Commander of Katrina Relief Effort to Retire

Russel Honoré, the general who gained renown for his handling of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, will retire from the army Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Honoré had a storied career, from Korea to Katrina, and although he’s “transitioning” (his preferred word) out of military life, he already has his next challenge lined up: improving America’s disaster preparedness.

"The ultimate human experience is to save someone else's life," said Honoré, adding that he thinks the nation is ripe for a national dialogue on readiness. The general, who said he lies awake thinking about how the US would respond to a tsunami like the one that battered Indonesia in 2004, is working on a book about lessons learned from Katrina. (More Russel Honoré stories.)