BILOXI, MISS. -- With a C-17 jet full of food, water and supplies, and members of the 97th Air Mobility Squadron from Altus Air Force Base flew to the ravaged region of the Gulf Coast on Sunday. Their mission was to alleviate some of the suffering for the desperate residents in Mississippi.

On board were seven pallets of food donated by the people of Altus and one forklift from the Air Force base,

As part of a massive relief effort, the squadron delivered a much-needed payload donated by Jackson County residents. Along with supplies picked up along the way at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, the entire haul was deposited at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. The food and water will be given out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A C-5 jet was also deployed on Sunday to New Orleans from Altus.

"This mission is of particular interest to the community," said AFB's Lt. Colonial Tal Metzger. "We are going to do everything we can to help them out. This is about people helping people."

While the damage to Mississippi has been overshadowed by the dire situation of New Orleans, the devastated coastline was visible as the plane came in for a landing. The supplies delivered by the 97th Squadron is just another step in what will be a long process to get the region back on its feet.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Metzger said of the relief effort.

Keesler is adjacent to Biloxi, but was not as heavily as that city. Lt. Col. Patrick Halloran said his unit was able to get the base back to operational status soon after the hurricane ended.

"Overall the base was pretty severely impacted. We were one of the first teams in here. Our job here was to do exactly that, assess how quickly we could open the base. Then open up the flow to it. I would say we are operating at 100 percent right now."

Students from the base were evacuated to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. Evacuation of civilians will continue for as long as it is needed.

"I'm doing everything I can to help out," said Keesler Staff Sgt. Robert Lupton. "My squadron asked for volunteers, and I stepped up."

While Lupton eagerly volunteered for the evacuation mission, like many soldiers, he has personally had to deal with the devastation of Katrina. He was dealt the same fate as almost all the residents of Biloxi.

"My family and I lost everything," Lupton said. "Our house and all of our possessions are gone. My wife was upset to a point about losing all of her pictures. We have a 2-month-old child. I was not able to recover the baby pictures."

In the week following the rampage of Katrina, criticism was levied at the government for not taking action sooner to help the residents of the Gulf Coast. With kids starving, the elderly dying and gangs looting, there seemed to be no help in sight and people were left to fend for themselves.

But that changed this weekend as the National Guard and military have been mobilized to form a strong presence in the region. First came the order, then the relief, which began to show up in Mississippi on Thursday. The official death toll in this state had reached 126 on Sunday. That total number of Katrina's victims is expected to reach into the thousands. Along with death has come disease. An outbreak of dysentery has hit Biloxi, which has slowed the evacuation process. The disease has been spread through the drinking of contaminated water.

"We started sheltering folks on (last) Sunday afternoon in preparation for Hurricane Katrina," said Col. Douglas Hayner, vice commander of the 81st training wing. "We sheltered about 6,000 people in seven shelters. We evacuated whole lot more from the local community. It was a lot more severe that we had ever anticipated. Keesler Air Force Base and the surrounding community was completely devastated."

Much of the food and supplies that are coming to the Gulf Coast are being flown on the C-17 Globemaster III or C-5 Galaxy. The C-17 can carry a payload capacity of 170,900 pounds and travel at 450 knots.

"What we really need are things that can lift people's spirit," Hayner said. "Like toys for kids, like phone cards so people can call out. Just moral things. We have enough food and water. We don't have enough of those small things that mean a lot in situations like this."

Altus Air Force Base will be making return trips to Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida and plan to do whatever they are called upon to do to aid in the recovery.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," said Lt. Colonial Tal Metzger. "We are prepared for the long haul."

Reach Michael Kinney at sports@altustimes.com.