http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na- troops3sep03,0,1220337,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines KATRINA'S AFTERMATH
Met by Despair, Not Violence As they begin to patrol the chaotic city, troops are surprised by what they don't find. By Scott Gold Times Staff Writer
September 3, 2005
NEW ORLEANS — Forty-four troops pressed together in their truck, swaying as one at every bump and turn like reeds in a river.
As they plunged into the dark water engulfing the business district of New Orleans, their wake pushed the body of a woman onto the steps of the Superdome. The floodwater had ripped her pants down to her knees. She was facedown in the muck, a red ribbon still tied neatly around her graying hair.
The troops, members of an elite Special Response Team from the Louisiana Army National Guard, were the first convoy out of what was rapidly becoming a massive military staging ground.
Their mission, simply, is to turn New Orleans into a police state — to "regain the city," 1st Sgt. John Jewell said.
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