President Bush Visits USS Iwo Jima During Hurricane Relief Effort
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS050912-02
Release Date: 9/12/2005 7:24:00 AM
By Journalist 1st Class (SW) Mike Jones, USS Iwo Jima Public Affairs
NEW ORLEANS (NNS) -- President George W. Bush arrived aboard USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) Sept. 11 to visit with Sailors assigned to the multipurpose amphibious assault ship and to visit the hurricane-stricken city of New Orleans.
Upon exiting Marine 1 on Iwo’s forward flight deck, Bush instantly made himself available for photos to the aviation boatswain’s mates assembled there.
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime event that I was extremely proud to be a part of,” remarked Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class (AW) Joshua Kramer. “I know the entire flight deck crew out here was proud to represent the Navy when our Commander in Chief arrived.”
Bush then took a windshield tour of the city to observe firsthand the results of the rescue and recovery missions carried out by the military component of the Federal Emergency Management Agency–led effort.
Iwo Jima joined that effort Sept. 4 when LHD 7 moored pierside in downtown New Orleans.
The ship departed Norfolk August 31 to join relief and recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico following devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
LHD 7 and the Amphibious Transport Dock USS Shreveport (LPD 12), as well as the Dock Landing Ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) and the Rescue and Salvage Ship USS Grapple (ARS 53) – both based at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek, Va. - joined the Norfolk-based USS Bataan (LHD 5) to provide relief to the Gulf Coast region.
Navy support elements from Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2 and Beach Master Unit (BMU) 2, also based in NAB Little Creek, established footholds in Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., Sept. 4, immediately increasing relief efforts there.
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