Still in service to our country

TAR HEEL – It’s been 81 days since the heinous flooding devastated North Carolina and killed 103 people.

It was Sept. 27 when things were still relatively warm and autumn had just come to the United States. Natural disasters are commonplace and rebuilding is usually swift. It’s now winter. Snow has begun to pile up in the northern parts of the state, and people are living in tents.

Due to terrain, red tape, political boxing matches and the passing of time, things are not swift – and the change in weather has thrown another wrench into the works.

Local retired military service members have been trained to fight, yes, but they have also been very skilled at training and helping others, which makes them a very valuable commodity during times of crisis.

The entire Afghanistan conflict prepared many United States soldiers for what they did not see coming down the road – years after they left the Middle East. Little did the U.S. know, but they were preparing their troops to be experts in battling Mother Nature herself and cleaning up during and after the chaos.

Local retired U.S. Army soldier, Scott Shelton who lives and farms in Tar Heel got up close and personal with the hurricane that ravished portions of North Carolina.

According to an article from fortunadoconstruction.com, “Shelton served in the Army special forces (Green Berets) and Army Reserve. He returned from 5 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, with 3 Bronze Stars and numerous other recognitions but he also had cumulative injuries and wounds resulting in 100% service-connected injuries. He retired from a 20-year career in the military.

In July 2022, he purchased an abandoned farm in Tar Heel, North Carolina, where he (and his family) is working to reestablish it as an operational farm for livestock and produce. SFC Shelton writes in his application to Work Vessels for Vets, ‘The farm was abandoned when purchased and much of the land is still in agricultural production, but we look to expand our grazing operations by 17 acres per year for the next three to five years. Our ten-year plan as we iron out our processes is to validate our systems and create training that would empower veteran farms to succeed and build wealth while owning a farming business. Being a disabled veteran I am not able to do the bulk of the clearing by hand and greatly need a skid steer with attachments to be able to scale the business in a timely manner by converting unmanaged overgrown woods to pasture.’”

Shelton and his family had developed a solid business plan to create a product that was both environmentally friendly and safe for human consumption. The challenges were very great to become farmers in North Carolina without any prior experience.

During the calamity of September, Shelton said that he impressed by a calling to find a way to help. He ended up loading up his truck and trailer with supplies and although he didn’t know what to expect, he just headed north.

He knew that there those that had been devastated and, in some way, he felt that he could make a difference. He teamed with other soldiers that he had served with in Afghanistan who were also retired.

“It was more than helping those up north,” Shelton said. “It was also giving purpose to veterans who had perhaps wanted to reestablish the fact that they could make a difference.”

What they found when they had banded together was complete devastation. Homes that had stood for a hundred years were gone or completely destroyed. People were missing and those who were still there were numb and panicking.

One of the men who was deployed with Shelton, Chris Hughey was working in landscaping when the storm hit.

“I was working at a landscaping company,” Hughey said. “It was just a normal day and I knew the storm had happened up there. There were trees down all over where I was at and we didn’t have power for like 10 days. So, this was Tuesday right after the storm, I call from one of my special operation buddies.”

As it turned out, one his military brothers had family that they could not contact and they could not locate and it had been over four days. The request was to come and help find those who were missing.

“I called my wife and my boss and got the go-ahead, and I knew I was in and heading up north,” he said. “We picked up a stretcher and a litter from Greenville SWAT. We didn’t know what we were getting into. We loaded everything up and left around 6 a.m.”

The team headed north to Bat Cave, North Carolina, which was in close proximity to Chimney Rock State Park.

“We got there, downloaded, got all of our stuff on and made our way across a foot bridge,” he said. “We went up and found his mom. We had to break through the door and she was two rooms back, listening to the radio. She was 80-something years old and just had hip surgery. We were really grateful to have found her.”

The team then radioed the son that his mom was located and OK. From there they went to the fire department and asked what they could do to help clear the area.

“They gave us a portion of land to clear along the river from Bat Cave to Chimney Rock,” he said. “We were a five-man team and we cleared around 3 miles. We had three of us from special ops, a search and rescue guy from the coast guard and a missionary from North Korea. We also encountered a K-9 team out of New York.”

They successfully cleared the areas designated and headed back home.

“When I got home I told my wife that I did what the Lord asked me to do and if something else comes up then so be it,” he said. “She looked me right in the eye and said, ‘if you don’t go back up and help those people, I’ll never respect you.’ So I said… well… there’s that.”

Hughey, who had been asking for some kind of a sign as to whether he should go back up, admitted that his wife was really used in that very direct communication to send him back.

Hughey has been working the areas in North Carolina ever since and has been in communications with Shelton as to the massive effort that is still needed there. Shelton just located a backhoe that he is working on and getting it ready to transport to areas that need clearing.

These men are part of an elite group that put their lives on hold to help others. It was what they were trained for and what they feel called to do.

“We need to stay focused,” Hughey said. “We need to focus on the fact that we are dealing with human beings created in the image of God and we must treat them as such. We must look at this situation and then put them as if it were our own family. Then the level of care and the level of support that one would pour out … the whole game changes.

In a recent communications update release from James Jarvis, Interim Division Director, Service to the Armed Forces & International Services – Southeast Caribbean & Carolinas Division, he writes concerning the current state of affairs.

“Below you will please find updates on our current response:

FEMA in cooperation with the state has asked the Red Cross to continue feeding for at least 3 months.

Operation Mountain Hope is our strategy for helping rural residents still residing in their damaged homes to be able to continue doing so, per their wishes.

Dehumidifiers have arrived and distribution will begin tomorrow in those mountain communities.

We are deploying and setting up “hot tent kits” for displaced residents in Spruce Pine (Mitchell County), Little Switzerland (Mitchell County), and Clyde Central United Methodist Church (Haywood County).

We continue to distribute generators, chain saws, nonperishable food, blankets, water purifiers, camp stoves, and other essential equipment in mountain communities.

Here is a video describing that effort: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15J6bkeSMn/.

The operation has provided more than 24,800 overnight stays in shelters to displaced residents.

250 Red Cross responders remain on the ground in western NC and 25 are in route; a cumulative total of 2,051 responders have been assigned to the operation from all across the U.S.

Since operations began, with the help of partners we have served more than 1.7 million meals and snacks (42,667 Shelf-Stable Meals).

More than 311,700 disaster emergency supplies (cleanup kits, rakes, shovels, bleach, gloves, etc.) have been distributed to more than 62,300 households in need.

2,526 homes have been assessed as having major damage or destroyed.

Unmet needs:

Financial support: We will begin issuing direct financial assistance next week to western NC residents whose homes sustained major damage or were destroyed. This is separate from any funds that FEMA may distribute and is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors.

Blood donations: We lost hundreds of blood drives and more than 20,000 units of blood since the storm made landfall in Florida in September carving a path into Georgia, South Carolina, Western NC and Tennessee. If you can donate blood, please sign up to do so at www.redcrossblood.org.

Eli Brand from WSOC-TV published on Yahoo!News, “As snow and below-freezing temperatures move into western North Carolina, the needs of Helene survivors continue to grow.

And unfortunately, the winter weather is making it more difficult for people like him to offer help.

Channel 9′s Eli Brand spoke with one local man who said he has been driving a truck full of supplies west almost daily. However, he is finding it difficult to continue offering aid.

Joe Stull has been using his truck for months to do whatever he can for those recovering from the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene.

He said he has been a part of crews that have built over 20 tiny homes for victims, donated 12 campers, provided over 500 heaters, and given $48,000 worth of supplies.

Joe Stull has been using his truck for months to do whatever he can for those recovering from the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene.

He said he has been a part of crews that have built over 20 tiny homes for victims, donated 12 campers, provided over 500 heaters, and given $48,000 worth of supplies.

Joe Stull has been using his truck for months to do whatever he can for those recovering from the devastation of Tropical Storm Helene.

He said he has been a part of crews that have built over 20 tiny homes for victims, donated 12 campers, provided over 500 heaters, and given $48,000 worth of supplies.”

At this time, the nonprofit Operation Heloe has been flooding the north with brand new trailers for people to live in. This group has done much to help get the people out of the cold. To find out more about their organization, please go to: https://donate.operationhelo.org/

From the reports coming in, the situations are still dire in northern North Carolina and thank God for the local people from Bladen County, retired military and private citizens who will not rest until the restoration has been completed.