An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Military experience helps reservist deal with tsunami

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Cathleen Snow
  • 911th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PITTSBURGH --  The U.S. military’s role in the tsunami aftermath may be winding down but not for one Air Force Reserve mortuary affairs officer.

Capt. Gerald Narigon from the 911th Airlift Wing services squadron, Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, spent four months at Dover Air Force Base, Del., serving as the operations chief for the port mortuary. The work involved the grim task of receiving American military heroes who died in Iraq.

Within a week of returning home New Year’s Eve, Captain Narigon left for Phuket, Thailand, to be part of a civilian disaster recovery team. The team identified, processed and recovered the remains and personal effects of tens of thousands of people killed in last year’s worst natural disaster. The world's most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years struck deep under the Indian Ocean Dec. 26, triggering massive tsunamis that obliterated cities, seaside communities and holiday resorts.

“The Thais are resilient people,” he said Feb. 10 during a mandatory week of leave. “It (Thailand) is 85 to 95 percent cleaned up already.”

Captain Narigon said his job as a finance officer for a disaster recovery team was the “cold, callus, business-aspect of death.” The work involved billing hours for forensic scientists, mortuary technicians, latent print specialists, crime-scene photographers, bereavement counselors, administrators, management personnel and other team professionals.

He handled the billing of 80 coworkers from around the world to provide the following services to the Australian government:

-- Recover remains and personal effects

-- Identify, process and dispose of remains and personal effects

-- Provide and coordinate telephone and crisis intervention support centers

-- Provide family and survivor assistance through an on-site family assistance center

-- Provide mental health services that included urgent response services and grief/bereavement counseling

-- Act as liaison with local and federal agencies, embassies and foreign governments

-- Design memorials and orchestrate memorial services

-- Provide experienced consultants for pre-incident planning and training

Captain Narigon’s military experience helped him deal with the tsunami disaster. Not only has he deployed many times to Dover’s port mortuary, but he was the mass graves officer in Baghdad, Iraq, from Dec. 6, 2003, to May 2004.

In Baghdad, he coordinated with the Iraqi Bureau of Missing Persons and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help locate mass graves in Iraq where missing Iraqis were buried.

The captain said he also assisted the Coalition Provisional Authority in finding more than half of the 550 missing Kuwaitis who died fighting the Gulf War in 1991.

His employer ordered him to take a week’s leave. He said not only is he required to return home for one week every three weeks that he works in Thailand, but he’s required to see a mental health specialist upon arrival to Thailand and when he departs the country as well.

“It’s good for other people, but I’ve deployed to the desert and Dover many times. For me, I hate leaving a job undone,” he said. “Being exposed to the things I’ve been exposed to over the years has helped me.”

Captain Narigon said it felt good to return the remains of the tsunami victims back to their families so the victims’ families could have closure.

“My military training helped me take over a program that was non-existent and put it into place,” he said.