FYI, below article describes well the passion of the General I directly work for here in Georgia.

LT. Gen Honore is now in charge of all military in the relief effort for Katrina..he is a native from Louisiana and we could not have a better leader in charge..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New York Post
September 3, 2005

Gen. Ragin' Cajun

By Andy Geller

The three-star Army general tapped to lead the National Guard's recovery operations along the battered Gulf Coast is a cigar-chomping "John Wayne-type dude" with a Cajun accent.

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore was commander of the 1st U.S. Army in Fort Gillem, Ga., when he was named to head the newly created Joint Task Force Katrina, based at Camp Shelby in Mississippi.

In flood-ravaged New Orleans yesterday, he hit the ground running. Mayor Ray Nagin, who has been very critical of the actions of President Bush and the feds, singled out Honore for praise.

"Now, I will tell you this — and I give the president some credit on this — he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is General Honore," Nagin said.

"He came off the doggone chopper and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done."

One of Honore's hobbies is throwing tomahawks. The other is collecting military medals and decorations. He's earned more than two dozen, including the Bronze Star and a Distinguished Service Medal.

A native of Lakeland, La., Honore began his military career after graduating from Southern University in 1971. He was commissioned a second lieutenant. He subsequently commanded a unit that was deployed to Saudi Arabia during the first Persian Gulf War and served as commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea.

And along the way he picked up a master's degree in human resources from Troy State University.

Honore, married with four children — one of whom lives in New Orleans — is directing his 1,000 National Guard troops from a New Orleans street corner.

Reporters traveling with him say he is very determined to have the effort look like a humanitarian-relief operation.

For example, he stopped a truck filled with National Guard troops and told them, "Point your weapons down. This is not Iraq."

Honore said getting food and water to the hungry and desperate at the city's jam-packed convention center is very difficult.

"If you ever have 20,000 people come to supper, you know what I'm talking about," he said.

Honore said high water near the convention center and Superdome is making it tough for troops to get in. But they've been unloading trucks of food and water, and will restock when they're empty.

The general said he knows people in the area are frustrated at the pace of the relief effort, and he is, too.

But he downplayed talk of mass lawlessness in the Big Easy, saying most of the people on the streets are families waiting to be evacuated.

With Post Wire Services