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?
Dy vjet me pare, pasi kisha sherbyer per kater vjet ne trupat e Marines se Shteteve te Bashkuara dhe me trupat ne Irak dhe Afganistan, u gjenda ne Port-au-Prince, ne krye te nje ekipi veteranesh dhe mjekesh profesioniste ne disa nga pjeset me te goditura te atij qyteti, tri dite pas termetit. Ne po shkonim ne vendet ku askush tjeter nuk deshironte te shkonte, vende ku askush nuk mund te shkonte, dhe pas tri javesh ne kuptuam dicka. Veteranet ushtarake jane shume, shume te zote ne rast katastrofash. kur po ktheheshim ne shtepi, une dhe bashkthemeluesi im, u menduam dhe thame, jane dy probleme. Problemi i pare eshte qe nje pergjigje e pamjatueshme ndaj katastrofes. Eshte i ngadalshem, i vjetruar dhe nuk perdor teknologjine me te mire, dhe nuk po perdor njerezit me te mire. Problemi i dyte per te cilin ne u ndergjegjesuam ishte ri-integrimi i papershtatshem i veteraneve, dhe kjo eshte nje ceshtje e faqes se pare pikerisht tani qe veteranet po rikthehen ne shtepi nga Iraku dhe Afganistani, dhe po perpiqen per tu ri-integruar ne jeten civile. Ne u ulem dhe shikuam keto dy probleme, dhe si perfundim ne kuptuam. Keto nuk jane problemet. Keto faktikisht jane zgjidhje. Dhe cfare dua te them me kete?
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.
Ne mund ti perdorim pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave si nje mundesi per sherbime per veteranet qe po kthehen ne shtepi. Nje ankete e koheve te fundit tregon se 92% e veteraneve deshirojne te vazhdojne sherbimin e tyre pasi kane hequr uniformen. Mund te perdorim veteranet per te permiresuar pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave. Ne pamje te pare, kjo ka shume kuptim, dhe ne 2010, ne i'u pergjigjem tsunamit ne Kili, permbytjeve ne Pakistan, ne derguam ekipe te trajnuara ne kufirin Thai-Burma. Por ishte heret kete vit, kur njeri nga antaret fillestar na detyroi te ndryshojme qellimin e organizates.
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.
Ky eshte Clay Hunt. Clay ishte Marine me mua. Sherbyem se bashku ne Irak dhe Afganistan. Clay ishte me ne ne Port-au-Prince dhe po ashtu ne Kili. Heret gjate ketij viti, ne mars, Clay i mori jeten vetes. Kjo ishte nje tragjedi, por ne te vertete na detyroi per tu ri-fokusuar ne ate qe po benim. Clay nuk vrau veten per shkak te asaj qe ndodhi ne Irak dhe ne Afganistan. Clay vrau veten per shkak te asaj qe humbi kur ai u kthye ne shtepi. Ai humbi qellimin. Ai humbi komunitetin e tij. Dhe ndoshta me tragjedia, ai humbi vetevleresimin.
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.
Sic vleresuam me kalimin e kohes nga kjo tragjedi, ne e kuptuam qe, nga ato dy problemet ne fillesen e bashkeveprimit te organizates sone ne ishim nje organizate qe i pergjigjej katastofave duke perdorur sherbimet e veteraneve. Ne patem shume sukses, dhe u ndjeme se po ndryshonim paradigmen e pergjigjejeve ndaj katastrofave. Mirepo pas Clay, e zhvendosem vemendjen dhe papritur, tani duke ecur perpara, ne e shohim veten si nje organizate e sherbimeve veterane qe perdor pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave. Sepse mendojme qe ne mund t'i rijapim veteranit ate qellim, ate komunitet dhe vetevleresimin. Tornadot ne Tuscaloosa dhe Joplin, dhe pastaj me vone uragani Irene, na dhane mundesine ta verejme kete.
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.
Dua te imagjinoni per nje sekonde nje djale 18 vjecar -- i cili diplomohet nga shkolla e mesme ne Kansas City, Missouri. Ai futet ne ushtri. Ushtria i jep atij nje pushke. E dergojne ate ne Irak. Cdo dite ai le bazen me nje mision. Misioni i tij eshte te mbroje lirine e familjes qe ka lene ne shtepi. Eshte te mbaje burrat rrotull tij gjalle, Eshte te beje paqesor fshatin ku ai punon. Ai ka nje qellim. Mirpo kur ai vjen ne shtepi ne Kansas City, Missouri, ndoshta ai shkon ne kolegj, ndoshta ai gjen nje pune, por ai nuk ka po te njejten ndjesi te qellimit. I jepni atij nje sharre elektrime me zinxhir, E dergoni ne Joplin,Missouri pas nje tornado, dhe ai e rifiton ate.
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.
Kthehemi mbrapsht, i njejti djal 18 vjecar i sapo diplomuar nga shkolla e mesme ne Kansas City, Missouri, futet ne ushtri, ushtria i jep atij nje arme, dhe e dergojne ate ne Irak. Cdo dite ai shikon te njejtin shikim perreth tij. Ai le bazen, e di qe ata njerez po ruajne shpatullat e njeri-tjetrit. Ai fle ne te njejten rere. Ata kane jetuar sebashku. Ata kane ngrene se bashku. Ata jane gjakosur sebashku. Ai shkon ne shtepi ne Kansas City, Missouri. Ai del nga ushtria, zhiveshet nga uniforma e tij. Ai nuk e ka me ate komunitet. Mirepo po cosh 25 veterane ne Joplin, Missouri, atyre iu rikthehet ndjesia e komunitetit.
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.
Perseri, ju keni nje djale 18 vjecar te sapo diplomuar ne shkollen e mesme ne Kanas City. Ai futet ne ushtri. Ushtria i jep atij nje arme. Ata e dergojne ate ne Irak. Ata i vendosin nje medalje ne kraharor. Ai kthehet ne shtepi me nje parade. Zhvishet nga uniforma e tij. Ai nuk eshte me rreshteri Jones ne komunitetin e tij. Ai eshte Dave nga Kansas City. Ai nuk e ka me ate vetebesim. Por dergojeni ate ne Joplin mbas nje tornado, dhe dikush perseri eshte duke ecur drejt tij dhe i shtrengon duart dhe e falenderon per sherbimin e tij, tani ata kane perseri vetebesim.
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)
Une mendoj se eshte shume e rendesishme, sepse duhet qe dikush ta coje perpara kete gje, dhe kjo gjenerate e veteraneve e ka mundesine ta beje ate nese i'u jepet shansi. Faleminderit shume. (Duartrokitje)