‘Americans Help Each Other Out’

Step by muddy step, Troy Bohall marched in the rain and cold through a swampy field outside this rural logging town Thursday, on a mission to seek out and reclaim shuttle wreckage.

“When it falls into your backyard,” said the 43-year-old auto-shop owner from nearby Lufkin, “this is what you have to do.”

Despite the inclement weather, hundreds of East Texas residents continued to volunteer their time and pitch in to either search for Columbia’s wreckage or support those who were doing so by donating food, providing lodging or brewing coffee.

“We’re Americans, and Americans help each other out,” said Mary Ann McDaniels, who cooked 5 gallons of gumbo for those involved in the operation.

“We may fight and squabble a bit, but we all care about each other, and we all want to help.”

At the visitors bureau here, director Lisa Owens was swamped with calls from residents wanting to contribute.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Owens said as she tried to figure out where to house hundreds of National Guardsmen who have been activated to help out in the search.

“We have little old ladies calling to offer rooms, we have people cooking hams, making chili and baking pies, cakes and cookies ... and it’s all out of their own pockets.”

Each morning at 2, residents gather at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars building to begin cooking breakfast for the throngs of federal, state and local authorities who have set up their base of operations here. And as soon as breakfast is done, they get to work on lunch and dinner.

Holly Morgan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said that when calamity strikes, there is generally a burst of volunteerism, but the spirit of cooperation often dissipates rather quickly.

This disaster, she said, has been different.

“I’ve been at fires and seen people walking around not wanting to do their job, but here, the morale is amazing,” Morgan said. “Everybody here is really into this.”

For Hemphill, which is near the Louisiana line, the number of searchers nearly surpasses the 1,106 residents.

Representatives from more than 64 agencies have descended on this tiny community.

And, authorities say, more personnel are expected to arrive in coming days to help search the large debris field in dense woods throughout Sabine County. Half the county is considered by NASA to be within a “search area.”

However, the driving rain and chilly temperature, which hovered around 40 degrees all day long, did hamper recovery efforts Thursday.

Helicopters and planes, which had been helpful earlier in spotting wreckage, were grounded.

Divers, who were supposed to investigate three “possible targets,” including a piece that might be more than 20 feet long, did not go into the water because of the conditions. Some land search missions were also cut short.

“The searchers were becoming preoccupied with staying on their feet in the slippery mud,” said Larry Kile, a Forest Service crew leader.

Many of the volunteers did not want to quit, he said, but the quality of the search was not good enough to ensure they were locating everything in their path.

Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles put the situation succinctly at an evening news conference: “The weather is really kicking our rear ends. What we really need is a couple of days of good weather

The rain and cold, however, did not deter Bohall and his crew of men, who trudged through soggy fields and thickets for nearly four hours in search of shuttle wreckage and human remains.

Slowly, methodically, the crew scoured the ground, making sure nothing was overlooked. On his back, Bohall carried the essentials: a machete, marking tape, plastic bags, food, water and a dry set of clothes for later.

Some searchers said the thought that they might find a piece of wreckage that could help solve the mystery of Columbia’s breakup motivates them to push forward.

Others said they want to find human remains to help bring closure to the astronauts’ families.

“You don’t really feel like this is a commitment,” said Matt Ramsey, 17, of Lufkin, who was part of the search. “It’s something you want to do. I want to be of service. And to be a part of history.”