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

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Boško Eraković

Two years ago, after having served four years

Pre dve godine, nakon služenja 4 godine

in the United States Marine Corps

u Marincima SAD,

and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan,

i rasporeda u Iraku i Avganistanu,

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

našao sam se u Port-o-Prensu, gde sam vodio tim

of veterans and medical professionals

veterana i medicinskih profesionalaca

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

u nekim od najpogođenijih delova tog grada,

three days after the earthquake.

tri dana nakon zemljotresa.

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

Išli smo na mesta na koja niko drugi nije hteo da ide,

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

gde niko drugi nije mogao da ide, i nakon tri nedelje,

we realized something. Military veterans

shvatili smo nešto. Vojni veterani

are very, very good at disaster response.

su veoma, veoma dobri u reagovanju u vanrednim situacijama.

And coming home, my cofounder and I,

Kada smo stigli kući, moj partner i ja,

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

pogledali smo to i rekli, postoje dva problema.

The first problem is there's inadequate disaster response.

Prvi je to što je reagovanje u vanrednim situacijama neadekvatno.

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

Sporo je, zastarelo. Ne koristi najbolje tehnologije

and it's not using the best people.

i ne koristi najbolje ljude.

The second problem that we became aware of

Drugi problem kojeg smo postali svesni

was a very inadequate veteran reintegration,

je veoma neadekvatna reintegracija veterana

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

i ovo je veoma aktuelna tema trenutno

as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan,

dok se veterani vraćaju iz Iraka i Avganistana

and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian life.

i muče se sa integrisanjem u život civila.

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

Seli smo i pogledali ova dva problema

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

i nešto smo shvatili. To nisu problemi.

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

To su zapravo rešenja. Šta mislim ovim?

Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity

Možemo iskoristiti reagovanje u vanrednim situacijama kao priliku

for service for the veterans coming home.

da se u službu stave veterani povratnici.

Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want

Skorašnje ankete pokazuju da 92% veterana želi

to continue their service when they take off their uniform.

da nastavi sa svojom službom nakon skidanja uniforme.

And we can use veterans to improve disaster response.

I možemo iskoristiti veterane da poboljšamo reagovanje u vanrednim situacijama.

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

Površno gledano, ovo ima dosta smisla i 2010.

we responded to the tsunami in Chile,

reagovali smo na cunami u Čileu,

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

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

But it was earlier this year, when one of our

Ali početkom ove godine, jedan od naših

original members caused us to shift focus in the organization.

prvobitnih članova naterao nas je da promenimo fokus organizacije.

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

Ovo je Klej Hant. On je bio u Marincima sa mnom.

We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Zajedno smo služili u Iraku i Avganistanu.

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

Klej je bio sa nama u Port-o-Prensu, kao i u Čileu.

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

Početkom ove godine, u martu, Klej je oduzeo sebi život.

This was a tragedy, but it really forced us

Ovo je bila tragedija, ali nas je stvarno nateralo

to refocus what it is that we were doing.

da prebacimo fokus onoga što smo radili.

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

Znate, Klej se nije ubio zbog onoga što se desilo

in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clay killed himself

u Iraku i Avganistanu. Ubio se

because of what he lost when he came home.

zbog onog što je izgubio po povratku.

He lost purpose. He lost his community.

Izgubio je smisao. Svoju zajednicu.

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

I možda najtragičnije, izgubio je samopoštovanje.

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

Kako smo procenjivali sve i kako se slegala prašina

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

od ove tragedije, shvatili smo da, od ta dva problema -

in the initial iteration of our organization,

iz prvobitnog plana naše organizacije,

we were a disaster response organization that was using

bili smo organizacija za reagovanje u vanrednim situacijama koja je koristila

veteran service. We had a lot of success,

službu veterana. Imali smo dosta uspeha

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

i osećali smo se kao da menjamo paradigmu reagovanja u vanrednim situacijama.

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

Ali nakon Kleja smo prebacili fokus, i odjednom

now moving forward, we see ourselves

krećući se napred, vidimo sebe

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

kao organizaciju veterana koja koristi reagovanje u vanrednim situacijama.

Because we think that we can give that purpose

Jer smatramo da možemo veteranima vratiti

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

tu svrhu i tu zajednicu i samopoštovanje.

And tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and then later

Tornada u Taskalausi i Džoplinu i kasnije

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

uragan Irena, dali su nam priliku da to i vidimo.

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

Na trenutak želim da zamislite dečaka od 18 godina

who graduates from high school in Kansas City, Missouri.

koji maturira u srednjoj školi u Kanzasu, u Misuriju.

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

Stupi u vojsku. Vojska mu daje pušku.

They send him to Iraq.

Pošalju ga za Irak.

Every day he leaves the wire with a mission.

Svakog dana napušta bazu sa misijom.

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

Misija je da brani slobodu porodice koju je ostavio kod kuće -

It's to keep the men around him alive.

da održi živim ljude oko sebe.

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

Da smiri selo u kome radi.

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

Ima svrhu. Ali kada se vrati u Kanzas u Misuriju,

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

možda ode na koledž ili se zaposli,

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

ali nema taj isti osećaj svrhe.

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

Date mu motornu testeru. Pošaljete ga u Džoplin, Misuri

after a tornado, he regains that.

nakon tornada i taj osećaj se vraća.

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

Da se vratimo, taj isti osamnaestogodišnjak maturira u srednjoj školi

in Kansas City, Missouri, joins the Army,

u Kanzasu u Misuriju, stupi u vojsku,

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

vojska mu daje pušku i šalje ga za Irak.

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

Svakog dana gleda u iste oči oko njega.

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

Napušta bazu. Zna da može da računa na te ljude.

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

Spavali su u istom pesku. Živeli su zajedno.

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

Zajedno su jeli. Zajedno su krvarili.

He goes home to Kansas City, Missouri.

Vraća se u Kanzas u Misuriju.

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

Napušta vojsku i skida uniformu.

He doesn't have that community anymore.

Više nema tu zajednicu.

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

Ali kada 25 takvih veterana ostavite u Džoplinu, Misuri,

they get that sense of community back.

vraća im se osećaj te zajednice.

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

Još jednom, imate osamnaestogodišnjaka koji maturira

high school in Kansas City.

u srednjoj školi u Kanzasu.

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

Stupa u vojsku. Vojska mu daje pušku.

They send him to Iraq.

Šalju ga za Irak.

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

Na grudi mu stavljaju orden. Vraća se kući za paradu.

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

Skida uniformu. Više nije narednik Džouns

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

u svojoj zajednici. Sada je Dejv iz Kanzasa.

He doesn't have that same self-worth.

Više nema to samopoštovanje.

But you send him to Joplin after a tornado,

Ali kada pošaljete u Džoplin nakon tornada

and somebody once again is walking up to him

i opet mu neko prilazi

and shaking their hand and thanking them for their service,

i rukuje se s njim zahvaljujući mu za njegovu službu,

now they have self-worth again.

opet ima to samopoštovanje.

I think it's very important, because right now

Mislim da je to veoma bitno, jer trenutno

somebody needs to step up,

neko mora da istupi

and this generation of veterans has the opportunity

i ova generacija veterana ima priliku

to do that if they are given the chance.

da uradi to ako im se pruži šansa.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

Hvala vam puno. (Aplauz)