Wisconsin Air National Guard earthquake relief effort in Managua – Part 1

Footage of the Wisconsin National Air Guard to Nicaragua and earthquake relief effort in Managua. Part 1 begins on the runway at Truax airstrip in Madison with shots of USAF military cargo planes and an interview with Governor Patrick Lucey on January 2. Lucey is speaking about the Wisconsin relief effort to aid Nicaragua, organized by political and local business support. He discusses the need to supply nutritional food aid, listing a corn soya meal donated from Krause Milling Company in Milwaukee, pre-cooked meats from Oscar Meyer in Madison, and paper bags. An Oscar Meyer delivery truck is visible behind him. The footage then cuts to the Managua airport showing USAF military airplanes arriving, food supplies being offloaded, and a warehouse operation attending to lines of Nicaraguans accepting aid. This footage includes two interviews. The first is with an American Air Force pilot about the arrival to Managua. The second is with an American relief organizer, who answers the reporter’s questions about the immediate food need in caloric value and regional distribution, about the future need for non-food aid, and about daily contact with Governor Lucey’s office.

The earthquake occurred on December 23, 1972, and through an international program started by President Kennedy in 1963, Wisconsin and Nicaragua were Sister states. The earthquake relief from Wisconsin referenced in this footage occurred in early January, after the first military cargo plane left Madison on January 2.