On Jan. 12, a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti with the epicenter near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 people, injured about 300,000 more and destroyed or severely damaged a quarter of a million homes.
The U.S. military’s initial response included deploying Special Operations airmen, who got the capital’s damaged airport up and running so aid could flow into the country, and Coast Guard flights to evacuate the most seriously injured.
Soon, thousands of personnel, including soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and Marines from the 22nd and 24th Marine Expeditionary Units, were on the ground distributing aid, caring for the wounded, clearing rubble and rebuilding port facilities while ships such as the USS Carl Vinson and USS Bataan provided a reassuring presence offshore. It was the largest U.S. military operation in support of a foreign natural disaster, which at its height involved the deployment of 22,000 personnel.
Army Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, who commanded Joint Task Force Haiti, said the operation saved many lives. Search and rescue teams pulled 120 people alive out of the rubble, JTF–Haiti medical staff aided 90,000 patients and doctors performed more than 800 surgeries on the USNS Comfort hospital ship.
JTF-Haiti ended its mission in June, although hundreds of personnel continued to work there until mid-September. Nearly a year after the earthquake, the U.S. military presence in Haiti has dwindled but much work remains. Thousands of Haitians still live in refugee camps, and damaged infrastructure has yet to be repaired. Life is tenuous, evidenced by a recent outbreak of cholera across the country.
