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A Timorese child is treated during a U.S. military medical project to help the newly independent country. A U.S. Navy doctor, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Cobery, examines the child outside Dili, the capitol.
Photo by PHAN Nicholas C. Messina, USN |
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U.S. Navy sailors and Marines brought needed medical assistance to the people of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, where they also refurbished a school. A new nation, Timor-Leste gained independence from Indonesia in August of 1999, after years of violence and destruction.
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U.S. sailors and Marines from the USS Essex (LHD 2) unload medical supplies from a Landing Craft Unit on the beach in Dili. The supplies went to a clinic set up by medical staff from USS Essex, USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Photo by PHAN Nicholas C. Messina, USN |
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A Timorese mother and daughter are examined by U.S. Navy Lt. Wendy Wong and U.S. Navy HM3 (SW/AW) Justin Foxworth at one of the temporary U.S. Navy medical clinics.
Photo by PHAN Nicholas C. Messina, USN |
“OThe sailors were from the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and USS Essex (LHD 2) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). The Marines were from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Their five-day Civil Military Operation (CMO) in November 2003 included medical, dental, and engineering civil affairs projects. This CMO was part of a series of visits by the forward deployed U.S. Navy-Marine amphibious force to aid the civil war-ravaged nation.
The new country is one of the poorest and short of almost everything. The medical situation is particularly needy. U.S. Navy, Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Steve Cobery, Amphibious Task Force Surgeon, said, “here . . . you’re going to see the natural history of disease.” He continued, “End-state breast cancer is something you just wouldn’t see in the United States, because of screening and public awareness, but here it’s a fact of life.”
With a per capita income of roughly 700 dollars a year, medical care is well beyond the reach of most Timorese, and facilities are few. “The public hospital in Dili is about it,” said Lt. Cmdr. Cobery. “We have more medical capabilities aboard the Essex than they have in Dili. Most of these people haven’t seen a doctor since at least before the war in 1999. For young healthy adults, five years isn’t a big deal, for elderly and children, that’s an eternity.”
To help the country, sailors and Marines set up two medical/dental clinics outside Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. U.S. Navy health care professionals treated a wide variety of illnesses at the two clinics, including common coughs, upper respiratory infections, and cases of what was most likely breast cancer.
JOC (SW/AW) Roger Dutcher, USN, is assigned to USS Essex Public Affairs. JO2 Wes Eplen, USN, is assigned to Commander, Task Force 76 Public Affairs.
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