U.S. Army Soldiers Continue to Define What it Means to Serve.

July 12, 2011 - PRLog -- Though most had considerable experience supporting search-and-rescue missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, local Soldiers quickly realized nothing could have prepared them for what they experienced while participating in the relief effort following the evening tornado that devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri in late May.  
 
Staff Sergeant John Grayson, an Army recruiter assigned to the Kansas City Recruiting Battalion, was one of a handful of local Soldiers who arrived first on the scene following the deadly twister.  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Grayson said.

Like most of the Soldiers who rushed to help the people of Joplin, Grayson said his response was automatic.  "This is my community; a lot of my friends are affected.  The more time I spend out here the better," he said.  

Immediately after the skies cleared that fateful Sunday evening Grayson and fellow recruiter, Staff Sgt. Max Pumfrey, were among the first-responders who worked diligently through the night to rescue storm survivors and provide critical assistance.

Returning home caked in mud from head to toe, Pumfrey, no stranger to arriving home at 3 a.m. early in his career, noted “this was no ordinary night with the guys.”  

At sunrise Monday morning the search-and-rescue operation shifted into high gear as several Joplin-area Army recruits (Future Soldiers) joined the effort.   Among them was Michael Freeze, who ships to basic training in July.  After witnessing the devastation Freeze was understandably shaken but still looking to the future.  "The last recognizable thing for me was the hospital.  It's bad the way it's levelled but hopefully we can rebuild."

As the relief effort continued in the days and weeks following the tornado, Soldiers from around the globe rallied to help the victims in Joplin.  Maj. David Rowland, an active-duty Soldier, currently assigned as a student at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas was one of many volunteers from the Leavenworth community who contributed to the Joplin relief effort.  

Rowland hopped aboard a Joplin-bound school bus June 4 and headed down to provide much-needed assistance.  Much like Grayson and Pumfrey, Rowland reported he wasn’t prepared for the extent of devastation he witnessed.   “We made our way from the university and eventually entered the disaster zone…coming up on the devastation and seeing it with our own eyes is something that is very difficult to explain…the sheer devastation of stripped trees, crumbled homes and roads unmarked because road signs were ripped out of the ground stopped all conversations on the bus,” Rowland said.  

Rowland, who also has several deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq under his belt, said he was happy for the opportunity to assist those close to home.  “I deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq multiple times and helped the people of those nations build, repair and improve their own communities, villages and towns.  But I have never done anything like that in the United States.  Going to Joplin was an opportunity to do exactly that; help fellow American citizens rebuild their community and town,” Rowland added.

Witnessing the incredible impact Soldiers have when reacting to a local crisis often puts things in perspective for area citizens.  As the people of Joplin learned recently, the intrinsic nature of the American Soldier is to serve others.  They don’t care where they are…they simply want to help those in need.  

That’s why they’re Soldiers.

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The Kansas City Recruiting Battalion’s area of operation covers approximately 94,540 square miles and includes seven recruiting companies covering Eastern Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois.