Two years ago, after having served four years in the United States Marine Corps and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan, I found myself in Port-au-Prince, leading a team of veterans and medical professionals in some of the hardest-hit areas of that city, three days after the earthquake. We were going to the places that nobody else wanted to go, the places nobody else could go, and after three weeks, we realized something. Military veterans are very, very good at disaster response. And coming home, my cofounder and I, we looked at it, and we said, there are two problems. The first problem is there's inadequate disaster response. It's slow. It's antiquated. It's not using the best technology, and it's not using the best people. The second problem that we became aware of was a very inadequate veteran reintegration, and this is a topic that is front page news right now as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian life. And we sat here and we looked at these two problems, and finally we came to a realization. These aren't problems. These are actually solutions. And what do I mean by that?
Prije dvije godine, nakon četiri odslužene godine u američkim marincima i premještaja u Irak i Afganistan, našao sam se u Port-au-Princeu (Haiti, op.prev.) gdje sam vodio tim veterana i medicinskog osoblja u nekima od katastrofom najpogođenijih područja grada, tri dana nakon potresa. Išli smo na mjesta na koja nitko drugi nije htio ići, na mjesta na koja nitko drugi nije mogao ići i nakon tri tjedna nešto smo shvatili. Vojni veterani su vrlo, vrlo dobri u reagiranju na katastrofe. A kada smo došli kući, suosnivač i ja, razmatrali smo to i rekli, postoje dva problema. problem je što ne postoji prikladan odgovor na katastrofe. Prespor je. Zastario. Ne koristi najbolju tehnologiju, niti koristi najbolje ljude. Drugi problem kojega smo postali svjesni bio je neprimjerena reintegracija veterana, a to je tema koja je glavna vijest upravo sada kada se veterani vraćaju kućama iz Iraka i Afganistana i muče se vraćajući se civilnom životu. Pa smo sjeli i razmatrali ta dva problema i konačno smo shvatili. To nisu problemi. To su zapravo rješenja. A što time mislim?
Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity for service for the veterans coming home. Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want to continue their service when they take off their uniform. And we can use veterans to improve disaster response. Now on the surface, this makes a lot of sense, and in 2010, we responded to the tsunami in Chile, the floods in Pakistan, we sent training teams to the Thai-Burma border. But it was earlier this year, when one of our original members caused us to shift focus in the organization.
Pa, možemo koristiti odgovor na katastrofe kao priliku za služenje veteranima koji dolaze kući. Nedavna istraživanja pokazuju da 92% veterana želi nastaviti služiti kada skinu odoru. A veterane možemo koristiti za poboljšanje odgovora na katastrofe. Sada to ima dosta smisla, a u 2010., odgovorili smo tsunamiju u Čileu, poplavama u Pakistanu, poslali smo timove na obuku na granicu Burme i Tajlanda. Međutim, bilo je to ranije ove godine kada nas je jedan od naših prvih članova potaknuo da promjenimo fokus u organizaciji.
This is Clay Hunt. Clay was a Marine with me. We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay was with us in Port-au-Prince. He was also with us in Chile. Earlier this year, in March, Clay took his own life. This was a tragedy, but it really forced us to refocus what it is that we were doing. You know, Clay didn't kill himself because of what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay killed himself because of what he lost when he came home. He lost purpose. He lost his community. And perhaps most tragically, he lost his self-worth.
Ovo je Clay Hunt. Clay je sa mnom bio marinac. Služili smo zajedno u Iraku i Afganistanu. Clay je bio s nama u Port-au-Princeu. Također je bio s nama u Čileu. Početkom ove godine, u ožujku, Clay si je oduzeo život. To je bila tragedija, ali nas je stvarno prisilila da ponovno razmotrimo što je to što smo radili. Clay se nije ubio zbog onoga što se dogodilo u Iraku i Afganistanu. Clay se ubio zbog onoga što je izgubio kada se vratio kući. Izgubio je svrhu. Izgubio je svoju zajednicu. I ono što je možda najtragičnije, izgubio je samopoštovanje.
And so, as we evaluated, and as the dust settled from this tragedy, we realized that, of those two problems -- in the initial iteration of our organization, we were a disaster response organization that was using veteran service. We had a lot of success, and we really felt like we were changing the disaster response paradigm. But after Clay, we shifted that focus, and suddenly, now moving forward, we see ourselves as a veteran service organization that's using disaster response. Because we think that we can give that purpose and that community and that self-worth back to the veteran. And tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and then later Hurricane Irene, gave us an opportunity to look at that.
I tako, dok smo procjenjivali i dok se slijegala prašina od te tragedije, shvatili smo, o tim dvama problemima, u početnim putovanjima naše organizacije, bili smo organizacija za odgovor na katastrofe koja je koristila usluge veterana. Imali smo puno uspjeha te smo stvarno osjećali da mijenjamo paradigmu odgovora na katastrofe. Međutim nakon Claya, promijenili smo taj fokus i iznenada, sada nastavljajući dalje, vidimo se kao organizacija usluge veterana koja koristi odgovor na katastrofe. Zato što mislimo da možemo veteranima vratiti onu svrhu, onu zajednicu i ono samopoštovanje. A tornada u Tuscaloosi i Joplinu te kasnije uragan Irena, dali su nam priliku da to vidimo.
Now I want you to imagine for a second an 18-year-old boy who graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri. He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle. They send him to Iraq. Every day he leaves the wire with a mission. That mission is to defend the freedom of the family that he left at home. It's to keep the men around him alive. It's to pacify the village that he works in. He's got a purpose. But he comes home [to] Kansas City, Missouri, maybe he goes to college, maybe he's got a job, but he doesn't have that same sense of purpose. You give him a chainsaw. You send him to Joplin, Missouri after a tornado, he regains that.
Sada želim da na trenutak zamislite osamnaestogodišnjeg mladića koji je maturirao u srednjoj školi u Kansas Cityju, u Missouriju. Pridružuje se vojsci. Vojska mu daje pušku. Šalju ga u Irak. Svakoga dana napušta vod s misijom. Ta misija je obraniti slobodu obitelji koju je ostavio kod kuće. Održati ljude oko njega živima. Uspostaviti mir u selu u kojem radi. On ima svrhu. No vraća se kući u Kansas City, u Missouri, možda odlazi na fakultet, možda ima posao, ali više nema isti osjećaj korisnosti. Dajte mu motornu pilu. Pošaljite ga u Joplin u Missouriju, nakon tornada, on ponovo dobiva taj osjećaj.
Going back, that same 18-year-old boy graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, joins the Army, the Army gives him a rifle, they send him to Iraq. Every day he looks into the same sets of eyes around him. He leaves the wire. He knows that those people have his back. He's slept in the same sand. They've lived together. They've eaten together. They've bled together. He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri. He gets out of the military. He takes his uniform off. He doesn't have that community anymore. But you drop 25 of those veterans in Joplin, Missouri, they get that sense of community back.
Unazad, taj isti osamnaestogodišnji mladić maturira u srednjoj školi u Kansas Cityju, u Missouriju, pridružuje se vojsci, vojska mu daje pušku, šalju ga u Irak. Svaki dan gleda iste oči oko sebe. Napušta vod. Zna da mu ti ljudi čuvaju leđa. Spavao je u istom pijesku. Živjeli su zajedno. Jeli su zajedno. Krvarili su zajedno. On odlazi kući u Kansas City, u Missouriju. Odlazi iz vojske. Skida odoru. On više nema to zajedništvo. Ali stavi 25 takvih veterana u Joplin, u Missouriju, i oni dobivaju natrag taj osjećaj zajedništva.
Again, you have an 18-year-old boy who graduates high school in Kansas City. He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle. They send him to Iraq. They pin a medal on his chest. He goes home to a ticker tape parade. He takes the uniform off. He's no longer Sergeant Jones in his community. He's now Dave from Kansas City. He doesn't have that same self-worth. But you send him to Joplin after a tornado, and somebody once again is walking up to him and shaking their hand and thanking them for their service, now they have self-worth again.
Opet, imate osamnaestogodišnjeg mladića koji maturira u srednjoj školi u Kansas Cityju. Pridružuje se vojsci. Vojska mu daje pušku. Šalju ga u Irak. Stavljaju mu medalju na prsa. Odlazi kući na „ticker tape“ paradu ( parade na kojima se bacaju velike količine usitnjenog papira ili konfeta, op.prev.). Skida odoru. On sada više nije vodnik Jones u svojoj zajednici. Sada je Dave iz Kansas Cityja. On više nema isto samopoštovanje. Ali pošaljite ga u Joplin nakon tornada, i netko mu ponovno prilazi, rukuje se i zahvaljuje mu za službu, sada ponovo imaju samopoštovanje.
I think it's very important, because right now somebody needs to step up, and this generation of veterans has the opportunity to do that if they are given the chance. Thank you very much. (Applause)
Mislim da je to vrlo važno, zato što upravo sada netko treba istupiti, a ova generacija veterana ima priliku to učiniti ako im se pruži prilika. Puno vam hvala. (Pljesak)