TED演讲:退役军人的新任务--救灾

 　　Two years ago, after having served four years in the United States Marine¹ Corps² 两年前，我在美国海军陆战队服役了四年

　　and deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan,  也曾调配到伊朗和阿富汗

　　I found myself in Port-au-Prince, leading a team of veterans and medical professionals 我被安排到太子港领导一支由退役军人和医疗专业人员组成的队伍。

　　in some of the hardest-hit areas of that city, three days after the earthquake. 就在地震刚过去三天，我到达这座城市受灾害最严重的一些地区里。

　　We were going to the places that nobody else wanted to go,  我们去了没有任何人想要去的地方，

　　the places nobody else could go, and after three weeks,  也没有任何人能够去的地方。三周过后，

　　we realized something. Military veterans are very, very good at disaster response. 我们意识到，那些退役军人非常善于应变灾难。

　　And coming home, my cofounder and I,  回来过后，我和我的伙伴

　　we looked at it, and we said, there are two problems.  审视了情况，发现两个问题。

　　The first problem is there's inadequate³ disaster response.  第一个问题，危机处理不妥当

　　It's slow. It's antiquated⁴. It's not using the best technology, and it's not using the best people. 速度太慢。方法过时。科技并非最先进的，也没有最完善的团队

　　The second problem that we became aware of  我们意识到的第二个问题是

　　was a very inadequate veteran reintegration,  没有好好融合退役军人

　　and this is a topic that is front page news right now  现在这个议题上了头条

　　as veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan,  当军人从伊拉克和阿富汗退役回来

　　and they're struggling to reintegrate into civilian⁵ life.  他们都很难重新融入普通人的生活

　　And we sat here and we looked at these two problems,  所以我们仔细地研究了这两个问题

　　and finally we came to a realization⁶. These aren't problems.  终于我们的结论是，这些并不是问题

　　These are actually solutions. And what do I mean by that?  而是解答。我指的是什么呢？

　　Well, we can use disaster response as an opportunity for service for the veterans coming home. 首先，对退役军人来说，灾难管理是一个机会

　　Recent surveys show that 92 percent of veterans want to continue their service when they take off their uniform. 近来调查发现有92%的退役军人愿意在退役后继续服务社会

　　And we can use veterans to improve disaster response.  我们可以让退役军人改善赈灾行动

　　Now on the surface, this makes a lot of sense, and in 2010, we responded to the tsunami⁷ in Chile, 初步看来，这是理所当然不过了。在2010年，我们已经派遣救灾队前往援助

　　the floods in Pakistan, we sent training teams to the Thai-Burma border.  智利海啸、巴基斯坦水灾，也派培训队伍到泰缅边境

　　But it was earlier this year, when one of our original members caused us to shift focus in the organization. 但却是在今年不久前，一位前队员导致我们转移了组织的方向

　　This is Clay Hunt. Clay was a Marine with me.  他就是克莱·亨特。克莱是我的海军伙伴

　　We served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.  我们一起在伊拉克和阿富汗服役

　　Clay was with us in Port-au-Prince. He was also with us in Chile.  在太子港和智利，他也和我们同在

　　Earlier this year, in March, Clay took his own life.  不久前，克莱自杀了

　　This was a tragedy, but it really forced us to refocus what it is that we were doing. 这是个悲剧。不过却让我们重新思考我们的方向

　　You know, Clay didn't kill himself because of what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. 克莱并非为了在伊拉克和阿富汗所发生的事情而自杀。

　　Clay killed himself because of what he lost when he came home. 反而是为了回家后他所失去的一切而自杀

　　He lost purpose. He lost his community.  他失去了生命目标。他失去了他的社群。

　　And perhaps most tragically⁸, he lost his self-worth.  最悲惨的是，他失去了自我认同。

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

4 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

8 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。