CHARLESTON, SC - Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, the U.S Air Force began flying missions into the grief stricken nation to get much needed supplies in and evacuees out. Many of these missions are based out of Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

On Wednesday, KULR-8's Sarah Gravlee boarded an Air Force C-17 cargo plane headed to Haiti to find out what the mission is all about. She filed this report.

"Our day started at about 7 a.m. when we reported to the base to catch our flight. We were flying with a crew based at McChord Air Force Base in Washington. They came down to Charleston, just to help in the Haitian relief missions. Wednesday's trip was this crew's sixth trip to Haiti."

"At 9:45 we took off and headed to Honduras where we loaded two fire trucks into the plane. Then we headed to Haiti to drop off the trucks and a few medical supplies we also had on board. When we landed there we found out we were going to be taking about 120 people out as well. About 40 of these people were orphans who have been adopted by U.S. Families."

"The plane doesn't have seats for everyone, so we had to make some people sit on the floor under luggage straps. Though it was clear the group was tired, they didn't seem to mind sitting on the floor because they were going to America."

"We dropped off all the evacuees in Miami, before heading back to Charleston. The whole mission took nearly 24 hours."

Next week on the KULR-8 News, we'll hear from the crew on the plane, Montana's airmen and women working to support the mission and families of the newly adopted Haitian children.