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AMERICAN SHAME: The Edgar Hollingsworth Story
◊ by RobertInWisconsin @dKos
Wed Sep 14th, 2005 at 09:51:05 PDT
9/20/2005, 9:12 a.m. CT
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 74-year-old survivor of Hurricane Katrina found trapped in a New Orleans home for about two weeks has died of complications related to dehydration and malnutrition, the California National Guard said.
Edgar Hollingsworth, an Army veteran of the Korean War, died Saturday at a hospital, four days after he was found Sept. 13 buried under rubble, said Air Force Capt. Brenda Hendrickson, spokeswoman for the California National Guard.
Hollingsworth was scheduled to be buried Tuesday with military honors at the Port Hudson National Cemetery, which is 10 miles north of Baton Rouge.
At the request of his wife, Lillian, military personnel and other authorities who helped rescue him will serve as pallbearers, along with his son, Wesley, the California National Guard said in a prepared statement.
More to follow below the fold »»
(AFP) Sept. 20 — National Guard Lieutenant Frederick Fell broke the rules by breaking down a door to investigate after looking through a window and seeing a man’s foot.
Hollingsworth was barely breathing, Fell’s team told Knight Ridder newspapers, and a medical team inserted an intravenous tube under his clavicle because other veins were too weak.
Photo by Bruce Chambers, Orange County (Calif.) Register OC Register
Dr. Peter Czuleger, an emergency-room doctor from California who carried out the lifesaving operation outside the house, said, “They were surprised at the hospital that anyone in his condition would still be alive. In 24 hours, he would have been dead. I think the young army guy that found him saved his life.”
Dr. Peter Czuleger, a California physician, examines Edgar Hollingsworth. Bruce Chambers / Orange County Register
By KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register
He told his family he wanted to go down with the ship.
Then he nearly did.
Edgar Hollingsworth, 74, was the man in the dramatic photograph that was shot as a National Guardsman carried his emaciated body out of his New Orleans home 15 days after Hurricane Katrina ripped apart his family and his neighborhood.
The photo ran on the front page of the Register as well as in dozens of newspapers across the country. One of those papers was the Baton Rouge Advocate, and the photo caught the eye of one of Hollingsworth’s relatives, who called Hollingsworth’s wife, Lillian.
“I broke down crying when I saw it,” Lillian Hollingsworth said.
Lillian is staying in New Roads, La., with her son, Wesley Sr., and other relatives. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the picture,” Lillian said. “It seemed like a miracle that he was still alive. I wish he would have listened to us.”
[…]
The OC Register Story
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I only heard about this story today….
I lived down the street from Mr. Hollingsworth. The “turned foot” was due to some injury or arthritis he may have had. I saw him almost every morning as I walked my dog in the neighborhood. A wonderful person, he loved taking care of his plants on the front porch of his house. He would always say hello to me as I walked by with Diego. He always had something nice to say about my crazy puppy. Even with his limp, you would see him walking up the street to the Rendon Grocery or through the neighborhood. He was a fixture there.
I will miss you Mr. Hollingsworth. You were a great neighbor in a wonderful neighborhood. I really wanted to see you again the next time I walked my dog in the neighborhood. I knew I would see you. My thoughts are with you and your family.
With deepest sympathy,
Bill White and family
Graphic Rescue Photo Becomes a Symbol of New Orleans
Editor & Publisher Sept. 15 — NEW YORK (PDN) The front pages of more than 20 newspapers ran a photo of a naked, emaciated American clinging to life as rescuers carried him from his home.
Editors say the startling image, showing a man being rescued in New Orleans 16 days after Hurricane Katrina, created discussions in their newsrooms but ultimately carried enough news value to make it worth publishing.
Odd balance in coverage between a rescue and death ::
Diary comments recommends
Rescue 237 528
Death 13 21
Identical imbalance found in the MSM, press and media. Lovelier to cover hanging a Medal of Honor – BTW for another Korean War Veteran!
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and never be forgotten.
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Thanks Oui for covering this.
I keep wondering what was on Mr. Hollingsworth’s mind as he waited to be rescued. He may have had faith in the country he served in the beginning of his stay.
Amen.
May he rest in peace.
And those responsible for his death, never.
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The relief effort on Aruba ever again!
PLEASE GOD TELL ME!
with so-called Mars-pod – Medium Altitude Reconnaissance System – with daylight and infrared high-resolution cameras. The unit will be accompanied by 40 specialists involved in the minute read out of the data and detail view of the photo blow-ups. It’s their profession, has been done with success for Department of Justice in the Netherlands in search of a single grave in rural areas.
«« click on pic to enlarge »»
It’s just a mission for the men, otherwise there would have been token exercises or target bombing elsewhere.
But your statement is correct, these assets are not used in the daily disappearance of persons within The Netherlands or the hundreds of unsolved murders throughout the years.
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I have a question (or eight) — his wife really didn’t seem too surprised that he was dead, only that he had been rescued… other than “staying behind with the ship” did he give any other reasons for not evacuating? Did his wife try and get him rescued or find out if he was alive in the days after the levee broke? Didn’t they wonder what had happened to him?
I guess I just have a lot of questions about his wife’s actions based on the limited info presented about her.
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There were harsh judgments in some comments at Daily Kos, please realize in evacuation of New Orleans, many persons are unaccounted for, children missing their parents, families torn apart.
There is no electricity, no telephone, no communication, no food and no water. As illustrated below, days later there was still no telephone call possible. Entering the city, you would be shot, leaving the area on personal initiative, you would be shot.
Emergency teams that come across bodies have been told simply to log their locations and let mortician teams collect the remains.
But National Guard Lieutenant Frederick Fell broke the rules by breaking down a door to investigate after looking through a window and seeing a man’s foot.
OC Register Sept. 16 — Since telephone lines are down in the neighborhood of Ochsner Hospital, the OC Register was unable to receive an update on Hollingsworth’s condition Wednesday.
As Katrina was slamming the South on Aug. 28, Lillian, her son Wesley and her grandchildren, Wesley Jr. and Trey, decided to evacuate their homes. But they couldn’t persuade Edgar to go.
Edgar is a “God-fearing man,” Wesley Sr. said. His father reads the Bible every day and sits on the front porch, waving to people in the neighborhood. And he is stubborn.
“I told him we wouldn’t be able to get food to him,” Lillian said. “But he said he wanted to go down with the ship.”
While Edgar stayed home, Lillian went to a house on Ivieville Road. But the water rose too high, and she was rescued by a neighbor with a boat. She and Wesley Sr. spent 24 hours sitting on the Interstate 10 freeway off-ramp with hundreds of others waiting to be rescued.
“That would have killed my husband,” Lillian said. Standing and walking were difficult for Edgar, who had deteriorating cartilage in his right knee, and his toes were bent at severe angles.
Eventually, relatives made cell-phone contact with Lillian and arranged to pick up her and her family. But by that time, the Broadmoor District, where they live, was under about six feet of water.
Edgar had no contact with his family. On South Lopez Street, where Edgar and Lillian lived, toppled trees and downed telephone lines floated in the floodwaters for days. The water had receded by Tuesday, leaving a thin layer of mud.
The OC Register Story
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dailykos/dailykos username/password)
My conclusion: Left behind and abandoned by the authorities.
See my reading of Dutch Sea Surge Disaster of 1953 – after three days of rescue efforts, no other person was left behind to be rescued and no one else died.
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killed him as well.
It wasn’t just a hurricane that killed him – it was racism and apathy…
“Gulf Coast instead of Gulf Wars” a sign a marcher had.
Wish you could have been there in DC with us, (((Oui))) but in a way you were. xoxox
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The essence of democracy!
I surely was present in thought and spirit with all of you in Washington D.C., hoping all would fall in place and constitute a rejuvenating personal experience. The energy explosion of being united with such a large crowd, the diversity in persons participating in color, creed, race and age; yet bound by a single goal.
Here at home in the Netherlands, I greatly appreciated the news in all of your diaries, pictures included. A bunch of fine citizens, I always describe as true backbone of American society, with perception of political issue and knowing it’s long overdue to take a stand.
The demonstration of protest must spread through witnesses of friends and those citizens who are searching for truth in political life. I believe that purpose has been achieved. Thank you so much.
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n/t
…DKos at an inauspicious time.
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Prisoners abandoned and drowned in New Orleans
◊ by vinifera
Tue Sep 27th, 2005 at 16:15:15 PDT
Amy Goodman interviewed Corrine Carey from Human Rights Watch, who is investigating some 517 prisoners unaccounted for in the wake of Katrina. Corinne Carey, researcher, U.S. Program Human Rights Watch:
Officers Deserted a Jail Building, Leaving Inmates Locked in CellsNEW YORK Sept. 22 — As Hurricane Katrina began pounding New Orleans, the sheriff’s department abandoned hundreds of inmates imprisoned in the city’s jail, Human Rights Watch said today.
Inmates in Templeman III, one of several buildings in the Orleans Parish Prison compound, reported that as of Monday, August 29, there were no correctional officers in the building, which held more than 600 inmates. These inmates, including some who were locked in ground-floor cells, were not evacuated until Thursday September 1, four days after floodwater in the jail had reached chest-level.
Photo —
The Georgia Bulle†in
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I’ve heard from a few “rednecks” (basically eavesdroppings at the grocery line and such) that they don’t mind prisoners drowning, it was a “G-d” took care of those “baddies”.
Shakes head in shame at my fellow Duhmerkins
What angers me about this also, is along with the prisoners who could not escape and were left to die or starve and rot – were the elderly in nursing homes as well as those patients in assisted living scenes.
There is never a reason for a human being to be left to die. Never. I am so ahsamed of those people who applaud the drowning or starvation of anyone or any thing.
(((((((Oui))))))))
Just unbelievable news! Where are these missing kids?
Justice Department didn’t hesitate when looking for an organization to lead the effort to reunite thousands of children with their parents in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Despite a massive extra workload and no extra money — at least not yet — the Center for Missing and Exploited Children took the job.
“It is quite a bit to be added to our plate, but we think this is a horrendous catastrophe and we wanted to be responsive,” said Ernie Allen, the group’s president.
The center had located half the 4,598 children reported missing. In Louisiana, 2,038 of 4,232 cases have been resolved; in Mississippi, 244 out of 329; and in Alabama, 13 out of 37.
After the government put the center in charge, it immediately dispatched to the Gulf Coast nearly 20 of its 46 national consultants for “Team Adam” — the rapid-response system established two years ago to handle some of the most urgent child abduction cases. The team was named in memory of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh, who in 1981 was abducted from a Florida department store and murdered.
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Of course there are no accurate figures. Many of the cleansees were very poor, not accustomed to seeking out appropriate agencies and filling out forms.
US is to be commended for allowing the search for the children who have relatives who do have those resources, and no one can argue that the agreed upon death toll is, while sobering, more than reasonable.
Kenyon is without question the best in the business when there is a need for large-scale remains disposal.
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I didn’t see Mr. Brown (FEMA) on the arrest listing for over 1,000 deaths! See diary by ejmw .
BATON ROUGE, La. Oct. 21 — More arrests are likely as authorities investigate at least 140 patient deaths at nursing homes and hospitals during and after Hurricane Katrina, including allegations that some patients may have been euthanized, the Louisiana attorney general’s office said today.
Six hospitals and 13 nursing homes in Louisiana are under investigation.
The investigations were wide-ranging, looking into whether patients were abandoned, evacuated improperly, or euthanized to spare them further suffering, said attorney general’s spokeswoman Kris Wartelle.
The majority of the agency’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit — 18 investigators and four lawyers — have been assigned to the cases, Wartelle said. No further details were released .
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY