When Victoria's Secret Rescued the National Guard

Photo of the 69th Infantry Regiment's armory in New York City by Wikimedia user Dmadeo, edited by user AndreasPraefcke.

When SuperStorm Sandy hit New York City last week, the Army National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment found themselves without electricity, hot water, or even good ways to communicate with anyone outside the armory.

That's when Victoria's Secret came to the rescue.

Although the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show won't air until December 4, it's being filmed at the National Guard's armory tonight. And by the time Sandy came to town, the 500 kilowatt generators—eight in all—that the lingerie company uses to power its fashion show were already in place at the armory. So last Tuesday morning, the National Guard put a call in to Victoria's Secret, asking for help, and by Tuesday evening, the fashion show producers had not only gotten rudimentary power for the armory, but they had managed to get all of the armory's power up and running, from lights to heaters to elevators.

"We were dead in the water until Victoria’s Secret showed up." -Capt. Brendan Gendron

When the troops later needed a forklift to aid in the distribution of emergency supplies, Victoria's Secret stepped in again and lent their own.

For more information, including some technical details, on how Victoria's Secret helped the National Guard so they could help the victims of Sandy, check out Noah Shachtman's article over at Wired.