KAGNEWSTATION, ASMARA, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA...A call for help crackles over the airwaves. A city with a population of 40,000 has suffered a major disaster. Medical personnel and supplies are scarce.....     "Can you Help?"

Kagnew Station, a United States Army post at Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia, could, and did, help.

On January 20th, the red Sea port city of Hodeida on the central, western coast of the south Arabian peninsula country of Yemen was razed by a major fire. Hundreds, possible thousands, were left homeless in the aftermath of the conflagration. Nine days later, the Government of Yemen, unable to cope with the tragedy alone, requested aid from the government of the United States.

Through the American Consulate in Asmara the call was relayed to Kagnew Station approximately 300 air miles from the stricken city.

On the following day, January 30th, Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Harris, Commanding Officer of Kagnew Station, dispatched a medical team to Hodeida. Headed by Post Surgeon, Major Glen B. Burt Jr., the team included Captain Louiso Anderson, Army Nursing Corps, SFC Charles B. Long, S/Sgt George Luttkus, S/Sgt Allen Neiman and Sp5 William H. Larrimer. Travelling by commercial airlines, the team carried with them small pox, tetanus, typhois and cholera vaccines to prevent the spread of disease, the lingering killer of such disasters. Other medicines including penicillin plus an Army field hospital complete with associated equipment were sent into the disaster area from Kagnew Station.

Other aid is on its way to Hodeida from various U.S. Armed Forces installations in Europe. Enough accine to immunize 10,000 people against typhus, tetanus, typhoid and cholera is being airlifted from the United States Army Medical Depot near Frankfurt, Germany.

Side by side in the ruins of a ravaged city, Americans and Yemenese battle a commony enemy ---- helping people who have lost the means to help themselves.