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Before arriving in Meulaboh, Capt. Howard met with Singaporean naval officers, Col. Tan Chaun-Jin, Commander, Joint Humanitarian Assistance Task Force Singapore, and Lt. Col. Li Lit Siew, Commanding Officer of the RSS Endurance (L 207), to learn more about the situation in Meulaboh and to coordinate humanitarian efforts for the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group. She noted the Singaporeans had arrived in Meulaboh 31 December 2004 and had laid the groundwork for the relief efforts.

Working with the Indonesian government and military, the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard moved from the blanket approach of immediate relief to a more targeted approach that focused on isolated pockets of survivors and on distribution. “This proves not just the combat power, but also the humanitarian power of our ship,” said U.S. Navy Capt. J. Scott Jones, the ship’s commanding officer. “You just don’t want to see these people suffer any more. That’s what makes these missions so great. When we go ashore, it’s all smiles.”

Capt. Jones noted that the ship’s versatility “as a multidimensional assault platform” made targeting aid to inaccessible areas possible. “What was amazing was the ability of our sailors and Marines to easily convert what they did in training for a strike mission to a humanitarian mission,” he added. “Our intelligence gathering and interpretation skills were translated into life-saving information that got aid where it needed to go.”

During their nine days of humanitarian assistance operations, the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group delivered more than a million pounds (907 metric tons] of humanitarian aid to tsunami survivors. The strike group’s helicopters and Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCAC) delivered food, medicine, and freshwater ashore, helping to save lives, mitigating suffering, and preventing the onset of tsunami-related epidemics. Its helicopters also transported international relief workers to inaccessible areas of Sumatra.

Moving Supplies
U.S. Marines aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard moved badly needed supplies on and off the ship. “They move people and materials where they need to go – almost 100 tons [91 metric tons] worth a day go through this ship,” said Capt. Jones. U.S. Marines and sailors used the LCACs to deliver relief supplies ashore in the hard-to-reach, tsunami-stricken town of Meulaboh. The LCAC is an 80-foot (24-meter) flat-bottomed aluminum hovercraft. It can hold 60 tons (72 metric tons) and can carry an M-1A1 Abrams tank. The USS Bonhomme Richard carried three LCACs, which usually have two M-60 mounts for perimeter defense. “Most of the LCAC’s tactical equipment has been removed for this mission,” said U.S. Marine GySgt. Robert Knoll.

The LCACs considerably increased the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ ability to move a vast amount of badly needed aid quickly ashore. Each LCAC carried pallets of water, rice, and lumber right into a debris-strewn landing zone on what used to be beachfront property.

Each morning U.S. Marines disembarked from the LCAC at Meulaboh Beach to unload supplies for distribution to tsunami victims. Waiting for them were Indonesian military personnel and citizens living in the area. The Indonesian military and the U.S. Marines loaded the supplies into trucks for delivery to a government distribution warehouse.

The beach area was barely recognizable as the community it once was. Where houses once stood, survivors of the disaster poked through the rubble in search of anything salvageable. Red and white flags marked spots where bodies were buried or recovered. Marines and sailors provided glimmers of hope, arriving on the beach in the LCACs. They unloaded three 500-gallon [1,893-liter] containers of water. One container went to Tant Kantor Bupati Posko I refugee camp, while the Meulaboh hospital received the other two.

As for the other supplies, the effort in distributing those was minimal. The people came to them. Residents of Meulaboh came, some from great distances, to cart away 50-pound [22.5-kilogram] sacks of rice and bottles of water. They made quick work of the pallets of rice delivered to the beach.

The tsunami victims watched with mild curiosity. Water deliveries are not as exciting as troops handing out meals and snacks. On those days, large crowds gathered around the vehicles, vying to get the prized candy bag of M&Ms or a Tootsie Roll. While the water containers were put in place, little hands reached up from the front row of spectators, while bigger hands reached through the side rails of the truck. U.S. Marine Sgt. Patrick Wright split up the contents of several meal packages, while U.S. Marine LCpl. Paul Bennett made sure as many as possible got their share.

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