Jake Wood: A new mission for veterans -- disaster relief

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevoditelj: Danijela Rako Recezent: Senzos Osijek

Two years ago, after having served four years

Prije dvije godine, nakon četiri odslužene godine

in the United States Marine Corps

u američkim marincima

and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan,

i premještaja u Irak i Afganistan,

I found myself in Port-au-Prince, leading a team

našao sam se u Port-au-Princeu (Haiti, op.prev.)

of veterans and medical professionals

gdje sam vodio tim veterana i medicinskog osoblja

in some of the hardest-hit areas of that city,

u nekima od katastrofom najpogođenijih područja grada,

three days after the earthquake.

tri dana nakon potresa.

We were going to the places that nobody else wanted to go,

Išli smo na mjesta na koja nitko drugi nije htio ići,

the places nobody else could go, and after three weeks,

na mjesta na koja nitko drugi nije mogao ići i nakon tri tjedna

we realized something. Military veterans

nešto smo shvatili. Vojni veterani

are very, very good at disaster response.

su vrlo, vrlo dobri u reagiranju na katastrofe.

And coming home, my cofounder and I,

A kada smo došli kući, suosnivač i ja,

we looked at it, and we said, there are two problems.

razmatrali smo to i rekli, postoje dva problema.

The first problem is there's inadequate disaster response.

problem je što ne postoji prikladan odgovor na katastrofe.

It's slow. It's antiquated. It's not using the best technology,

Prespor je. Zastario. Ne koristi najbolju tehnologiju,

and it's not using the best people.

niti koristi najbolje ljude.

The second problem that we became aware of

Drugi problem kojega smo postali svjesni

was a very inadequate veteran reintegration,

bio je neprimjerena reintegracija veterana,

and this is a topic that is front page news right now

a to je tema koja je glavna vijest upravo sada

as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan,

kada se veterani vraćaju kućama iz Iraka i Afganistana

and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian life.

i muče se vraćajući se civilnom životu.

And we sat here and we looked at these two problems,

Pa smo sjeli i razmatrali ta dva problema

and finally we came to a realization. These aren't problems.

i konačno smo shvatili. To nisu problemi.

These are actually solutions. And what do I mean by that?

To su zapravo rješenja. A što time mislim?

Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity

Pa, možemo koristiti odgovor na katastrofe kao priliku

for service for the veterans coming home.

za služenje veteranima koji dolaze kući.

Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want

Nedavna istraživanja pokazuju da 92% veterana želi

to continue their service when they take off their uniform.

nastaviti služiti kada skinu odoru.

And we can use veterans to improve disaster response.

A veterane možemo koristiti za poboljšanje odgovora na katastrofe.

Now on the surface, this makes a lot of sense, and in 2010,

Sada to ima dosta smisla, a u 2010.,

we responded to the tsunami in Chile,

odgovorili smo tsunamiju u Čileu,

the floods in Pakistan, we sent training teams to the Thai-Burma border.

poplavama u Pakistanu, poslali smo timove na obuku na granicu Burme i Tajlanda.

But it was earlier this year, when one of our

Međutim, bilo je to ranije ove godine kada nas je jedan od naših

original members caused us to shift focus in the organization.

prvih članova potaknuo da promjenimo fokus u organizaciji.

This is Clay Hunt. Clay was a Marine with me.

Ovo je Clay Hunt. Clay je sa mnom bio marinac.

We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Služili smo zajedno u Iraku i Afganistanu.

Clay was with us in Port-au-Prince. He was also with us in Chile.

Clay je bio s nama u Port-au-Princeu. Također je bio s nama u Čileu.

Earlier this year, in March, Clay took his own life.

Početkom ove godine, u ožujku, Clay si je oduzeo život.

This was a tragedy, but it really forced us

To je bila tragedija, ali nas je stvarno prisilila

to refocus what it is that we were doing.

da ponovno razmotrimo što je to što smo radili.

You know, Clay didn't kill himself because of what happened

Clay se nije ubio zbog onoga što se dogodilo

in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay killed himself

u Iraku i Afganistanu. Clay se ubio

because of what he lost when he came home.

zbog onoga što je izgubio kada se vratio kući.

He lost purpose. He lost his community.

Izgubio je svrhu. Izgubio je svoju zajednicu.

And perhaps most tragically, he lost his self-worth.

I ono što je možda najtragičnije, izgubio je samopoštovanje.

And so, as we evaluated, and as the dust settled

I tako, dok smo procjenjivali i dok se slijegala prašina

from this tragedy, we realized that, of those two problems --

od te tragedije, shvatili smo, o tim dvama problemima,

in the initial iteration of our organization,

u početnim putovanjima naše organizacije,

we were a disaster response organization that was using

bili smo organizacija za odgovor na katastrofe koja je koristila

veteran service. We had a lot of success,

usluge veterana. Imali smo puno uspjeha

and we really felt like we were changing the disaster response paradigm.

te smo stvarno osjećali da mijenjamo paradigmu odgovora na katastrofe.

But after Clay, we shifted that focus, and suddenly,

Međutim nakon Claya, promijenili smo taj fokus i iznenada,

now moving forward, we see ourselves

sada nastavljajući dalje, vidimo se

as a veteran service organization that's using disaster response.

kao organizacija usluge veterana koja koristi odgovor na katastrofe.

Because we think that we can give that purpose

Zato što mislimo da možemo veteranima vratiti onu svrhu,

and that community and that self-worth back to the veteran.

onu zajednicu i ono samopoštovanje.

And tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and then later

A tornada u Tuscaloosi i Joplinu te kasnije

Hurricane Irene, gave us an opportunity to look at that.

uragan Irena, dali su nam priliku da to vidimo.

Now I want you to imagine for a second an 18-year-old boy

Sada želim da na trenutak zamislite osamnaestogodišnjeg mladića

who graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri.

koji je maturirao u srednjoj školi u Kansas Cityju, u Missouriju.

He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle.

Pridružuje se vojsci. Vojska mu daje pušku.

They send him to Iraq.

Šalju ga u Irak.

Every day he leaves the wire with a mission.

Svakoga dana napušta vod s misijom.

That mission is to defend the freedom of the family that he left at home.

Ta misija je obraniti slobodu obitelji koju je ostavio kod kuće.

It's to keep the men around him alive.

Održati ljude oko njega živima.

It's to pacify the village that he works in.

Uspostaviti mir u selu u kojem radi.

He's got a purpose. But he comes home [to] Kansas City, Missouri,

On ima svrhu. No vraća se kući u Kansas City, u Missouri,

maybe he goes to college, maybe he's got a job,

možda odlazi na fakultet, možda ima posao,

but he doesn't have that same sense of purpose.

ali više nema isti osjećaj korisnosti.

You give him a chainsaw. You send him to Joplin, Missouri

Dajte mu motornu pilu. Pošaljite ga u Joplin u Missouriju,

after a tornado, he regains that.

nakon tornada, on ponovo dobiva taj osjećaj.

Going back, that same 18-year-old boy graduates from high school

Unazad, taj isti osamnaestogodišnji mladić maturira u srednjoj školi

in Kansas City, Missouri, joins the Army,

u Kansas Cityju, u Missouriju, pridružuje se vojsci,

the Army gives him a rifle, they send him to Iraq.

vojska mu daje pušku, šalju ga u Irak.

Every day he looks into the same sets of eyes around him.

Svaki dan gleda iste oči oko sebe.

He leaves the wire. He knows that those people have his back.

Napušta vod. Zna da mu ti ljudi čuvaju leđa.

He's slept in the same sand. They've lived together.

Spavao je u istom pijesku. Živjeli su zajedno.

They've eaten together. They've bled together.

Jeli su zajedno. Krvarili su zajedno.

He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri.

On odlazi kući u Kansas City, u Missouriju.

He gets out of the military. He takes his uniform off.

Odlazi iz vojske. Skida odoru.

He doesn't have that community anymore.

On više nema to zajedništvo.

But you drop 25 of those veterans in Joplin, Missouri,

Ali stavi 25 takvih veterana u Joplin, u Missouriju,

they get that sense of community back.

i oni dobivaju natrag taj osjećaj zajedništva.

Again, you have an 18-year-old boy who graduates

Opet, imate osamnaestogodišnjeg mladića koji maturira

high school in Kansas City.

u srednjoj školi u Kansas Cityju.

He joins the Army. The Army gives him a rifle.

Pridružuje se vojsci. Vojska mu daje pušku.

They send him to Iraq.

Šalju ga u Irak.

They pin a medal on his chest. He goes home to a ticker tape parade.

Stavljaju mu medalju na prsa. Odlazi kući na „ticker tape“ paradu ( parade na kojima se bacaju velike količine usitnjenog papira ili konfeta, op.prev.).

He takes the uniform off. He's no longer Sergeant Jones

Skida odoru. On sada više nije vodnik Jones

in his community. He's now Dave from Kansas City.

u svojoj zajednici. Sada je Dave iz Kansas Cityja.

He doesn't have that same self-worth.

On više nema isto samopoštovanje.

But you send him to Joplin after a tornado,

Ali pošaljite ga u Joplin nakon tornada,

and somebody once again is walking up to him

i netko mu ponovno prilazi,

and shaking their hand and thanking them for their service,

rukuje se i zahvaljuje mu za službu,

now they have self-worth again.

sada ponovo imaju samopoštovanje.

I think it's very important, because right now

Mislim da je to vrlo važno, zato što upravo sada

somebody needs to step up,

netko treba istupiti,

and this generation of veterans has the opportunity

a ova generacija veterana ima priliku

to do that if they are given the chance.

to učiniti ako im se pruži prilika.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

Puno vam hvala. (Pljesak)