US soldier returns to Haiti to help, finds family

US soldier returns to Haiti to help, finds family
By KEVIN MAURER
The Associated Press
Monday, January 18, 2010; 12:00 PM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Junior Florestal left Haiti when he was 13 for a better life in the United States. He long promised to return, but it took an earthquake to bring him back.

"I'd always wanted to come," the 33-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant said Sunday. "But I didn't want to come in this way."

Florestal is one of at least three Haitian-American paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division helping get sorely needed food, water and supplies to survivors of the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that shattered this capital city last Tuesday. His unit learned it would leave the following day, giving Florestal hope he could both bring aid and track down dozens of relatives living in Port-au-Prince and in villages surrounding the capital.
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US soldier returns to Haiti to help, finds family