page 8
The Fourth Wall
Soldier from page 4
deployment. No person I met
during the time that we gave
out food was disgruntled or
disrespectful in any way, shape,
or form. In my opinion, the
media blew the looting
situation out of proportion
because these people
exemplified the term “Southern
Hospitality.”
At the PODS on average,
we served 2,000 people a day.
From 8am to 6pm cars were
constantly coming back and
forth non-stop. This was no
easy task, especially in 105
degree plus weather, but it was
worth it. Some people brought
us a variety of things to eat:
cookies, cake, candy, and even
Dominos pizza. After the
power came back on, the people
who resided near the school
returned, and they even fixed
us gumbo.
One day, we did end .
up going into New
Orleans. Many of the
other soldiers in my
platoon described it as
“Hell on Earth” and said,
“CNN does this no
justice to what it really
looks and smells like
here.” From what I saw,
there was no electricity,
no water, trash
everywhere, trees
uprooted, and more.
Buildings were
abandoned, and the
dilapidated houses
seemed as if they were
taken out of war-torn
Europe after World War
II. From a distance we
could see New Orleans
every day from the Huey
P. Long Bridge. There
was no skyline
whatsoever, just pitch
darkness. The only thing
that was semi-visible was
the remains of the
Superdome, which was a
sight of disbelief for not
only football fans, but for
everyone.
Our orders were for thirty
days, meaning we would
return a couple days before the
end of September. But all of
that changed when Katrina's
little sister became an imminent
threat. Hurricane Rita was one
of the largest hurricanes in
history. Originally supposed to
hit Mexico and Texas, Rita
made a turn for the Louisiana/
Texas border. With that, we
learned that our orders were
being extended and that we
wouldn’t be home at the end
of the month.
After finding out that we
were getting extended for a
longer period of time my
morale went down, and I was
irate and in disarray. I didn’t
want to talk to anybody and I
thought that this would
completely disrupt the fall
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semester for me. I didn’t know
how I should have felt because
I felt that I was being robbed
of the rest of my education,
and being the first one in my
family to go to college, my
education means a lot to me. I
what she thought of the
situation. She said, “Baby, you
have a right to be mad because
it isn’t fair, but you are doing
God’s work and it’s going to
pay off in the long run.” After
that talk with her and my
mom, I felt a little less angry,
and I understood that some of
these people that are my age
don’t have a chance to go back
to school because their
university is gone. Afterwards,
I tried to stay focused on the
mission and keep my head up.
After Hurricane Rita hit, the
battalion decided that since
On Tuesday, October 11,
LOL Tuesday lived up to its
name. Wiestling
Student Center was in an
uproar for comedian Tiny
Glover, the comedian that
appeared here at Mont Alto.
Taylor, a freshman residing
my
that he
He was
was
SO
worse than the New Orleans
metropolitan area, we should
go there to help out, so we
made our way to Lafayette,
LA. On the way, we saw a lot
of sites, such as flooded
highways, streets underwater,
and even alligators. When we
finally got there, we were
stationed at Lafayette Mall,
which I thought was really
cool, until I found out that
there wasn’t any air
conditioning. The heat index
before Rita came was about 92
degrees; afterwards it averaged
around 97 degrees, and not
being able to shower for days
on end didn’t make it any
better.
While in Lafayette, we
mostly did food distribution
because, as we found out when
we got there, there wasn’t really
much damage done in
Lafayette.
Henriquez, a freshman also
residing at Mont Alto Hall.
Glover was born and
There was more damage
done in Lake Charles, LA, than
anywhere. The last day I was
there I met a woman and her
husband, and I asked them
how much ice they needed. The
lady responded, “As much as
you can spare because we don’t
have electricity.” She then began
to cry, and told us that she and
her husband where returning to
Lake Charles come hell or high
water... literally! We then
began to laugh and before she
left, I and another Mont Alto
student, Rich Harper, took a
photo with them both. That
determination made me feel
that I was really accomplishing
something. Later, in the day to
my surprise, I was called back
to the battalion area. I didn’t
know why, but it was the most
outrageous news I had heard
since I left Mont Alto. The
shocking news was that I was
going back to Mont Alto.
After thirteen years of comedy,
he is still going strong. One
other thing that was very
unique about Tiny Glover as
{ a ae
Tiny holds up a pair of “thong”
underwear as he talks about life
with his family
a comedian is that he did not
use any profanity in his act
whatsoever. Being the son of
a preacher, he tries very hard
to steer clear of irreligious
words and phrases that may
offend anyone. Luke Oyler
“It was a great
performance...” The cosmo-
politan Tiny will be heading
for the University of Alaska
next for another grand revue
later this month to entertain
the students of the Northern
state, bringing with him his
cool and comical character. All
in all, Mont Alto has “huge”
resided in upstate New York.
Growing up, his influences
included some of the great
comics of our time, like
Richard Pryor and others.
fans of Tiny Glover and as the
saying goes, “the bigger they
are, the harder we fall... in
laughter.”