Tens of thousands of troops have been mobilized over the past six days to assist with search and rescue for victims of Tuesday's devastating earthquake. As of yesterday, a total of 104,906 troops had been mobilized.
A number of troops are now living in tents like their civilian counterparts in regions worst hit by the quake because their quarters have also become unlivable and hazardous, an official with the Ministry of National Defense said.
No injuries have been reported so far among troops deployed for search and rescue, said one official, who asked not to be identified.
Major military property damaged included a base in Nantou County's Chichi (
Troops conducting search-and- rescue work have on some occasions had to blaze new trails to get to remote areas in central mountainous regions which were cut off from the outside due to mudslides caused by the quake, the official said.
These troops, mostly from signal units, bring food to people trapped in those areas until reinforcements arrive and move them out to safer areas, he said.
Major Yang Chu-chieh (楊著潔), a spokesman with the army's command post in Nantou County's Puli (埔里) township, said the most unbearable thing for the rescue units is that many of them live in the worst-hit regions in central Taiwan, with family members having suffered injuries and sustained property damage in the quake.
"These soldiers have to forget about their family losses while trying to minimize the loss for other families," Yang said. "They don't complain about it at all. They still stay on their job and work hard."
Yang said that as far as military hardware is concerned, the US-made UH-1H Huey transport helicopters, "though commonly considered to be too old to be used intensively," have surprised everybody by their effectiveness.
"The disaster provides a good chance for the military to test and improve its preparedness for emergency situations," he said.
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