• Pass the pastrami! Katz's Deli turns 125

    During its 125 years on New York's Lower East Side, Katz's Deli, has been host to politicians, presidents and one of the most memorable movie scenes ever.  NBC's Allison Flicker reports.

    By Allison Flicker, NBC News

    It’s safe to say Steven Lamy loves pastrami sandwiches.

    "In my lifetime, I've probably eaten about 500 to 700 pastrami sandwiches...with a smile on my face, and probably a little mustard too,” he said.

    Not just any pastrami though – he loves the flavor at Katz’s.

    Lamy, 30, has been coming to Katz's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan since he was a kid. 

    Courtesy Katz's Delicatessen

    Katz's Delicatessen, seen on Manhattan's Lower East Side, has been a New York City landmark for the past 125 years.

    "My father used to come here with my grandfather...and then my father started bringing me and the same thing happened with my son," Lamy said. 

    And while his long-standing love for Katz’s food is undeniable, it is not the only thing that keeps him coming back.  

    "My favorite part about [Katz's] is that it brings me and my father and my son together," said Lamy, who makes the trek from Queens where he lives with his family. 

    The restaurant, celebrating its 125th anniversary this weekend, feels like home for many of its customers.

    Father and son-in-law Jeff Zilberberg and Michael Dawson recently drove four hours round-trip from the Poconos to eat at Katz’s for a single night, a journey they've made on more than one occasion.

    Courtesy of Katz's Delicatessen

    An exterior shot of Katz's Delicatessen.

    They like almost all of the food at Katz’s. On their latest visit they devoured hot dogs with sauerkraut, dark green barrel pickles, and Dr. Brown Cherry sodas before the main course: big pastrami sandwiches.

    “Nobody beats their sandwiches, nobody beats the atmosphere, and nobody beats the people in New York!” Zilberberg said.

    Katz’s fifth owner, Jake Dell, basically grew up in the deli.

    “I had my Bar Mitzvah here, in the store. If you look there’s a neon sign that says Jake’s Bar Mitzvah – I’m Jake,” he said.

    AP

    The interior of Katz's Delicatessen in 1965.

    Katz’s opened its doors on Ludlow Street in 1888. The delicatessen was originally called “Iceland Brothers,” named for its original owners. 

    In 1903, the Katz family joined the business, changing the name to “Iceland & Katz.” By 1910, they took full ownership of the restaurant and changed the name to Katz’s. The Dell family took over 88 years later.

    Celebrating that 'old-world flavor'

    On Friday, Katz's hosted a benefit dinner with celebrity chefs, and over the weekend, they'll feature live music, and an event designed for those with iron stomachs: their first-ever pastrami eating championship.

    On less eventful days, Katz’s has anywhere between 400 and 4,000 hungry customers.  

    “Over the course of the week, we can go through about 8,000 pounds of corned beef, maybe 15,000 pounds of pastrami, and 4,000 hot dogs,” Dell said.

    The food has “old-world flavor...[our] curing techniques are from the old country…the recipes are very old,” he said. 

    Pictures of politicians and celebrities decorate the wooden walls, a testament to the restaurant's popularity.

    “President Clinton came in here once,” Dell said. “He sat down, had two pastrami sandwiches, two knishes, and two diet sodas…he was picking off the plates of the secret service agents…which I thought was amazing.”

    And it's hard to ignore the table where Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal filmed their memorable scene in the 1989 romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally," prompting the oft-repeated line "I'll have what she's having!"

    “People come in here all the time to re-enact the scene, once a week or so,” Dell said of the movie that propelled the deli onto the big screen. “It’s always entertaining.”

    It's that kind of nostalgia that puts the restaurant in a league of its own.

    “Let other people reinvent the wheel…that’s a beautiful thing,” Dell said. “But Katz’s should always be Katz’s. Period.”

  • Students create toys for zoo elephants, easing life in captivity

    Courtesy of MassArt

    Playing the 'xylophone.'

    By Alessandra Hickson, NBC News

    Asian elephants Emily and Ruthie are resident MacGyvers at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Mass. -- hook up a light bulb or screw in a hanging installation and within the hour they’ll take it apart.

    Emily has also been known to pick up sticks and drum – on logs, pots or anything nearby. If the beat is really good, her 8,000-pound body wiggles to the beat.

    Ruthie, however, is more of a social butterfly, sniffing new people with the swing of her partially paralyzed trunk.

    “Ruthie would crawl in your lap if she could,” said Shara Crook-Martin, Curator at Buttonwood since 2008. “She feeds off of interacting with people.”

    There are more than 300 elephants in accredited U.S. zoos, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and keepers are looking for ways to engage these and other intelligent, endangered species.

    So in 2010 Buttonwood turned to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt).

    “I like big problems and I like big problems solved,” said Professor Rick Brown, who answered the call by developing an elective course with his non-profit, HandsHouse Studio. Their objective? To make toys for elephants. 


    Toys for Elephants was brought to our attention by a 'Nightly News' viewer on Twitter. Do you have a #BigIdea that you'd like to share? Learn more here. 

    The elephants are “always thinking and they’re very, very clever,” said former director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo, William Langbauer, who left in 2012. He oversaw the zoo when Brown’s class first started making toys in 2010.

    “To keep animals in human captivity, I think, it is incumbent upon us to do the best we can by them,” he said.

    When Buttonwood’s trainers first met Emily in 1968, she was only four years old.

    Ruthie was discovered abandoned in a trash dump in Danvers, Mass., in 1986.

    Despite years of rehabilitation, both elephants lacked social skills and Buttonwood’s trainers wanted to further enhance their lives.

    “Elephants are very cognitive animals, very complex and very emotional,” said Crook-Martin. “Their sheer size and strength makes it challenging to come up with things to keep them mentally stimulated.”

    Brown’s one-semester course challenges students from multiple disciplines to develop beneficial elephant toys. 

    “They did an incredible amount of research,” Langbauer said of the classes. “They were grilling the zoo keepers and they would come ask me questions about independent research they had done online and in the library.”

    Then the students met Emily and Ruthie.

    'Sky's the limit'

    For music-loving Emily, one student created the “Drum Roll” xylophone. Elephants bang the instrument with sticks or rub its surface to make music. In addition, there’s a “human xylophone” that passersby can play, which has led to “elephant jam sessions."

    A helix-shaped “Tire Tendril” can be rolled and picked up, providing exercise.

    Courtesy of MassArt

    And another toy makes noise as the elephants play, thanks to a larger than life rainstick.

    Courtesy of MassArt

    “What started as a novel concept has become a win-win situation for the students, for us and the animals,” said Crook-Martin who hopes the unique partnership continues for many years.

    Brown plans to expand the Toys for Elephants program nationwide and develop enrichment for other animals, such as bears or orca whales. “Elephant by elephant, we start to see the difference,” he said. 

    Buttonwood’s trainers and keepers said they could also envision the program being adapted for other species.

    “Keepers look at these toys and say we could this with a bear or large cats by adapting it or making it smaller,” said Crook-Martin. “Sky’s the limit with these ideas.”

    Until there’s more funding available, Brown and his class will stay focused on developing toys for Buttonwood’s elephants.

    “If the elephants have some ways to interact it will make their days far more interesting,” he said. “That will make them much happier in captivity.”  

    'Once in a lifetime experience'

    Melissa Fabbri, 22, heard buzz about an elephant class at MassArt.

    “I was really excited about working really big,” said Fabbri, who graduated from MassArt’s jewelry and metalsmithing program in May.

    After struggling with mediums and sketches, she examined the toys that were Emily and Ruthie’s favorites. That’s when she came up with the “Diamond,” which holds treats that only become accessible when the elephants roll it around. “The point is to encourage movement for them,” said Fabbri. 

    “The Diamond” is a favorite for Emily and Ruthie, who both love a good puzzle.

    Courtesy of MassArt

    “It’s so important to keep these amazing animals entertained, to help make their lives more enjoyable,” said Fabbri.

    For this former student, who likes to call Ruthie “the underdog” there’s only one-way to describe designing for elephants. “It was a huge, once in a lifetime experience.”

    NBC's Whitney Rodgers contributed to this report.

  • A salute to the class of 2013

    Nightly News' annual compilation of the most memorable commencement ceremonies and graduates from around the country.

    By Katie Yu, Producer, NBC News

    It’s one of our favorite yearly traditions here at NBC Nightly News: our salute to this year's college graduating class.

    For the class of 2013, we reached out to more than 400 schools, attended 10 graduations, and sorted through hundreds of hours of footage to pull together what we think are the truly memorable moments from this year’s commencement ceremonies.

    The focus has always been on the graduates themselves, but this year we shined a light on the families. An especially moving tribute by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis at the University of Vermont allowed us to highlight some of the special interactions between graduates and their loved ones.  

    Click here to see pictures of grads from across the nation.

    As exuberant and exciting as the celebrations were, graduates told us that their joy was tempered by loss. Their senior year was marked by the worst school shooting in history in Newtown, Conn.; the bombings at the finish line at the Boston Marathon; and most recently, the tornado that tore through Oklahoma.  Graduates told us that it was difficult not to reflect on national events as they enter the world beyond college.

    Happy and proud graduates from the class of 2013 describe how they feel.

    We were impressed by the thoughtfulness and the hopefulness of the students as they discussed the news events that shaped their last year in school. At the Ohio University commencement, President Obama challenged the class of 2013 to do better and to dream bigger. We have no doubt that they will all make us all very proud.

    Producer Katie Yu and video editor Irene Trullinger would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the schools that shared their video with NBC News.

  • Meet the nation's only BBQ reviewer

    NBC's Kevin Tibbles meets the man with the job everyone in Texas is hungry for: BBQ reviewer Daniel Vaughn.

    By Kevin Tibbles, Correspondent, NBC news

    DALLAS -- When they say everything’s bigger in Texas, they certainly were talking about the ‘Flinstonian’ short-rib our hero Daniel Vaughn is waving around in his left hand.

    His right hand, naturally, is holding a tray filled with brisket (lean and fatty), sausage and some scrumptious thing called pork butt (which is actually the shoulder).

    Sometimes he’ll check out the chicken, which 'round these parts is referred to as "yard bird".

    When you’re hanging out with Vaughn, the newly-minted-only-one-in-the-country barbecue editor for Texas Monthly Magazine, best keep the napkins handy.

    “Do you ever use utensils?” I meekly asked as he digitally digs into his feast.

    “I’m born with ‘em!” he laughs.

    NBC News

    NBC's Kevin Tibbles (right) and Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn enjoy scrumptious dishes.

    Our man has bellied up to the brisket bar in some 600 Texas BBQ joints in the last half dozen years, seeking the perfect marriage between meat and smoke and, sometimes, sauce.

    He’s a transplanted Ohioan who moved to the Lone Star State and quickly fell in love with its culture -- and its grub.  This guy is so into BBQ he even sports a pair of cowboy boots emblazoned with the various cuts of beef (like you see in those diagrams at the butcher’s counter).

    What’s he looking for in a review?

    “Is the seasoning overpowering or not there at all? The smokiness, and then the beefiness too. You don’t want the seasoning and the smoke to just completely overpower the beef," he said. "You wanna be able to tell that it’s brisket, you know?”

    Yes, my waistline is beginning to know very well.

    And like most kids in a candy store, Vaughn likes leaving the best for last; and in this case the best is the "fatty end."

    “The fatty end’s where you get the ‘meat candy’” he laughed. “You’ll get a hunk of fat and then you’ll realize: You know what? I just wanna eat that anyway!”

    I must say, it was the tenderest, moistest, juiciest, most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.

    Someone please pass another napkin.

  • For Moore, Okla., teen, graduation is bittersweet

    Like many of her classmates here, Saturday's high school graduation was an emotional ceremony for 18-year-old Alyson Costilla, a moment of  pride long anticipated. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

    By Ron Mott, Correspondent, NBC News

    MOORE, Okla. – As it was for many of her classmates here, Saturday’s high school graduation was an emotional ceremony for 18-year-old Alyson Costilla, a moment of pride long anticipated.

    But unlike most of her peers, she accepted her diploma one day after a final farewell to her mom, Terri Long, one of 24 people killed in Monday’s devastating tornado.

    “She talked about how exciting, like how excited she was to see me walk across the stage,” Costilla said, choking back tears. “How excited she was going to be for me to move to college.”

    Costilla’s mother was aware ominous weather was headed toward town and authorized the school to allow her daughter to leave early for home.

    While waiting there for her mom to arrive -- who, too, had left early from her job at the Federal Aviation Administration to check on Costilla -- the phone rang.

    “She called and told me I needed to get out of the house and drive as far south as I could. So, I did,” Costilla said.

    Fleeing for safety as the massive tornado churned and roared ever closer, Costilla repeatedly tried reaching her mother.

    “She wasn’t answering,” she said. “Eventually got through to her and she told me she was on I-44 and driving toward the house, which I didn’t understand.”

    After a few harried minutes, both mom and daughter behind the wheel, they connected again by cell phone.

    “She stopped at the 7-Eleven, and we don't know why because it's not on her way home,” Costilla said. “She said she was in the 7-Eleven in a bathroom with a whole bunch of people, and she said she was going to wait it out.”

    Terri Long never made it out of the convenience store alive.

    For her worried family, it would take an agonizing delay to learn her fate.

    “After it happened, my sis called me and told me that 7-Eleven had been hit,” Costilla said. “We were calling all the hospitals and none of them had her.

    “You think it would never happen to you, like, mom's strong. She's going to get through it. It’s not going to happen to her.”

    Later, Costilla’s uncle identified her mom’s body at the morgue.

    When her name was called at the graduation ceremony Saturday—one of three for Moore’s high schools—Costilla’s biggest supporter was missing. In the audience, though, as friends and family cheered her accomplishment, there were large photographs of Terri Long clutched in their hands.

    “It's just really hard because I wanted her there, and you can't physically hug her,” Costilla said.

    Ever since the unimaginable happened Monday afternoon, however, Costilla’s heart has been engaged in an unbreakable emotional embrace.

  • 'It is getting a lot harder to do this': Doctor shortage strains practices

    It's a national health care crisis. There just aren't enough doctors in our country. The shortage has hit rural America especially hard, but there may be some solutions. NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

    Chiara Sottile writes

    Tucked among the cornfields, windmills and water towers of Littlefield, in west Texas, Dr. Isabel Molina treats one patient after the next at Lamb Healthcare Center.

    Littlefield is a small, dusty town of about 6,500 people, but Molina's two-doctor practice draws from a much larger area. She and her partner serve a total population of about 15,000, she estimates. To keep up with her patient load, Molina regularly works 13-hour days without stopping to eat.

    "I usually eat breakfast over charts. I usually eat lunch over charts while I call patients back and take care of my dictations," says Molina, 38. "I do love what I do, but it is getting a lot harder to do this."

    A nationwide doctor shortage is expected to worsen over the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Medical schools, like Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are coming up with innovative ways to get young doctors practicing with fewer years in medical school. Dr. Steven Berk, TTUHSC Dean on the crisis and their efforts to help.  

    Molina is just one of thousands of primary care doctors nationwide working in an area designated as having too few health professions to meet the needs of the population.

    The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates that there is a shortage of up to 20,000 physicians and that the deficit will grow to 100,000 physicians in the next decade. An aging population - and an aging population of physicians themselves - will make matters worse as health needs become more severe and as doctors retire without enough new ones to replace them. And, millions more Americans will rely on our existing physicians when the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in next year.

    "We are very concerned that we're going to hand insurance cards to 30 million people and we won't have the doctors to treat them," says Dr. Atul Grover, the chief public policy officer at the AAMC.

    West Texas is one pocket of the country where entire counties lack even a single health care provider. The dire need inspired an innovative program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.

    "We felt at Texas Tech that it was very important to help solve the primary care crisis as best we could and one of the ways of doing that was to try to make sure we get enough students into primary care and into family medicine," says Dr. Steven Berk, the dean of the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

    From that concern, the Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT) was born at Texas Tech. The program teaches the competencies of four years of medical school in only three years and offers a scholarship to all students in their first year.

    Keeley Ewing-Bramblett is a third-year medical student at Texas Tech who grew up in the rural, one-physician town of Post, Texas, and saw firsthand how overloaded the town's only doctor was.

    "I really just want to go back to a place where I know I'm going to be making an impact and where I'm going to get to see kind of the fruits of that impact," says Ewing-Bramblett, 24. She signed up for the FMAT program the day she heard about it, and hasn't looked back.

    Medical students nationwide are struggling to find residency positions - a crucial stage in their process of becoming a doctor.  But, a unique program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine guarantees residency spots for Keeley Ewing-Bramblett and her fellow students. It will allow her to stay in a rural area where, "I know I'm going to be making an impact."

    "When they offered an accelerated track where I could get out and be doing what I love essentially a year sooner and also for half the amount of debt that would have otherwise been incurred, for me it was kind of a no-brainer,” recalls Ewing-Bramblett.

    To curb the physician shortage, medical schools across the country have boosted their enrollment by 16.6 percent since 2000. Five-thousand more students are expected to graduate per year by 2019, according to the AAMC. 

    But just graduating more students won't reverse the physician shortage.

    There has been a bottleneck to getting more young doctors into residency programs: the stage in medical training that follows graduation from medical school and takes place under the supervision of licensed physicians. The number of federally funded residencies has been frozen since 1997 when Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act.

    "A lot of the benefit of increasing those class sizes and building those new medical schools - a lot of those benefits won't be realized unless there's additional residency positions," admits Berk.

    Of almost 22,000 U.S. medical school graduates who wanted to be "matched" to a residency position this year, 1,600 applicants did not find one, according to the National Resident Matching Program that places residents.

    That's one more reason why lawmakers are stepping in. Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) introduced the "Training Tomorrow's Doctors Today Act" in March that would create 15,000 new Graduate Medical Education slots over the next five years.

    In an interview, Schock stressed that, "We know that a crisis is coming where there are more and more Americans who need doctors that are going to go without if we don't get them trained and in the field."

    Even if the bill passes - no easy task in an era of squeezed budgets - there is no guarantee that new doctors will practice in the areas where they are needed most.

    "Physicians cluster in urban centers where they can work with each other efficiently and leave the rural areas and some other areas underserved in the process," explained Dr. Richard "Buz" Cooper, director of the New York Institute of Technology's Center for the Future of the Healthcare Workforce.

    Back in Littlefield, Molina bounds from one appointment to the next. "When you're this short-staffed, it becomes something that is at the cost of everything else. Missing things with my kid, missing things with my family," she admits.

    As she leaves one exam room, files the necessary stack of papers and steps into another room to asses a patient, , she smiles all the while. "Once I actually have help, I think then I'll be able to relax and see what a real life feels like again."

    Dr. Michael Johns, a professor in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at Emory University, says it will take wider reform to get doctors the help they need. "Just having more doctors is not going to fix this." he says. "For one, we need a team-based approach that will get nurses, and other members of the healthcare team more involved with more responsibility."

    And, while the Family Medicine Accelerated Track will graduate more family care doctors, it does nothing to increase the number of specialty physicians nationwide.

    "What everyone is missing is that a little over half of the shortage is in specialty medicine," argues Johns. "The battle shouldn't be about having a 30-to-70 ratio of specialists to primary care doctors, it should be about how we have a shortage of both."

    The slow pace of reform is frustrating for medical students like Ewing-Bramblett who chose  primary care medicine because her mother suffers from chronic illness and a primary care physician made an outstanding difference in her care.

    "It hurts me on a few levels," said Ewing-Bramblett. "There's just no way that you can establish the type of relationship with your patients that's going to really foster their care like I experienced with my mom. There's no way you can do that in the 10 minutes that you have to see each patient."

    For now, all she can think to do is hold on to her determined spirit. She knows what to expect: the long hours, waiting rooms packed with patients, even personal sacrifices.

    "There's really no question about where I want to go," she says. "I'm going to be making a difference in at least one small community."

     

  • POWs reunited four decades later at Nixon Library

    Nearly 200 former Prisoners of War were reunited at the Nixon Library where they were first honored four decades ago. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

    By Aarne Heikkila, Producer, NBC News

    YORBA LINDA, CALIF. -- It was 40 years ago that hundreds of Vietnam-era Prisoners of War were saluted at the biggest White House dinner ever following their release in a prisoner exchange. Richard Nixon was president then, and on Friday at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif., nearly 200 of those P.O.W.'s came together once more.

    Charles 'Chuck' Boyd was held for seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. After his release, Boyd went on to become a four-star general in the U.S. Air Force. He reflects on his time as a hostage, the bond he forged with his fellow prisoners, and the gathering this week at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

    Below, we've posted some of the archival photos from the original event, which took place on May 24, 1973. 

    Here, President Nixon and his wife, Pat Nixon, sing "God Bless America" with Irving Berlin, the original composer of the song. 

    There were about 600 Prisoners of War that night in the State Department Auditorium. At the time, it was the largest dinner ever held at the White House.

    Nixon Library and Museum

    One of the men being welcomed home was future Arizona Sen. John McCain, who had been a P.O.W. for six years. 

    Oliver F. Atkins / Nixon Library and Museum

    President Nixon shakes hands with Lieutenant John McCain in the receiving line at a welcome home ceremony for returned POW's in the State Department Auditorium.

    The veterans were accompanied by wives, mothers and significant others. 

    White House Photo Office Collect / Nixon Library and Museum

    Also in attendance: Julie Nixon Eisenhower and her husband, David Eisenhower.

    White House Photo Office Collect / Nixon Library and Museum

    President Nixon and his wife Pat entertained the crowd by singing "God Bless America" alongside Irving Berlin, the original composer of the song. 

    White House Photo Office Collect / Nixon Library and Museum

    The next day, Col. John Dramesi gave President Nixon an American flag made from handkerchiefs and scraps of material that he created while in captivity. The Dramesi flag has since become a symbol of the POW ordeal, according to the Nixon Library. 

    Nixon Library and Museum

     

     

  • Ann Curry's behind-the-scenes tour of Nightly

    Tonight Ann Curry anchors "Nightly News" -- check out her behind-the-scenes tour of the studio. 

     

  • RV comeback drives hiring boom in Indiana town

    RV sales have been especially important to Elkhart County, Indiana, where nearly half of the RVs on the road are made. NBC's John Yang reports.

    John Yang, Correspondent, NBC News writes

    GOSHEN, Ind. -- When you see an RV on the highway or in a campground, there's a good chance it came from this area of north-central Indiana: Almost half of RVs on the road today were made in Elkhart County.

    When the recession hit and RV sales plunged (58 percent from 2006 from 2009), and unemployment here soared to the highest in the nation: a staggering 20.9 percent in March 2009, compared to the nationwide unemployment of 8.7 percent.

    As the economy recovers, sales have come roaring back, rebounding 72 percent from 2009 to 2012. In April, the jobless rate was 8.2 percent, closer to the national average of 7.5 percent.

    You can see the difference at Keystone RV, one the biggest makers of RV trailers, where production lines are humming.

    "Business is certainly a lot better," Keystone president Matt Zimmerman said. "We're experiencing incredible growth, steady growth. We're still a little ways from that pre-recession-type number, but we like the trend and the pattern that we're seeing.”

    It's showing in their payroll. As sales slowed, Keystone's workforce shrank to 1,900 in 2009. Now, they have a record 3,200 workers and are still hiring.

    "There's a big demand (for workers), so naturally, the pay goes up," Zimmerman said. "I think you'll see that throughout the county. Everybody is forced to do that because the labor pool is getting a little bit tighter."

    Keystone woodworker Marlin Hostetler is back at work after being laid off. During that time, he was forced to sell his house and move his family in with relatives.

    "Now I'm back on my two feet again," Hostetler said. "We really rebounded from it. We had some big debts to pay off."

    Matthew Miller, a recent Keystone hire, landed the job after looking for two months. He was in high school when the RV industry turned sour and watched as his dad got laid off.

    "I could definitely tell there was a difference at home, for sure," Miller said.

    Miller, who's married, has a two-year-old daughter and another child on the way, said he's not worried about the same thing happening to him.

    "It's very comforting know that I can work at a place like this," he said, "not necessarily be worried about my job, and know that I'm going to be able to provide for my family."

    The RV comeback has reached beyond Indiana’s borders. At CampingWorld in Santa Clarita, Calif., business is booming.

    "Month after month, sales continue to go up," general sales manager Beau Bixey said. "I have more people walking around asking questions than I have sales people for."

     

  • How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

    EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

    Mandy Chitty pauses May 23, 2013 while ending the day's search for personal belongings at her home in Moore, Okla.

    By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    Friday's devastating tornadoes, coming so soon after the heartbreak in Moore, means even more help will be needed in the weeks and months ahead. There are many, many relief organizations already in the area, working with residents. Here are some of them and ways that you can help. 

    American Red Cross
    The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank.

    If you're searching for a missing relative, check Red Cross Safe & Well's site. And please register if you're within the disaster region. The site is designed to make communication easier after a tragedy like this. 

    If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile, the donation will show up on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your balance if you have a prepaid phone. You need to be 18 or older, or have parental permission, to donate this way. (If you change your mind, text the word STOP to 90999.)

    The Red Cross also accepts frequent flier miles as donations. Delta, United Airlines and US Airways partner with the Red Cross throughout the year, which uses miles to help get volunteers and staff to key locations during disasters. (Note: The donation is not tax-deductible as the IRS considers it a gift.) For Delta, email: delta.bids@delta-air.com with your SkyMiles number, the number of miles you want to donate, and specify the Red Cross as the charity. You can donate miles online at United Airlines Donate Your Miles and US Airways Dividend Miles.

    Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095.

    OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund
    The state of Oklahoma, coordinating with the United Way of Central Oklahoma, has established the OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund to help "with the long-term medical, emotional and educational needs" of tornado victims.

    Donations can be made online at UnitedWayOKC.org.

    Phone: 1-405-236-8441.

    Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
    The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, working with the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is seeking monetary donations. To donate, visit the regional food bank's website, or give $10 by texting the word FOOD to 32333.

    Phone: 1-405-972-1111

    Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief
    This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters." 

    It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.

    You can send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK., 73112.

    Salvation Army
    The Salvation Army sent disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is set up mobile kitchens that are helping to feed people every day, and to South Oklahoma City.

    Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.

    If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157.

    Phone:  1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

    Related: Consumers warned about fake Oklahoma charities

    The Oklahoman, NewsOk.com

    A teacher hugs a child at Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City, Monday, May 20, 2013.

    Central Oklahoma Humane Society
    The Central Oklahoma Humane Society is in need of towels, paper towels, bleach, gloves and crates to help with lost and injured animals. "Currently our greatest need is financial donations to help us treat and house lost and injured animals at our facilities," the society says on its site. Donations can be made online here and should be designated for the "OK Humane Disaster Relief Fund."

    Phone:  1-405-607-8991

    Feed the Children
    Feed the Children has set up five locations in Oklahoma City to accept donations to help victims of the Moore tornado. The organization is accepting items including diapers, canned goods, non-perishable food, snack items, water and sports drinks. The organization is also supporting mobile canteens in partnership with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

    You can donate online, or make a $10 donation by texting the word DISASTER to 80888.

    Phone:  1-800-627-4556

    United Way of Central Oklahoma
    The recently established United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is meant to help to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site.

    "Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations may be made online here. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

    Feeding America
    Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and is setting up  "additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.

    Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

    Operation USA
    The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is providing "essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036

    Phone: 1-800-678-7255.

    Convoy of Hope
    The Missouri-based nonprofit organization has done work in other disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, with a mission of getting food and water to those after disaster strikes. Now it's doing the same for Moore, Okla. You can donate online here. Convoy of Hope is also going the crowd-sourced route, using HopeMob, a site similar to Kickstarter but for raising money to help disaster victims and others in need, which charges no fees to the organizations that use it.

    Phone: 1-800-988-0664


    Direct Relief
    The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based, non-profit organization provides medical assistance and personal hygiene items to those hurt in disasters, as well as in other circumstances.

    "Direct Relief has been receiving requests for emergency supplies, personal care and protection items — including hygiene supplies, infection control products, gloves, soap, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary napkins, diapers, wipes and formula," said Kerri Murray, Direct Relief vice president, in an email.

    To donate, visit DirectRelief.org.

    Phone: 1-800-676-1638

    AmeriCares
    The Emergency Response team for AmeriCares is in Oklahoma, "coordinating deliveries of emergency aid and assessing the needs of survivors and health care organizations in the disaster area."

    Since 1982, the Connecticut-based nonprofit has delivered medicine, medical supplies and aid to those in need around the world and across the United States.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word LIVE to 25383. Checks or money orders can be mailed to: AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902.

    Phone:  1-800-486-HELP (1-800-486-4357)

    Operation Blessing International
    Humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International, which previously coordinated more than 500 volunteers in Granbury, Texas, after that area was hit by a tornado, is working with The Home Depot and dispatching a construction unit, mobile command center, trucks with tools and supplies and a team of construction foremen to Moore.

    On May 20, Operation Blessing International also "loaded and deployed two tractor-trailer truckloads of food and emergency relief supplies from its warehouse in Dallas, Texas, in partnership with the humanitarian organization, Mercury One," said a Operation Blessing spokeswoman.

    The Virginia Beach-based group's online link for donations is here.

    Phone:  1-800-730-2537

    Samaritan's Purse
    The international Christian relief organization focuses on cleaning and repairing damaged homes and sent two disaster relief units from North Wilkesboro, N.C. to Oklahoma May 21. "The tractor-trailers are stocked with heavy-duty plastic, chainsaws, generators, and other tools and equipment. The units also will serve as command centers for the response," Samaritan's Purse says on its website.

    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word SP to 80888.

    Phone:  1-800-528-1980

    Save the Children
    Save the Children responds to disasters around the world, and has created an "Oklahoma Tornadoes Children in Emergency Fund" for online donations. The organization provides food and medical care to children whose families have been displaced from their homes. You can give a $10 donation by texting the word TWISTER to 20222.

    Phone:  1-800-728-3843

    United Methodist Committee on Relief
    The committee works with local United Methodist churches and trained disaster response workers to help with cleanup and rebuilding, pastoral counseling and support for children and youth who have been through trauma.
     
    You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word RESPONSE to 80888.

    Phone: 1-800-554-8583

    LifeChurch.tv
    Life Church.tv, which describes itself as "Oklahoma's largest evangelical church," says its Oklahoma City metro locations will accept donations of items over the next week, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and distribute them to tornado victims. Among the items needed: Toiletries, diapers, wipes, formula, baby bottles, new clothing, new shoes, and bags, backpacks or plastic tubs for carrying items.

    You can also donate money online by visiting LifeChurch.tv, or by texting the word RELIEF to 86613, and selecting an amount you would like to donate.

    Phone:  1-405-216-7054

    Jewish Federations of North America
    The Jewish Federations of North America is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma, which is coordinating efforts with a local food bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. The Jewish Federations of North America has established an Oklahoma City Tornado Relief fund. Donors can contribute online here.

    Checks can also be sent to the JFNA national mailbox at: The Jewish Federations of North America, Wall Street Station, P.O. Box 148, New York, NY, 10268. Please indicate "JFNA Oklahoma City Tornado Relief Fund" on all checks or in the designation box online.

    Oklahoma Tornado Relief 2013
    The Oklahoma Tornado Relief 2013 fundraising effort is being done through a crowd-sourced effort using Fundly, a website for fundraising, akin to HopeMob, mentioned above. On the site, you'll find various fundraising causes to help tornado victims, and can choose which you'd like to support.

    DonorsChoose.org
    DonorsChoose.org is creating a special online fund to collect donations for the teachers and schools of Moore, Okla., to help respond and rebuild. Donors Choose will work with the teachers of Moore to assess what they need for their classrooms and allow them to identify the real-time solutions and supplies their community and their students need: everything from clothing for their students to first-aid kits. 

    To donate, visit www.donorschoose.org

    And a note of caution ...

    Emotions are running high, understandably, in light of the awful news from Oklahoma. Many of us want to help in some way. But this vulnerable time is also rife with and ripe for scammers who want to prey on your emotions and wallet. They may seek you out via email, knock on your door, or even try to get you to give money via Facebook. 

    The Federal Trade Commission has guidelines about charity donations, including these tips:

    • Donate to charities you know and trust. Be alert for charities that seem to have sprung up overnight in connection with current events, like the tornadoes.
    • Ask if a caller is a paid fundraiser, who they work for, and what percentage of your donation goes to the charity and to the fundraiser. If you don’t get a clear answer — or if you don’t like the answer you get — consider donating to a different organization.
    • Don’t give out personal or financial information — including your credit card or bank account number — unless you know the charity is reputable.
    • Never send cash: you can’t be sure the organization will receive your donation, and you won’t have a record for tax purposes.
    • Check out the charity with the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, or GuideStar.
    • Find out if the charity or fundraiser must be registered in your state by contacting the National Association of State Charity Officials.

    Ben Popken and Devin Coldewey also contributed to this report.

    Related:

  • 'We saved the ship': WWII vets gather, likely for last time

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    Surviving sailors from the USS Franklin hold a reunion at Patriots Point in Charleston on Friday.

    Terry Pickard and Carlo Dellaverson, NBC News writes

    MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Two dozen surviving veterans from the World War II aircraft carrier USS Franklin gathered on Friday, probably for the last time, to honor and remember one of the most remarkable naval episodes of the war.

    It was before dawn on a late winter morning in 1945 when a Japanese dive bomber dropped two 500 pound bombs on the Franklin. The year-old carrier nicknamed “Big Ben” was serving in the Pacific theater and, at that moment, had maneuvered closer to Japan than any other U.S.-flagged carrier during the war.

    More than 800 sailors died in the catastrophic 1945 attack on the USS Franklin, leaving the ship listing in the water. The survivors kept the ship afloat, and made it back to port. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    Sam ‘Dusty’ Rhodes was asleep in the ship’s bunk area when the bombs hit. Rhodes was a water tender 3rd class and was responsible for operating the ship’s massive boilers – and with debris from the massive explosions raining down on him, that is just what he did.

    Rhodes said he and other crew members ran to the one of the unaffected firerooms and attempted to raise enough steam to light the remaining boiler. When the flame caught from Rhodes’ Zippo lighter, “that’s when the ship’s heart started to beat again,” he recalled.

    Above on the flight deck, the scene was nothing short of catastrophic. The Franklin was dead in the water, listing to one side and cut off from communications as fires burned everywhere. More than 800 sailors died in the attack, with hundreds more wounded.

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    Flags line the walkway to the USS Yorktown, where a '13' was painted to honor the number of the USS Franklin.

    But the Franklin didn’t sink, and that is the legacy crew members like Rhodes like to remember. The Franklin would become the most heavily damaged aircraft carrier of the war to make it back to port.

    “We saved the ship,” Rhodes said. “In the Navy, you save the ship. It’s your home.”

    William Schauer was a Naval electrician and fireman 1st class, just out of high school when he reported for duty on the deck of the Franklin, three months before the attack. Looking back on that day 68 years later, he said he was certain he was going to go down with the ship that morning, and “that was the end.”

    “But we were there for a purpose,” and despite suffering such heavy losses, Schauer says he still considers their mission – keeping the ship afloat – accomplished.

    At the reunion on Friday, Medal of Honor recipient and retired Gen. James Livingston saluted the assembled veterans. He said their “refusal to allow her to sink” allowed the Franklin to limp back to port instead of ending up buried forever on the ocean floor. “That’s a testimony to what you are as men,” he said.

    Terry Pickard / NBC News

    The tattered battle flag from the USS Franklin hangs on display at the USS Yorktown.

    In the belly of the USS Yorktown, another decommissioned carrier that saw battle in the Pacific and now survives as the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Naval Museum in this bucolic Charleston suburb, a tattered and smoke-tinged flag is mounted overhead. It was the original battle flag that flew on the mast of the Franklin’s flight deck the day of the attack -- the same flag that Rhodes remembers looking up and noticing through the haze of black smoke after the bombs hit. Seeing it meant they still had a chance, he remembered, “because we would strike the colors before abandoning ship.”   

    “Big Ben” made it all the way back to New York for repairs, where it sat on V-J Day when the war finally ended. It never saw action again, and was sold for scrap in the 1960s. The flag, along with the bell and a gun turret also on display at the Yorktown, are all that remain of one of the most momentous spectacles of heroism and fortitude of World War II. And with what could be the final gathering of the men who saved the ship, it is up to a new generation to remember the Franklin.

  • Fighting to save Africa's rhinos

    Wildlife Rangers are on the frontline of the battle to save elephants and rhinos from poaching gangs. The illegal trade in rhino horn, highlighted by Prince William earlier this year, is threatening the very existence of the creatures. NBC's  Rohit Kachroo reports on the work of the round-the-clock patrols at Lewa National Park.

    By Rohit Kachroo, Correspondent, NBC News

    First came the sound of gunshots late at night.

    Then, a few hours later, a carcass was found -- his bloodied face and mutilated body shielded by the long grass. 

    Before long, the stench of death was rising from what was now a crime scene.

    The rangers at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy seemed almost unmoved. But they have seen it, heard it and smelled it too many times before.

    Once again, this 60,000-acre park -- home to one in eight of Kenya’s rhinos -- has been struck by an armed gang.

    Despite the helicopters, the dog handlers, the electric fencing and the hiring of a former British Army captain as chief executive, Lewa has struggled with the poachers, losing six rhinos over a four-week period earlier this year.

    It is a problem for parks across Africa, where some populations of rhino and elephant face extinction within decades. Gruesome killings, like the slaughter of a family of 12 elephants in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park last January, have caused shock but brought no solutions.

    At least Lewa has a powerful supporter. This is where Prince William spent much of his gap year.  It is where he proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010. And it is here that he found another love: the precious species that are under threat from the trade in ivory and rhino horn.

    On Tuesday, William will challenge African "producer" countries and Asian "consumer" countries to end the slaughter. But what is the chance of a real solution?

    The words of a prince will mean little to the paupers who stalk the parks of Africa in search of a rhino horn which may be worth 30,000 pounds – more than its weight in gold. 

    Perhaps stiffer sentences in African countries will make a difference -- but campaigners say that some are resisting pressure to punish those involved in the trade.

    Then there's the question of how the meeting dignitaries can succeed in choking demand in the Far East, where others have failed before -- and where horns and tusks are said to have medicinal value.

    Campaigners welcome the fact that the issue is being talked about at all -- and they accept that solutions will take time.

    But for the majestic creatures that roam Lewa, there may be little of that.  

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