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U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Samuels dances with children at Barntard Elementary School.
Photo by MSgt. Michael Farris, USAF |
Visiting an Orphanage
In Pattaya, U.S. Marines and sailors visited the Pattaya Orphanage, where abandoned and parentless children and infants are given a new chance in life. Started in 1970 by the Catholic Redemptorist Work for the Poor, the orphanage has helped elevate the lives of orphans, the blind, and the deaf.
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The visit was one of many visits by U.S. Marines and sailors to the orphanage during the month-long exercise. According to U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Jefferson, the weekly volunteerism by the U.S. Marines and sailors provided direct interaction with the children, a necessity for the children growing up without the loving touch of a parent.
U.S. Marine GySgt. Rafika O. Hargett said that after a few hours of interaction with the infants, she decided to sponsor the youngest infant at the orphanage. In doing so, she fulfilled a life-long dream of helping a needy child. Through a yearly donation she will bring stability to a two-month-old girl named Yupha. GySgt. Hargett said, “I know at least one of the children will have a secure future. But I don’t want to sponsor a child for a month and then forget about her. This is a long-term commitment.”
LCmdr. Jefferson noted that he and other U.S. Navy chaplains participating in Exercise COBRA GOLD made their own long-term commitments to the orphanage over the years. The chaplains regularly send donations and packages throughout the year.
The U.S. Marines saw their influence on the orphanage when one child wore a gray T-shirt emblazoned with “USMC” across his chest, signifying the Marines had been here before. “When we leave, the orphans are not forgotten, and they don’t forget us,” observed LCmdr. Jefferson.
Supplying Rural Schools
Members of a U.S. Air Force Special Operations unit spent an afternoon deep in the jungle village of Srisawang singing songs and sharing smiles with children there. The unit, assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Group from Kadena Air Base, Japan, conducted “Operation Toy Drop.” It airlifted six tons of clothes, toys, books, school supplies, and furniture to two remote elementary schools in rural northeastern Thailand. The Kadena community donated many of the clothes, and the deployed airmen raised more than $2,200 to buy desks and chairs for the earthen-floored schools. |
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U.S. Air Force Capt. Clark Olander shows a child from a nearby orphanage the cockpit of an MC-130P Combat Shadow.
Photo by MSgt. Michael Farris, USAF |
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Members of the Royal Thai Air Force’s 23rd Wing, Udon Thani, provided the trucks and extra manpower to haul the goods out to the villages and eventually to more than 500 students. Payak Ratanapakorn, principal of Barntard Elementary School, was pleased at the huge donation filling the stage of his modest auditorium. “You have given so generously of yourselves,” he said. “We are thankful for your kindness. These children will benefit greatly from this donation.”
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