Never Forgotten Foundation Blog

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Haiti Suffers Catastrophic Earthquake:

For those who know me and my company Global Electronic Technology, Inc. (GET): This entry will not seem out of the norm, yet there are still others who may question my sincerity and confuse my actions with self-promotion. (This group truly doesn’t know me.) A week ago, the island country of Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. For a country unaccustomed to construction with steel rebar, it was a cataclysmic event and surely a catastrophe of unbelievable proportion. The destruction and absolute breakdown of an entire country hasn’t been seen sans a military revolution in my lifetime.

As the founder of GET and Never Forgotten Foundation, it is my responsibility to decide when to deploy our team. Upon hearing the news that thousands were trapped in the rubble, our small team mobilized. The NFF team is comprised of former paratroopers (each with additional specialized military skills), as well as a couple of true alpha men and women. We deploy and we should be on the ground digging before larger organizations can even get wheel-up in the air, or so we thought.

We booked a flight and landed on a local airfield in Fort Pierce, Florida within hours. Loaded on our backs and carried in our hands were medical supplies for the injured, food and water for the team, two large generators formerly used as back-ups at our corporate headquarters, and heavy-duty cables to power several buildings. An outstanding organization named Missionary Flights International (MFI) were our means to get into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Due to the critical mission ahead and the late hour (past midnight local time), we set up camp outside the hangar door in order to catch a few hours of sleep. Unfortunately, the ensuing days were spent trying to find a way to land a plane in Haiti due to military control and closure of the Haitian airspace. As time passed, our team became less and less of an asset due to the inability of people to survive for more than 72 hours as a general rule. E We switched to security detail and it was at that point that I made the hardest decision of my life; I scrubbed the mission due to the lack of weapons needed to secure food and medical supplies. Below is a poem I wrote to express how I felt:

The Unreached

Our spirits soar to heights unknown, yes we are on our way
Only to find the heartbreak of being told, we cannot save the day
Yes Hell appeared as grounded airplanes and that ache to very bone
We couldn’t reach piles of human rubble, though our hearts have already flown

Voices screaming into the night so clear they’re pounding in my head
Those voices we couldn’t reach who now we’ve left for dead
A team, a flight, men and women unable to rest only thinking of despair
Those countless souls unreached, a country left in disrepair

Strange sounds, voices and joyful hearts now lift into the air
They’re boldly comforting each other, the rescuers crying it’s not fair
We mourn for our own hurt souls, we know that we have failed
And yet comforted by gentle voices, the warmth of Haitians who truly know despair

No, this isn’t the normal CEO blog; however, as you all get to know me and our family through my writings, you will know that at GET and our self-funded foundation, www.neverforgottenfoundation.com, you will understand we have no choice but to respond. It is who we are.

To all who can, I urge you to contribute. There is an entire country that is in jeopardy.

Steve Bryson