Discussions here in the Lounge plus an "On This Day ..." article in Wikipedia made me want to ask folks if they have examples of organisations or Governments who have really "taken care of business". By that, I mean where the organisation in question has carried out something remarkable on behalf of its people. I'm not necessarily thinking of situations where "Special Forces" are sent in to take down the bad guys, although clearly Operation Entebbe is an extraordinary example of this. Have people got exceptional examples of getting things done, as was the case with Operation Solomon? This was an enormous humanitarian exercise and pretty much unique in terms of scale (or is it?). Obviously, it will be wonderful if we start thrashing out issues of racism (why did the Israelis only want to help Ethiopian Jews?) but that's not what I'm after here. What incredible undertakings have inspired or astounded you?
The Japanese authorities' reaction to catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis on many successive occasions has been rapid, effective and well-organised. Rescue salvage and reconstruction are a model. It's a tradition there.
The response to the Christchurch (NZ) earhquakes, and not just the Gov., but ordinary citizens and private clubs and organisations, tales of people driving 500 kms to deliver emergency supplies and food from their own pocket, the Student Army, 1000's of uni students who gave countless hrs of their time in the aftermath/clean up for months afterwards to name just a few examples. Plus the international SAR (Search & Rescue) teams. (Unfortuanately the rebuild seems to be a slightly different story, due to slimey, shiester insurance companies.)
