Mexican Navy Ship Wraps Up Aid Mission For Hurricane Katrina

The crew of a Mexican navy ship wrapped up five days of labor helping to clean up rubble, rebuild schools, distribute food and equipment, and lend whatever other support they could to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. CLASE "PAPALOAPAN" "They are going to be missed," American Red Cross official David Piontkowski said of the 350 sailors and officers who arrived on the Mexican navy ship Papaloapan last week - the first Mexican military contingent ever to offer aid to the United States. "I am completely impressed by how hard they worked," said U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Corey Barker. The Papaloapan arrived late Sept. 7 equipped with eight all-terrain vehicles, seven amphibious cargo vehicles, an ambulance with a mobile surgical unit, two helicopters and drinking water. Each day of the ship's stay a contingent of 75 sailors disembarked from the ship in hard-hit Biloxi, Mississippi, to do their part to help hurricane victims.