wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 'Devastation of biblical proportions'

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Note #8620 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05043
January 25, 2005

'Devastation of biblical proportions'

PC(USA) Navy chaplain aids tsunami relief effort

Received from Thomas Chadwick
Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel

U-TAPHO NAVAL AIR BASE, Thailand - Chaplain (Lt. Cmdr.) Michael Hogg is no
stranger to Phuket, Thailand.  The 17-year military veteran had visited the
region in 1998 during a liberty port call after six months in the Middle
East.

"Phuket was beautiful.	We called it Fantasy Island," said Chaplain Hogg, a
PC(USA) Navy chaplain who's a member of Los Ranchos Presbytery.  "Thailand is
known as the place of a thousand smiles, and for good reason.  It's
beautiful, with great people."

But on a flight into Phuket Jan. 9, Fantasy Island was nowhere to be found.

"The scene from my window on the C-12 was one of utter destruction.  What I
saw was the Holocaust and Noah's deluge all rolled into one:  a tragedy of
biblical proportions."

What Hogg saw was the result of the Dec. 26 tsunami that struck coastlines in
the Indian Ocean, killing upwards of 160,000 people in several countries,
including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka.

Hogg first became aware of the tsunami during Christmas leave in Okinawa with
his family.  As he watched the events develop on television, he knew there
was a chance his unit would respond to the crisis.

"My wife said to me, 'I never want you to go on a deployment, but if ever
there was a time for you to go, it's now,'" Hogg said.

Two weeks after the tsunami hit, Hogg was part of a team of chaplains
heading to this Thai Navy Air Base that at one-time was a staging area for
B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War.  One day after arriving, he was headed
to Phuket.

"We got on the ground and were driving to the body collection site, and on
one side of the road, as we were driving north, to the left I could see palm
trees and the ocean, but it looked almost as if something was missing from
the landscape," described Hogg.

"There was nothing in between the ocean and the trees.	Then I looked to my
right and all I could see was wreckage; wreckage lying where the tsunami had
deposited all the debris, about a kilometer in from the ocean.	There were
boats and trawlers up on a hill.  The wave had basically picked everything up
- boats, cars, buildings - and moved them around like they were tinker toys."

Arriving at Site One, a body collection point, Hogg and the other chaplains,
Captain Bill Reed, III MEF and CSF 536 Chaplain began working with the
hundreds of professionals and volunteers who were identifying bodies.

"This disaster is not just about the destruction of buildings and entire
villages, it's the aftermath of the tsunami, matching faces with the places
as recovery teams tried to identify bodies to help bring closure for some of
the families," Hogg said.

Besides providing spiritual support to the workers in Phuket, Hogg also
provided stress counseling.  A certified counselor in Critical Incident
Stress Management, the chaplain not only helped families who were effected by
the tsunami, but also relief workers and volunteers who, at times, were
simply overwhelmed by the operations.

"Let's face it, everyone has their own point when they need to relieve
stress, and I can help them do that," he explained.  "Under stress, people
need a moment to reach back and reach out, a moment to let their emotions
free.  The workers, the families, the volunteers ... everyone here is under
an extremely stressful situation.  If I or one of the other chaplains helps
can help provide them some comfort, that to me is a success."

On his first day in Phuket, 400 bodies were recovered.	The day prior it was
800 bodies.  Surrounded by this disaster, Hogg cannot remain unaffected by
what he has seen.

"One day I saw the body of what looked like a 2 year-old boy.  I have a son
at home who is 22 months old.  At that moment all I could think of was being
a father, in a situation like this.  It's something no one should
experience."

But at the same time, Hogg is also experiencing something that he says "has
renewed my faith in humanity."

"I'll never forget the thousands of people of all nations working together. 
People on vacation, who just pulled together and volunteered to help.  I met
a priest from New York, Father Few, who is old enough to be my father, but
here he is, flying in from New York, sharing a room with literally 40 other
people, sleeping on a floor, just to be here and volunteer his time to help
humanity.  He's not proselytizing his faith, he's practicing it.

"Then there was a father and son who were here on vacation," Hogg continued. 
"The father is a dentist, and he started taking x-rays and setting up dental
records to help families identify the bodies.  A young couple from San
Francisco flew in to help.  Just volunteers, here to help in any way they
can.

"One time I turned to a Swede who was standing next to me and I said, "If we
could bottle all of this effort, all of the spirit of the people from all
these nations working together under difficult circumstances, and bring it to
the UN, there would never be another war."

Editor's note: at least two other PC(USA) chaplains are on duty in South Asia
assisting with tsunami relief efforts: Navy Commander Larry Greenslit, a
member of Kiskiminetas Presbytery, in Sri Lanka; and the Rev. John Owen, a
member of North Puget Sound Presbytery who's aboard the hospital ship U.S.S.
Mercy. - Jerry L. Van Marter

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