Dennis E. Benner, Giving Back - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

Feature 7The purpose of this rapidly implementedlegal assistance field support was singular: Take care ofCoast Guard members and their families so that themembers can continue with their mission. Rescuing therescuers, is the way we envisioned our mission. To carry outour mission, we spent countless hours driving thousands ofmiles, often late into the night, along unfamiliar and dangerousroads. We flew aboard Coast Guard, Navy, and contractaircraft to reach our clients in locations inaccessibleby car and, of course, accessed many areas by boat.Many of the people that we counseled during our deploymentpossessed little more than what they were able to throwinto their cars before evacuating from their homes. They losttheir homes and everything in it and were now suddenlyworking and living in convention centers, hotel rooms, andmilitary evacuee housing. These folks had little time to grievebecause their jobs demanded so much of them. Despite theirown enormous personal losses, their total concentration andcommitment to the task at hand was needed and demandedbecause lives were at stake. Coast Guard members throughoutthe region worked tirelessly saving lives, property, andthe environment. No excuses. No complaints. No “highfives.”They were just doing their jobs as best they couldunder extreme circumstances. These were the people wewere sent to help.During one of my first trips I was diverted to Lockport,Louisiana; not the location of a Coast Guard Station, butrather the location of the apartment complex of a youngCoast Guard Petty Officer from Station Grand Isle.When it became apparent that Station Grand Isle wouldsuffer a possible direct hit from the storm, the petty officeroffered his apartment as a safe haven to his fellow “Coasties”who had no other place to go. About 20 members of hiscrew took him up on his generous offer, and they spentBENCHMARK