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Thriller fiction and Non-fiction

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The power of monuments

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Washington DC is full of monuments. (Yes. I know that is a fairly obvious statement. I get it.) I was there earlier this week and had to pick and choose which ones I spent my limited time appreciating. We hit all of the majors–Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and MLK.

 

Probably more moving, though, were the monuments to great events in history—wars. More importantly, those monuments are a tribute to the men and women who offered their lives as part of them—World War II, Korea, Vietnam. These were especially relevant as I have been interviewing veterans of each of these conflicts. 

Women in Vietnam Memorial
Where the World War II monument had an almost festive atmosphere (it might have had something to do with the fact that it was 80 degrees and sunny out and that monument is full of water and fountains), the Vietnam Memorial has a much quieter, much more contemplative atmosphere. Both are appropriate to the situation, but it’s interesting to feel the power of each of these monuments. My own feelings and reactions changed while I visited them…influenced by nothing more than stone, water and emotions tied to history.
A place that you might not think of as a “monument” is Arlington National Cemetery. If you’ve never been there, plan to go sometime. I’ve been a couple times and each time I can sense the power of the place. It is beautiful, immaculate and quiet—even with the ever-present gardeners tending to the grounds.
As Bev and I walked up the hill toward the Tomb of the Unknowns, we heard the distinctive crack of a 21-gun salute. And then the second. And finally, the third. Another soldier was being laid to rest. I have no idea if it was a modern solider who died in Afghanistan or one who served years ago and returned home to die peacefully in his sleep. It didn’t matter to the men of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Old Guard. They take their duties at Arlington extremely seriously.
We were fortunate to time our arrival (totally by happenstance) just before the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns followed by two wreath laying ceremonies. It was stirring to listen to a bugler from the Army Band play taps following the laying of the wreaths offered by visiting school children. I was relieved to see the Army sergeant in charge of the ceremony smile when he spoke to the children, because he seemed like he was a moving piece of granite up until that point.
On our way out, we saw a horse-drawn caisson pulling an open hearse with a flag-draped coffin. Another funeral was about to begin. A contingent of the Army Band was on hand to play. I noticed an interesting mix of emotions on the men and women of the band. They stood around waiting for things to begin, laughing and joking, but you could also see the seriousness of it. I watched one man help make sure another’s uniform was perfect, pulling and tugging it to make sure there were no wrinkles –and this was in the back. Everything had to be perfect for the honor they were about to bestow.
A different sort of monument, but one no-less powerful, was the monument to 9/11 at the Pentagon. It honors the men and women and children that died on the plane and in the building on that terrible day. It had a quiet, reflective air about it. We were there in the early evening, just after the sun had set. Lights illuminated each of the benches. Paul Ambrose died on Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. I didn’t know Paul, but I took several classes from his father at Marshall University. Paul was a Marshall University alumnus and had everything to live for. On that day he was flying to California to deliver a report on youth obesity prevention for his employer, the Office of the Surgeon General.
Each of these monuments served its own purpose and had its own feeling and spirit. And each must be seen in person to be appreciated. Monuments may only be cold stone, water and bronze. But they serve as triggers to something deeper inside of us. That is their ultimate purpose.

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My new favorite President

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A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by the people of CCTV-America. They wanted me to come to Washington DC to talk about the lobster divers in Honduras. The network (Central China Television) broadcasts all over the world and they have a new, English-language show called Americas Now. (More on this in the next day or so.)

I decided to take an extra day in DC and see some of the city and since my fiancée hadn’t been to DC since her 6th grade trip, she went along for the ride. I love DC. It would literally take weeks to see everything. I had a day and a half.
One thing I wanted to do was to visit the war memorials. I thought I could use the pictures to supplement my Voices of War veteran’s history project. The unseasonably warm weather also had the Japanese Cherry Blossoms in bloom early. We were there just a couple days before the peak and it was beautiful. The trees looked like they were covered in white and pink snow.
One of the best places to see the trees in bloom is around the Washington Tidal Basin that leads to Jefferson Memorial. We took off walking, smelling the blossoms and enjoying being beside the water. The trees are truly a marvel. This is the centennial of the first successful shipment of trees. The city of Tokyo donated them to Washington. The first shipment came in 1910, but had to be destroyed as they were infested with insects.
As we walked around the tidal basin, we came across the monument to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In several trips to DC, I had never seen it. There are “rooms” dedicated to each term the man served in office. It is also the only one that honors a first lady, with a larger-than-life statue of Eleanor beside the UN crest, recognizing her as the first ambassador to the UN. FDR’s presidency during the Great Depression is depicted through statues of men standing in bread lines and listening to his “fireside” chats on the radio. The walls of the rooms during World War II are some of the most stirring, though. They are adorned with some of his quotes. These are some of my favorites.
“I never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people and that I have been given their trust.”
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much;
It is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
“We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background.
We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.”
“I have seen war… I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded…
I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed…
I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.”

“We have faith that future generations will know that here,
in the middle of the twentieth century there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite,
and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance and slavery and war.”

“More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.”

“Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.”

As I walked along, I kept thinking to myself that no one speaks like that anymore. I’m sure people will disagree with me, often along party lines. I just don’t feel inspired by anyone. And definitely not moved as much as I was by lines carved in granite spoken by a man who died almost exactly 67 years ago (April 12, 1945).

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La Moskitia

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(Day three of traveling with the NBC crew to tell the story of the Lobster Divers of Honduras.)

Tuesday morning, October 4, we got up at 3:30 am to go to the airport for the flight to Puerto Lempira. We had the flight to ourselves which made it nice considering how much gear we brought along. And that was with leaving part of it in the hotel.

The Miskito Indians live in a region of Honduras and Nicaragua called La Moskitia, also known as the Mosquito Coast. It spans the far eastern end of both countries and the Indians pretty much ignore those borders. To get there, though, you have to fly or take a boat. There are no roads that lead from La Ceiba out to La Moskitia.

Same airport, same plane, but this picture was taken on my
first trip to La Moskitia.

The plane is a small high wing puddle jumper…which was appropriate since it was the rainy season and we landed in the rain with mud puddles on the dirt air strip. The recurring theme of this trip was equipment. It took a while for the baggage handlers to get everything off the plane so the rest of the crew wandered around the “terminal” buildings for a few minutes. They were surprised that one of the first human beings they saw was a paralyzed diver in a wheel chair. He was sitting in the terminal making crafts for sale.

The Moskito Indians are the only Hondurans who dive for lobster. And their semi-isolation tends to keep them close together. This makes them easy to forget about until you land in Puerto Lempira. Then, injured and paralyzed divers are everywhere.

We went straight to the hotel and then got ready to go right back out. We took most of our gear with us. Later that afternoon, we were going to meet up with the boat that would take some of us out to see the divers in action.

Before we left the hotel, though, Natalie was able to interview the director of the lobster divers association. He was the first to say it, but not the last, that even though groups hold meetings and make promises, they have received nothing from those organizations, not even a pencil.

The director and assistant director of the diver’s association accompanied us on a small water taxi boat to Kaukira. That is one of the villages where many of the divers live. When we got there, we went to the home of Nelson, who would be our boat captain as well. We loaded into his truck with his wife driving and went off to visit divers at their homes.

 

At the first one, where I had been before, the people next door were drunk and began yelling at us to go home, saying that people come to La Moskitia and point their cameras but nothing ever gets done. He yelled most of the time we were there.

We visited a couple more homes, taking time to talk to the divers and listen to their life stories. Most of them were just trying to feed their families. They didn’t really understand the risks of diving, even though they all knew others who had been injured before them. Every family in Kaukira has a disabled diver in it.

As I said, we all piled into Nelson’s truck to visit the divers. I tend to identify more with the camera guys, so I jumped in the bed of the truck with them. I was seated on the tailgate, with my camera up to my face most of the time. When we hit one deep rut in the dirt road, the rusted-through cable that held up the tailgate broke, nearly sending me crashing into the mud. Fortunately, Dr. Mejia was sitting beside me talking and he grabbed my arm to steady me while the camera crew yelled for the driver to stop.

When it was finally time to go to the boat, we cut straight across the peninsula, rather than going back around to the roads. We drove through a swamp and then came out on the beach where we met a small boat that took us through the surf to get to the large boat.

As soon as we got on the boat we knew there was a problem. It was old and run down and there was no bathroom. Space was very tight and there were only 5 bunks. We had 10 people with a crew of 6.

 

Very quickly we decided that three of us would stay on board the boat to see the divers diving. The rest of the crew returned to Kaukira and Puerto Lempira and visited more divers in their homes. It really worked out for the best as we had almost no room for ourselves and by splitting the crew, we got a lot more done.
If you are interested in making a contribution to help support Dr. Mejia’s clinic, you can do so here.

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Another day, another diver

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(This is the second installment of the behind-the-scenes account of traveling with the NBC crew for the Rock Center story.)

Monday morning dawned early for most of us. The time difference was two hours then (daylight savings time was still on) so even though most of us wanted to sleep to be.

 

It worked out just as well, though. Photographer Bruce Bernstein and soundman/grip Chris Nickless and I were having breakfast around 7 am when Dr. Mejia came to the hotel. He was on the way to the dock to pick up another diver who was arriving right then. The man was more severely injured than the divers the night before. We all jumped into a car and took off for the clinic. 

Dr. Mejia opened his hyperbaric clinic in November of 2009 to treat divers. This diver was his 227th patient in less than two years. He had serious weakness in one leg and no strength at all in the other. He was also unable to urinate on his own. Elmer placed a catheter and began the treatment; another US Navy Treatment Table 6. Dr. Mejia said he believed the diver would make a good recovery. He was already showing signs of recovery after the first few oxygen cycles of the treatment.

This treatment was the 596th time Dr. Mejia had run a treatment since opening the clinic. He averages seven treatments per patient; often multiple divers are in the chamber at the same time. While Dr. Mejia sees the most severe patients, almost always with some level of paralysis and often with bladder control issues, he has had tremendous success. He has an 81 percent success rate of divers leaving the chamber under their own power. Often they need a cane or a walker, but they are in much better shape than when they arrived.

 

What still amazes me is that Dr. Mejia only charges about $300 US per diver. That is for all his care, not per treatment. Care includes treatment, food, lodging, physical therapy, any tests he has to run. Dr. Mejia doesn’t charge the divers. He charges the boat owners, although sometimes they won’t pay. He is reluctant to raise his prices any, however, as he is afraid the boat owners will refuse to pay, or worse will skip treatment all together.

 

I asked Dr. Mejia what he needed. His first answer was a generator. It is Honduras and the power goes out from time to time. He said he was afraid every time he began a treatment at night that the power would go out. He needs a better air compressor, too. The one he has is an industrial compressor, not designed for this type of work at all. He said he needs money for wheel chairs, walkers and canes as well. And shoes. Most of his patients don’t make it to the chamber with shoes as they are taken right off of a boat and brought to the chamber.
But he does an exceptional job with very little. And he keeps doing it because it has to be done.
For anyone who watched the story last night on NBC’s Rock Center and are interested in contributing to help Dr. Mejia, you can do so here.

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Working With NBC

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A little more than a year ago, NationalGeographic.com profiled the problems with the lobster divers in Honduras; they used several of my photographs and quoted Dr. Matias Nochetto from DAN and I about the issue as we were both working on the Harvesting Diver Project.

In September of this year, I was contacted by a reporter from the New York Times who was headed to Honduras on a different story but remembered the NatGeo piece and wanted to do a follow up. That story ran in September (almost a year to the day to after NatGeo).

Just after the NYT story ran, a producer from NBC contacted me to get more background information. Over the next couple weeks I spent approximately 6 hours on the phone with them, talking about logistics and helping them understand the diving situation and terminology. They finally invited me to join their news crew for a few days when they went to Honduras.

And that is how I came to be standing at the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by security, a dozen people and more than 35 cases and pieces of luggage. The camera guys had 23 cases of their own just for equipment. I knew this was going to be a completely different trip than any other trip I had made to Honduras…or anywhere for that matter.

Natalie Morales from the Today Show was the correspondent for the story. She is an extremely down-to-earth person and didn’t really want any special considerations. The network was nervous about her being there so they had hired security personnel for the crew and one man, Frank, was her personal security. 

After getting all the equipment and crew packed into five cars, which took a while, we headed out for the two-and-a-half hour drive from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba where Dr. Elmer Mejia operates a hyperbaric chamber. I’ve written about him several times in this blog previously.

During the drive Dr. Mejia was on the phone with a boat owner. We learned that injured divers were on the way to the chamber. First it was 3, then 4 and finally 5 divers were going to arrive at the clinic. Since the story was developing so quickly, the crew decided to go straight to the dock to pick them up. By the time we got there it was pouring the rain and dark, but the camera guys went down to the docks with Dr. Mejia and got them. The rest of stayed outside as the port security was edgy about too many of us going inside.

With so many injured divers at one time, Dr. Mejia had to put two divers in the outer lock and compress the entire chamber at one time. This is not safe, as there is no way to lock someone in or out of the chamber if there was a problem, but Dr. Mejia felt he didn’t have a choice. After examining each of the divers, four had relatively minor problems, but one had more severe injuries. He began a US Navy Treatment Table 6 at 7 pm. The treatment would not end until nearly midnight.

Day 1 has a happy ending, though, as after a shorter treatment on Monday morning each of the divers was released to go back home. Whether it was the quick treatment or luck, we will never know. Unfortunately, many of the divers don’t have that sort of luck when it comes to dealing with paralysis caused by decompression sickness.

Before the group of five divers left the clinic, Dr. Mejia fed them lunch and got them cleaned up. And then Thelma Sakeyama came to the clinic. She is a special evangelical pastor to the people of La Moskitia. She sang and preached for them and they seemed to appreciate it. Before they left, she took down all of their names.

The next couple posts will detail my experiences with NBC in Honduras to help them tell this story. They asked me at the time not to publish these stories until their story was ready to air. The trip began on a Sunday and I flew home on Thursday afternoon.

For anyone who watched the story last night on NBC’s Rock Center and are interested in contributing to help Dr. Mejia, you can do so here.

Tomorrow, I will post about our first full day on the ground in San Pedro Sula. Stay tuned..

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