Well, the Marines have invaded, and nearly 200 have set up camp! Horrors! The war on Islam has set a new high water mark.
**Marines, sailors set up medical camp in Pakistan **
By [email=“[email protected]”]Fred Zimmerman, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, November 19, 2005
SHINKIARI, Pakistan — The site where Marines and sailors from Okinawa will provide humanitarian and medical relief to people affected by a massive Oct. 8 earthquake has taken shape here after more than a week of delays.
Dozens of tents have been raised in the dusty soccer field where servicemembers from III Marine Expeditionary Force have begun to operate. Troops hustled throughout the camp last week, doing everything from running electrical lines and turning on power to building wooden floors for the tents.
Almost 200 Marines and sailors, the main body of the group from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, were split into two groups and arrived at Chaklala Air Field on Nov. 13 and Monday night. After sleeping under the stars, the groups made the almost six-hour drive to Shinkiari the following morning.
After stepping off their buses Monday, the Marines and sailors went to work setting up tents — primarily the operating room and hospital tents of 3rd Medical Battalion’s Bravo Surgical Company.
When Capt. Kevin Chunn, camp commandant, went to a meeting on a small hill overlooking the camp Monday afternoon, he was amazed.
“It looked like someone had kicked a hornets’ nest,” he said. “There were people going everywhere and the camp was really coming together.”
The work paid off as the operating room was functional by Tuesday morning. More help arrived Tuesday, and they also were quickly put to work, and improvements to the camp continued Wednesday morning. But word of the facility had yet to spread throughout the surrounding community.
However, one local man, Muhammed Anvir, had heard the field hospital might be open, so he came there after smashing his thumb with a hammer. He also reported a lingering case of diarrhea he hoped to clear up. After his wound was cleaned and bandaged, the first patient seen here left with an antibiotic cream, extra bandages and something to handle his stomach problems.
As the group settles into the camp, Chunn said they will begin adding “creature comforts” such as shower trailers and at least one hot meal a day, an intended improvement over the three Meals, Ready to Eat the Marines and sailors currently receive.
Despite numerous flight delays that put the group on the ground here more than a week after initially expected, spirits aren’t diminished, said Chunn, of Savannah, Miss.
“From the beginning, before we ever took off, the excitement and motivation level of the Marines and sailors was so high,” he said. “Even with the delays, they got here and showed up with the same amount of motivation and desire to help.”
Now it’s a matter of getting the word out the unit is open for business, said Senior Chief Petty Officer Rafael Felipe, the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the detachment
“These young sailors and Marines … they’re ready to help these people,” said Felipe, of New York. “The next big thing now is to open the doors and start seeing people.”
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=33114
