GRAND ISLE, La., - Soldiers from the Louisiana Army National
Guard's 922nd Horizontal Engineer Company, 769th Engineer Battalion,
bulldozed sand to close the gap between two peninsulas here May 7.
The 922nd, based in Gonzales, La., aims to fill the 700 foot strait with an
80 foot wide berth of land as a secondary line of defense if any oil makes
it past the boom line in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Our short term mission is that we're filling the breach to block any oil,"
said 2nd Lt. Kyle J. Galloway, platoon leader with the 922nd. "However,
because there actually used to be land here, this is also a restoration
mission."
This mission is of special importance to 922nd heavy equipment operator,
Sgt. George B. Achee.
"My dad is a fisherman," said Achee, a native of Baker, La., "and he
expressed to me the importance of keeping the Gulf of Mexico free of oil and
how much it would mean to the economy."