The USS Kearsage: a U.S. Navy helicopter carrier built to transport troops to combat. But these days, it's serving a different purpose... It has laid anchor off the coast of Haiti to provide assistance after the 4 devastating hurricanes to hit in the past month: Fay, Gustav, Hanna, then Ike.

Severe floods and landslides mean relief supplies can be delivered only by boat or helicopter. The navy distributes food provided by the United Nations World Food Programme as well as its own supplies. Haitians are in desperate need of clean water.

After the storms forced hundreds of thousands of persons out of their homes the Kearsage quickly veered towards Haiti when the hurricanes struck. It was already out on a mission geared to other Caribbean nations to provide humanitarian supplies and medical services in its state-of-the-art onboard hospital, originally designed to treat injured soldiers.

The USS Kearsage is playing a key role in the relief effort underway in Haiti but the United States has been criticized for not sending further assistance to its impoverished neighbor...