39Everyday 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 - 3:51And he's got a purpose. But he comes home to Kansas City, Missouri,
-
3:51 - 3:53maybe he goes to college, maybe he's got a job,
-
3:53 - 3:55but he doesn't have that same sense of purpose.
-
3:55 - 3:58You give him a chainsaw and you send him to Joplin, Missouri, after a tornado,
-
3:58 - 4:00he regains that.
-
4:00 - 4:04Going back, that same 18 year old boy graduates from highschool in Kansas City, Missouri.
-
4:04 - 4:06He joins the army, army gives him a rifle,
-
4:06 - 4:08they send him to Iraq --
-
4:08 - 4:10Everyday he looks in the same set of eyes around him,
-
4:10 - 4:14he leaves the wire, he knows that those people have his back.
-
4:14 - 4:16They've slept on the same sand, they've lived together,
-
4:16 - 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 military, takes his uniform off.
-
4:24 - 4:26He doesn't have this 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 - 4:36Again, you have an 18 year old boy who graduates from highschool in Kansas City.
-
4:36 - 4:37He joins the army, army gives him a rifle,
-
4:37 - 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 - 4:46He takes the uniform off, he is no longer sergeant Jones in his community,
-
4:46 - 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 - 5:17and institutions of higher learning.
-
5:17 - 5:20So, we need to step up and take that role of leadeship in this country,
-
5:20 - 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 - 5:30Thank you very much.
-
5:30 - 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
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Ivana Korom approved English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Diba Szamosi accepted English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Diba Szamosi edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Lena Capa edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego | ||
Lena Capa edited English subtitles for Disaster relief that can save veterans - Jake Wood - TEDxSanDiego |