Connecticut Army National Guard Major Helps Residents of Flint, Michigan

A Connecticut man is paying it forward and hoping to inspire others to do the same for those affected by the Flint, Michigan water crisis.

George Hurd, born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut, is currently serving full-time as a Major in the Texas Army National Guard, he said in an email sent to Patch. Along with his 15-year-old daughter Olivia, he drove from where he is currently stationed in Mansfield, Texas to Flint Michigan to help families during the water crisis.

Hurd and his daughter drove more than 1,200 miles from Mansfield to Flint over four days to deliver 1,027 bottles of water, 10,800 body wipes and $1,000 toward a used car for a single mom who had no transportation, Hurd said.

According to Defense.gov, Hurd serves as the deputy operations officer for the 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in Round Rock, Texas.

Hurd wrote the following letter on his Facebook page before they left Texas:

"Water is the most essential need for human survival. Over the course of my military career I have handed out clean bottled water to Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian police manning desert checkpoints, displaced children all over Iraq, and to kids in the remote Pashtun villages of Afghanistan. With that backdrop in mind, I cannot stand idle while American children are thirsty for clean water in Flint Michigan.

I, along with my 15 year old step-daughter Olivia are going to do our part to help during Spring Break. We are heading from Mansfield Texas to Flint Michigan (1,300 Miles/21 Hour Drive) on Saturday morning and will go door-to-door delivering cases of bottled water to children afflicted by the lead-based contaminated water system. We are calling our road trip the "Flint Water Brigade" and hope it inspires others to do the same.

We will be convoying from Texas to Michigan via Dallas TX, Texarkana TX, Little Rock AR, Memphis TN, Nashville TN, Bowling Green KY, Louisville KY, Cincinnati OH, Toledo OH, Ann Arbor MI, and arriving in Flint on March 15th.

We hope our voyage brings more awareness to the Flint Water Crisis and inspires others to surge on Flint to help quench the thirst of those kids, our fellow Americans. Our help will be needed until their water system is restored. Lets do this!

George Hurd"

Photo: Texas Army National Guard members Maj. George Hurd, left, Staff Sgt. Erdoo Thompson, center, and 1st Lt. Matthew Verdugo, all from the 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, load bottled water in Round Rock, Texas, in preparation for Hurd's convoy to Flint, Michigan. Texas Army National Guard. Photo by Master Sgt. Daniel Griego