Duke students beat feds to the convention center

September 7, 2005

I saw this on CNN this morning and was pretty amazed.

Miles O’Brien: As millions watched the horror unfold in New Orleans, our next guests took some immediate action. They got in a car, and they drove from North Carolina straight to Louisiana. They managed to get into the heart of the city and rescue seven people.

David Hankla, Sonny Byrd, Hans Buder are all sophomores at Duke University. They’re back at school now, and they join us from Durham…. Let’s begin with you, Hans. How did you all get the idea?

Buder: We were watching CNN at about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, and there was footage coming in from the Convention Center and the stories from there. It sounded like a perfect hell on earth. And nothing seemed to be getting done. So, I called my roommate, Sonny, and he said, “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

O’Brien: And that was it, and off you went…. It’s the kind of thing only college students would do. Just get in the car, go to New Orleans in the middle of a national catastrophe. Once you got there — David, why don’t you pick it up? What happened once you go there? How did you get to the Convention Center?

Hankla: Well, initially, we actually couldn’t get into the city at all. We went to road after road after road. At every one of them, they told us that, no, I’m sorry, the city is completely closed off, or the road is severely damaged or various other elusory answers. And we ended up doing volunteer work for a while in Baton Rouge, until Sonny had the bright idea of just picking up a press pass and just walking over and going, “Can we do anything with this?” So…

O’Brien: So, Sonny, you have a little larceny in your heart.

Byrd: I do, but only when it comes to saving people.

After explaning about the wonders of PhotoShop in this kind of endeavor, they explained how easy it was to get to the Convention Center and start helping.

O’Brien: So, off you go to the National Guard checkpoint. You brandish your credentials. I say credentials like this (air quotes). And the next thing you know you’re there. How long did it take you to get to the Convention Center?

Byrd: Past the National Guard blockade, it probably took us about 15 to 20 minutes.

Hankla: It was nothing. It was basically a direct drive.

O’Brien: All right. Now here’s the part where people at home are going to be scratching their heads and say, wait a minute, three guys from college, they drive in with a couple of credentials, and it takes them only 20 minutes to get from the checkpoint to the Convention Center. How is it people were suffering for so long there?

Buder: That’s right, and that’s our question. Why were people stranded there for four or five days with no food and water? You know, there were murders and beatings in that place. And we heard about it on Thursday, about three days after. We drove in, and we have never been to New Orleans. And we made it in, in 20 minutes in a Hyundai Elantra, completely over land.

At the end of the segment, O’Brien said, “Sonny Byrd, Hans Buder, future heads of FEMA. Who knows? Maybe we should put them in charge right now.” There may be an opening soon…

The two of them rescued seven people from the Convention Center with a Hyundai Elantra? Nine people in one small car? Hmmmm. And where did they take the people? Back to Duke U? I don’t mean to be skeptical, but this story begs another half-dozen questions (in Kevin Drum-speak).

  • I’m sure they took people in smaller groupings than 7 at a time – they were able to come and go easily and were there for days – go look at it on CNN.com – (college students beat the fed in aiding evacuees) Its well documented and lots of film of them working with the refugees – they also showed footage of many many empty buses (their estimate was about 150- an estimate I’ve heard in other places as well eg Salon.com) either not being used or being driven OUT of the city EMPTY (while people were left there dying of heat exposure)!!!! they said that was their reason for coming on the show – to find out why no supplies or evacuees were getting in or out of the city when it was actually very easy to get in and out.

  • These exemplary young people epitomize to me what the real American spirit is all about- selfless service in the face of danger.
    Why the hell isn’t CNN and FOX highlighting the true heroism of these
    students?
    If I were the president of Duke or the governor of North Carolina I would give them a four year complete scholarship. It would be the only decent thing to do.
    When you contrast their good work with the fakery of Bush’s photo ops
    I want to vomit.

  • If you check the longer press reports you see that they actually went back and forth into New Orleans twice! They picked up some people and took them out of New Orleans to a shelter and then went back into the city and picked up the husbands of two of the women and another man. What a tremendous example of the Can-Do Spirit of America!

  • Sonny is a friend of mine from home and I jsut want to say that is just like him to do what he did. He has a tremendous heart and it mortifies me that the government didn’t do anything about the people being in New Orleans. After talking to him, there is absolutely no reason why somthing like this should happen. Absolutely uncalled for. And he’s such a modest person… Good for him and his friends. If only everyone was as selfless as they are…

  • This story seems almost like a fairytale. But I have to wonder if they went to New Orleans to help, or are they simply trying to make a name for themselves. It’s great that someone suggested that these young men should receive a monetary award (scholarship). That may be appropriate, but if Hans, David, and Sonny are as modest as they claim to be, any money that they receive as a result of this candid exposure should be donated to the people they saved and to other evacuees. I think that this would provide a happily-ever-after ending for everyone involved, especially those who need it the most.

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