|
A
U.S. Marine CH-53 delivers a load of maize to Bokano, East Timor..
photo by LCpl. Mace Gratz, USMC |
 |
Three United States Navy ships from the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) recently visited East Timor for three days, while en route to Singapore. To support on-going humanitarian relief operations in East Timor, sailors from the USS Boxer (LHD-4), USS Cleveland (LPD-7) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), together with Amphibious Squadron-7 and embarked Marines of 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), combined their talents and resources with military personnel from Australia, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and Portugal to accomplish a series of significant humanitarian projects.
Marine helicopters flew over 200 flight hours to airlift tons of food and building materials in support of on-going UN civic action projects in East Timor. They also delivered pallets of donated goods from the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp program to remote areas of East Timor. Personnel from the Republic of Korea and New Zealand assisted U.S. forces with the deliveries. U.S. Navy landing craft also transported grain to the Oecussi enclave and Atauro Island in support of World Food Program efforts.
Some 400 U.S. sailors and Marines came ashore each day to work with soldiers from Australia and the Republic of Korea, as well as with East Timorese residents, to refurbish three schools and two community centers. U.S. medical and dental teams augmented personnel at four clinics. They treated more than 900 medical patients and 240 dental patients, and distributed 165 pairs of eyeglasses.
The Boxer ARG visit was just one in a series of U.S. Navy ship visits that provided medical, dental and engineering help to the people of East Timor.
|
U.S. Navy Seabee
engineers construct a new roof for a school destroyed in the 1999
fighting in East Timor.
|
 |
