Notes from the Landslide

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church, reminding me of the superhuman effort of that church
family to open up their doors to the families, the friends of the
missing, and this army of volunteers that helped bring Elmer, Uli,
and William home. Driving by the Firehall and remembering my
own drives late in the evening to “breathe”.....and seeing that firehall
parking lot packed everynight at 11pm.....knowing those dedicated
volunteers had been at it since the crack of dawn every day, yet they
were there heading toward midnight.......every day. Being given a
solemn opportunity to go to the site of this devastating slide, and
seeing the incredible destructive power of Mother Nature.....yet, to
see these dedicated professionals, volunteers, and those incredible
men on the steam shovels - compassionate, focused, driven workers,
many of whom had been up there every minute of every day -
driven to bring our three friends home. I called them all the “tip of
the sword” in this massive effort yet truly they were the “Compassionate
Hands,” searching for William, Elmer, and Uil......from the
digging by hand, to the incredible men in the steam shovels who
had such a gift with their compassionate feather touch and focus,
knowing they were searching for our friends.......
Under all that stress, out there, and at Grace Harbor, and at the
Incident Command Post......under all that focused stress.....it was
impressive to see this herculean effort, orchestrated by Chief Dave
Miller and Asst. Chief Al Stevens who had the challenging task of
keeping an eye on the big picture, with all these moving parts, to
make the best possible decisions for the good of the whole, while
staying focused on the mission to bring them home. Some decisions
were not popular yet they were good, calculated, correct
decisions every time......not an easy task to make when their hearts
wants to weigh in on these two - Dave Miller and Al Stevens. They
stayed the course.
The massive effort to help support it all.....the Sitkans walking in the
door at the firehall or at Grace Harbor or at the Salvation Army.....
Sitkans bringing in food.....commercial restaurants bringing in hot
meals, Sitkans walking in with anything asked for.........Was incredible.
Nothing short of incredible. And to see fundraising efforts kick
in with new ideas and social media paths. Was incredible.
As I sat with Mr. Diaz last night and listened....he was overwhelmed