Veteran-Led Group Saving Lives In The Wake of Hurricane Helene

Former U.S. Army Green Beret Adam Smith initially had the sole purpose of finding his 3-year-old daughter and her mother in western North Carolina, as he was in Texas when Hurricane Helene ravaged the area. 

Smith said, “There was a private helicopter that landed on the pad out here — and we flew in and had the first helicopter rescue in the state,” he said. “My little baby girl was barefoot,” he said, choking up. “She was running in the field, and her mom was there, and they were perfect, and they were healthy, and everybody in our community was perfect and healthy, and we’re just so grateful that [the helicopter] was there.”

From that came Savage Freedom Relief Operations six days before FEMA and the government sent help. Smith called on some military buddies to help fill in a crucial gap in the first days after the storm. He pointed out in the first 72 hours, you can save the most lives with immediate response.  They set up shop at a Harley Davidson dealership in Swannanoa. They set up a section for operations – where volunteers took in requests for help and directed operations, a logistics section coordinating requests for supplies, and an intelligence section where volunteers searched online for anyone needing assistance.

Eventually, the FAA designated the field as a controlled air space, officially recognizing them. An active duty Marine who took personal leave to volunteer said they were even busier than his deployment to Afghanistan.

They had the whole operation running so smoothly that U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of Fort Liberty and the 18th Airborne Corps, took pointers.  The U.S. military began embedding troops there to assist.

They plan to stay in the area as long as they are needed.