Georgia soldier supporting humanitarian aid mission in Gaza Strip
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Corey Bond, an infantryman assigned to the Georgia National Guard, 48th Infantry Brigade, Able company, 3-12, carries his American-made flag during his mission off the coast of Gaza, May 29, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. M
A soldier from Georgia is in the Gaza Strip supporting the United States' humanitarian mission in the region.
Staff Sgt. Corey Bond has been serving as an 11B, infantryman, for 12 years in the Georgia National Guard, 48th Infantry Brigade, Able company.
As part of his second deployment, Bond is serving in the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) humanitarian aid mission at the temporary pier built off the Gaza coast.
He's working with the British and American units to deliver aid to the war-torn area.
"How do you go home and tell people, ‘I was a part of the greatest humanitarian aid efforts in the modern century?’ I go to a pier every day off the Gaza Strip in a war-torn country to help deliver humanitarian aid," said Bond. "On top of that, working with the IDF [Israeli Defense Force], working with the British and all the American units involved in this, it’s incredible. It’s cool to see this many people get together for one cause."
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Corey Bond, an infantryman assigned to the Georgia National Guard, 48th Infantry Brigade, Able company, 3-12, directs a DoD-contracted driver transporting humanitarian aid on the Trident Pier off the coast of Gaza, May 19, 2024.
Bond has brought his American flag with him while he works on the mission.
"This flag has been with me every single time I've walked onto the pier [and] it was on the pier the day it stabbed [to the Gazan shoreline]," he said.
His goal is to have the flag signed by the team from the beachhead portion of the pier and then present it to his father as a tribute.