The days Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) served with the Army's 82 Airborne Division and as a defense contractor may be behind him, but he's not letting his corresponding skill set go to waste. The Florida Republican took part in a Monday night rescue of a group of Americans trapped in Haiti, the rudderless Caribbean nation presently in the grips of cannibalistic gangs.

"I am proud to report that my team and I were successful in evacuating and rescuing a trapped, and at risk group of Americans from 'Have Faith Orphanage' in Haiti last night," Mills noted on X.

What's the background?

Haiti was already in rough shape before gangs started torching police stations, massacring civilians, and eating human flesh in broad daylight late last month. After all, the country's president was assassinated in 2021, and criminal elements have since taken full advantage of the resultant power vacuum.

In recent weeks, armed gangs have lain waste to the nation's capital, Port au Prince, and besieged the international airport. They've also taken control of the port and freed well over 4,000 convicts from the country's two biggest prisons, reported the Independent.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya in late February to beg for a United Nations-backed security force to stabilize his country. He has since announced he's throwing in the towel and resigning his post, as demanded by Haiti's terroristic gangs.

The State Department has advised Americans to get off the island, but that's now all but impossible.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reportedly said Monday that Americans unable to leave Haiti should register through the department's crisis intake form on the embassy's website.

The U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince states on its website that it "is not able to facilitate air travel for private citizens."

Mitch Albom, founder of a Haitian orphanage, told WDIV-TV, "There's no planes, no boats, there's no way out, and everything has been shut down by the gangs."

ABC News indicated that the land crossing into the Dominican Republic is similarly a no-go as the route is dominated by gangs.

Not waiting on Biden

Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain (R) told WDIV that she heard about Mitch Albom's troubles getting out of Haiti and reached out to him. Having elsewhere expressed doubt that the Biden administration was up the challenge, McClain reached out to Rep. Cory Mills.

"I said, 'I need your help. My constituents need your help,'" McClain reportedly told Mills.

Sure enough, Mills agreed to lead the rescue mission into the gang-ravaged island.

The Detroit News reported that the Florida Republican put together a crew and secured a helicopter and pilot in the Dominican Republic. After a first attempt was grounded by mechanical issues, Mills secured another chopper, then flew into Haiti, successfully evacuating Albom and nine others.

The 10 evacuees, eight of whom are from Michigan, were safely escorted to the Dominican Republic around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Albom expressed gratitude for the rescue, noting in a statement, "A group of us from Have Faith Haiti, including my wife and myself, were evacuated overnight from Haiti, where we had been sheltering in place since a state of emergency was declared."

"I had a responsibility to bring home 8 wonderful volunteers who were working with us," continued Albom. "But my wife's and my hearts ache for our kids still there. Saying goodbye to them was horribly difficult. We pray for help in making their country safe for them again, and we will be back with them the moment it is possible."

There are apparently 60 children and 40 staff at the orphanage.

McClain announced at an Armed Services Committee Hearing this week, "Last night, I coordinated with Congressman Cory Mills to rescue several Americans trapped in Port Au Prince."

"Congressman Mills actually participated in the rescue of those Americans abandoned by the Biden administration and the State Department," added McClain.

Mills noted on X, "This recent mission reiterates a disturbing reality that under President Biden's leadership American lives are continually jeopardized. I have conducted rescue/ evacs of Americans multiple times when Joe Biden has deserted them. There's a clear pattern of abandonment!"

"Americans at home and abroad are more unsafe under Biden than ever before," continued Mills. "We need President Trump back in the White House as the world can't afford 4 more years of Biden's failed administration."

Mills has a history of stepping in to help stranded Americans ostensibly left behind by the Biden administration.

Amid the Biden administration's botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mills — then a congressional candidate — reportedly helped another group of Americans get home safely.

Last year, the decorated combat veteran helped rescue scores of Americans who were left stranded in Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, including a son of Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.).

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