Veterans help disaster survivors, themselves
When Kasey Sands and her family returned home last month a few days after a tornado flattened much of Joplin, Mo., a dozen strangers were removing trees toppled in their yard.
"I asked them who they were, and they said they were veterans," says Sands, 27. "They said they like to help with peace and not just with war."
They were Team Rubicon, a non-profit group of veterans formed after the 2010 Haiti earthquake to help in the immediate aftermaths of disasters. They also raced in after tornadoes struck Alabama in April and following earlier crises in Chile, Burma, Pakistan and Sudan. More than 500 people have volunteered; 25 were in Joplin for a week.
The name refers to the Rubicon, a river separating ancient Gaul and the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar's crossing of it led to its modern meaning: passing a point of no return.
Jake Wood, Team Rubicon's president and co-founder, says responding to tragedies "is the most obvious fit for veterans who have so much to offer." Many members are doctors, paramedics and nurses. Besides aiding survivors and searching for victims, members help one another adjust to life after war, he says.
In long-ago wars, troops left their hometowns together, served together, returned home together and shared their experiences and problems at local VFW and American Legion posts. "Now," Wood says, "they just get jettisoned into civilian society." Participating in Team Rubicon "is mostly about giving them an outlet and a reason to come together," says Wood, 28, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who lives in Los Angeles.
Searching for camaraderie
Tyler Tannahill, 24, heard about Team Rubicon soon after it was formed and was intrigued. He watched video of the team working in Haiti on its website, teamrubiconusa.org, and liked what he saw. He had left the Marine Corps in 2009 after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and missed "the camaraderie, the adventure."
He enrolled in college back home in Kansas and felt little connection with fellow students. "You've seen different things, you've experienced different things," Tannahill says.
His first mission with Team Rubicon was in Joplin, and it lived up to his expectations. "It was like we'd known each other for years," he says. "You automatically have this working relationship and trust."
The team helped with search-and-rescue operations and cleared debris.
The fellow veterans he worked with in Joplin "understand what I've been through," Tannahill says. "I've been hesitant to tell friends, classmates, even family everything that happened" in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There's still that fear of being judged or looked at differently after they know. With these guys, they don't care. "
The next time there's a disaster, Tannahill will be ready to go. Donations help Team Rubicon pay members' travel expenses.
Ford Sypher helped Team Rubicon with tornado recovery in Alabama and Joplin. Sypher, 25, is from West Lafayette, Ind., and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He misses the Army and says working with Team Rubicon is a way to continue to help people. Fellow veterans, Sypher says, "become the kind of friends that you would hang out with. The common ground just happens to be military service."
A college student, Sypher has stayed in touch with fellow team members since returning home, and he'll be ready to go again. "It's very fulfilling," he says.
No complaining
Roby Hopkins, 28, a pharmacy technician and former National Guard member who lives in Strafford, Mo., saw a TV story about Team Rubicon's work in Joplin. He drove 80 miles to help them clear debris and pull trees off houses in Duquesne, Mo.
Because of his own military background, Hopkins says, "I just knew it would be an organized group that wouldn't complain." After spending a day with Team Rubicon, he filled out an application to join. "They're amazing," he says.
In April, one of Team Rubicon's original members, Wood's best friend, committed suicide.
"Veterans are having a tremendously difficult time transitioning back into society," Wood says. "Reutilizing veterans' skills for continued humanitarian service can stem the tide."
Sands says Team Rubicon did more than remove debris from her yard. They helped her husband, Robert, 28, cope with the tornado's aftermath. The couple and their children, Steven, 9, and Madison, 5, rode out the storm in their bathroom.
"After talking with them, my husband was able to get a decent night's sleep," she says. "They took a lot of stress off him."
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