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

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Liridon Shala Reviewer: Robert Lokaj

Two years ago, after having served four years

Dy vjet me pare, pasi kisha sherbyer per kater vjet

in the United States Marine Corps

ne trupat e Marines se Shteteve te Bashkuara

and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan,

dhe me trupat ne Irak dhe Afganistan,

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

u gjenda ne Port-au-Prince, ne krye te nje ekipi

of veterans and medical professionals

veteranesh dhe mjekesh profesioniste

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

ne disa nga pjeset me te goditura te atij qyteti,

three days after the earthquake.

tri dite pas termetit.

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

Ne po shkonim ne vendet ku askush tjeter nuk deshironte te shkonte,

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

vende ku askush nuk mund te shkonte, dhe pas tri javesh

we realized something. Military veterans

ne kuptuam dicka. Veteranet ushtarake

are very, very good at disaster response.

jane shume, shume te zote ne rast katastrofash.

And coming home, my cofounder and I,

kur po ktheheshim ne shtepi, une dhe bashkthemeluesi im,

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

u menduam dhe thame, jane dy probleme.

The first problem is there's inadequate disaster response.

Problemi i pare eshte qe nje pergjigje e pamjatueshme ndaj katastrofes.

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

Eshte i ngadalshem, i vjetruar dhe nuk perdor teknologjine me te mire,

and it's not using the best people.

dhe nuk po perdor njerezit me te mire.

The second problem that we became aware of

Problemi i dyte per te cilin ne u ndergjegjesuam

was a very inadequate veteran reintegration,

ishte ri-integrimi i papershtatshem i veteraneve,

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

dhe kjo eshte nje ceshtje e faqes se pare pikerisht tani

as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan,

qe veteranet po rikthehen ne shtepi nga Iraku dhe Afganistani,

and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian life.

dhe po perpiqen per tu ri-integruar ne jeten civile.

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

Ne u ulem dhe shikuam keto dy probleme,

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

dhe si perfundim ne kuptuam. Keto nuk jane problemet.

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

Keto faktikisht jane zgjidhje. Dhe cfare dua te them me kete?

Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity

Ne mund ti perdorim pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave si nje mundesi

for service for the veterans coming home.

per sherbime per veteranet qe po kthehen ne shtepi.

Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want

Nje ankete e koheve te fundit tregon se 92% e veteraneve deshirojne

to continue their service when they take off their uniform.

te vazhdojne sherbimin e tyre pasi kane hequr uniformen.

And we can use veterans to improve disaster response.

Mund te perdorim veteranet per te permiresuar pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave.

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

Ne pamje te pare, kjo ka shume kuptim, dhe ne 2010,

we responded to the tsunami in Chile,

ne i'u pergjigjem tsunamit ne Kili, permbytjeve ne Pakistan,

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

ne derguam ekipe te trajnuara ne kufirin Thai-Burma.

But it was earlier this year, when one of our

Por ishte heret kete vit, kur njeri nga antaret fillestar

original members caused us to shift focus in the organization.

na detyroi te ndryshojme qellimin e organizates.

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

Ky eshte Clay Hunt. Clay ishte Marine me mua.

We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sherbyem se bashku ne Irak dhe Afganistan.

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

Clay ishte me ne ne Port-au-Prince dhe po ashtu ne Kili.

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

Heret gjate ketij viti, ne mars, Clay i mori jeten vetes.

This was a tragedy, but it really forced us

Kjo ishte nje tragjedi, por ne te vertete na detyroi

to refocus what it is that we were doing.

per tu ri-fokusuar ne ate qe po benim.

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

Clay nuk vrau veten per shkak te asaj qe ndodhi

in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay killed himself

ne Irak dhe ne Afganistan. Clay vrau veten

because of what he lost when he came home.

per shkak te asaj qe humbi kur ai u kthye ne shtepi.

He lost purpose. He lost his community.

Ai humbi qellimin. Ai humbi komunitetin e tij.

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

Dhe ndoshta me tragjedia, ai humbi vetevleresimin.

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

Sic vleresuam me kalimin e kohes nga kjo tragjedi,

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

ne e kuptuam qe, nga ato dy problemet

in the initial iteration of our organization,

ne fillesen e bashkeveprimit te organizates sone

we were a disaster response organization that was using

ne ishim nje organizate qe i pergjigjej katastofave duke perdorur

veteran service. We had a lot of success,

sherbimet e veteraneve. Ne patem shume sukses,

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

dhe u ndjeme se po ndryshonim paradigmen e pergjigjejeve ndaj katastrofave.

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

Mirepo pas Clay, e zhvendosem vemendjen dhe papritur,

now moving forward, we see ourselves

tani duke ecur perpara, ne e shohim veten

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

si nje organizate e sherbimeve veterane qe perdor pergjigjet ndaj katastrofave.

Because we think that we can give that purpose

Sepse mendojme qe ne mund t'i rijapim veteranit

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

ate qellim, ate komunitet dhe vetevleresimin.

And tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and then later

Tornadot ne Tuscaloosa dhe Joplin, dhe pastaj me vone

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

uragani Irene, na dhane mundesine ta verejme kete.

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

Dua te imagjinoni per nje sekonde nje djale 18 vjecar --

who graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri.

i cili diplomohet nga shkolla e mesme ne Kansas City, Missouri.

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

Ai futet ne ushtri. Ushtria i jep atij nje pushke.

They send him to Iraq.

E dergojne ate ne Irak.

Every day he leaves the wire with a mission.

Cdo dite ai le bazen me nje mision.

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

Misioni i tij eshte te mbroje lirine e familjes qe ka lene ne shtepi.

It's to keep the men around him alive.

Eshte te mbaje burrat rrotull tij gjalle,

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

Eshte te beje paqesor fshatin ku ai punon.

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

Ai ka nje qellim. Mirpo kur ai vjen ne shtepi ne Kansas City, Missouri,

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

ndoshta ai shkon ne kolegj, ndoshta ai gjen nje pune,

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

por ai nuk ka po te njejten ndjesi te qellimit.

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

I jepni atij nje sharre elektrime me zinxhir, E dergoni ne Joplin,Missouri

after a tornado, he regains that.

pas nje tornado, dhe ai e rifiton ate.

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

Kthehemi mbrapsht, i njejti djal 18 vjecar i sapo diplomuar nga shkolla e mesme

in Kansas City, Missouri, joins the Army,

ne Kansas City, Missouri, futet ne ushtri,

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

ushtria i jep atij nje arme, dhe e dergojne ate ne Irak.

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

Cdo dite ai shikon te njejtin shikim perreth tij.

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

Ai le bazen, e di qe ata njerez po ruajne shpatullat e njeri-tjetrit.

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

Ai fle ne te njejten rere. Ata kane jetuar sebashku.

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

Ata kane ngrene se bashku. Ata jane gjakosur sebashku.

He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri.

Ai shkon ne shtepi ne Kansas City, Missouri.

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

Ai del nga ushtria, zhiveshet nga uniforma e tij.

He doesn't have that community anymore.

Ai nuk e ka me ate komunitet.

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

Mirepo po cosh 25 veterane ne Joplin, Missouri,

they get that sense of community back.

atyre iu rikthehet ndjesia e komunitetit.

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

Perseri, ju keni nje djale 18 vjecar te sapo diplomuar

high school in Kansas City.

ne shkollen e mesme ne Kanas City.

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

Ai futet ne ushtri. Ushtria i jep atij nje arme.

They send him to Iraq.

Ata e dergojne ate ne Irak.

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

Ata i vendosin nje medalje ne kraharor. Ai kthehet ne shtepi me nje parade.

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

Zhvishet nga uniforma e tij. Ai nuk eshte me rreshteri Jones

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

ne komunitetin e tij. Ai eshte Dave nga Kansas City.

He doesn't have that same self-worth.

Ai nuk e ka me ate vetebesim.

But you send him to Joplin after a tornado,

Por dergojeni ate ne Joplin mbas nje tornado,

and somebody once again is walking up to him

dhe dikush perseri eshte duke ecur drejt tij

and shaking their hand and thanking them for their service,

dhe i shtrengon duart dhe e falenderon per sherbimin e tij,

now they have self-worth again.

tani ata kane perseri vetebesim.

I think it's very important, because right now

Une mendoj se eshte shume e rendesishme,

somebody needs to step up,

sepse duhet qe dikush ta coje perpara kete gje,

and this generation of veterans has the opportunity

dhe kjo gjenerate e veteraneve e ka mundesine

to do that if they are given the chance.

ta beje ate nese i'u jepet shansi.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

Faleminderit shume. (Duartrokitje)