Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana

Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (3/19/10) - The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.
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http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/03/032310-Connecticut.aspx