thedrifter
02-14-04, 07:21 AM
Fighting 13th Kicks Back Down Under
Submitted by: 13th MEU
Story Identification Number: 200421423951
Story by Sgt. Mark P. Ledesma
DARWIN, Australia(February 9, 2004) -- Marines and Sailors aboard the USS Peleliu and USS Germantown recently enjoyed liberty during a port visit in Darwin, Australia, the first liberty port 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) personnel visited since departing the Fifth Fleet in late January for an early trip home to San Diego.
Marines and Sailors flooded the streets of Darwin during the five day visit Feb. 4 thru 8, taking full advantage of being away from the iron-clad vessel and vast ocean, which many have been accustomed to since leaving Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates late December. Many decided to spend their hard-earned deployment pay to sleep in a hotel room in the city.
“Spending the night out in town gave me the opportunity to take a real shower and sleep in a real bed, as opposed to a rack that I can barely fit in,” said Staff Sgt. Monica Brooks, 13th MEU (SOC) Command Element Nuclear, Biological and Chemical chief. “It gives you a change of scenery, you breath some fresh air, relax and have a good time.”
Along with spending the night in the city, many took the opportunity to volunteer their time reaching out to the local community by participating in a one-day community relations project coordinated by the MEU chaplain and his assistant.
According to Petty Officer 2nd Class Bien V. Duong, 13th MEU Command Element chaplain’s assistant, MEU Marines and Sailors participated in six different community relations projects in different parts of the city.
The projects involved landscaping, painting and cleaning of several of the city’s schools and churches, and preparing and serving meals at a homeless shelter.
“We had around 46 people who signed up, which we evenly assigned to a project site,” he said. According to Duong, most of the projects started at around 9 a.m. and ended around 2 p.m. the second day in Darwin.
Most of the assigned work was completed by the volunteers in the limited time they had, said Duong. “We had a lot of positive feed back,” he added. “The place where I was at, St. Paul, the people were very grateful. This was the first time they’ve ever had military volunteers.”
While some were volunteering to clean the place up, other MEU Marines along with Germantown and Peleliu personnel got a little dirty during several friendly games of rugby with local teams.
Marines and Sailors from the Peleliu who practiced their rugby skills for two months in the Peleliu’s dim hangar bay at night finally got a chance to show what they had in an open field against the Stray Cats, a local Darwin team.
The Peleliu team, comprised of mostly beginners who gained interest in the sport on board Peleliu, showed the opposition they were able to hold their own when they tied the game one, one, with the more experienced Australians.
“Everybody just came out there to have a good time,” said Lance Cpl. Mike C. Hopp, Landing Support specialist, MEU Service Support Group 13.
According to Hopp, the interaction with the Australians also gave them a lot of insight on the strategy, tradition and camaraderie of the sport. At the end of the game, the two teams barbequed food and enjoyed a couple of beers while forming new friendships.
Another experience many Marines and Sailors took advantage of was a visit to Australia’s famous Outback.
Capt. Trea Schocken, MSSG-13 Transportation Support Detachment commander, said a fine balance between outback tours and city life made her time in Darwin a great experience.
"By day you're hiking through beautiful gorges, swimming under waterfalls or on a boat tour watching crocs jump out of the river, then at night it's great food, good music and just the nicest people," said Schocken. "We were eating lunch on a tour, and all of a sudden a kangaroo bounded across the field. That made my day."
"Our tour guide apologized one day that the Litchfield National Park seemed to just look like this vast expanse of green foliage,” she added. “After the neverending views of water or sand we saw on this deployment, I don't think any of us minded seeing all those trees. Besides, we're on the way home, so as they say in Australia, 'She's Humpty Doo!', which means everything's just fine."
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/932D1B8C20F57D3F85256E3A002A19CC?opendocument
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Submitted by: 13th MEU
Story Identification Number: 200421423951
Story by Sgt. Mark P. Ledesma
DARWIN, Australia(February 9, 2004) -- Marines and Sailors aboard the USS Peleliu and USS Germantown recently enjoyed liberty during a port visit in Darwin, Australia, the first liberty port 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) personnel visited since departing the Fifth Fleet in late January for an early trip home to San Diego.
Marines and Sailors flooded the streets of Darwin during the five day visit Feb. 4 thru 8, taking full advantage of being away from the iron-clad vessel and vast ocean, which many have been accustomed to since leaving Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates late December. Many decided to spend their hard-earned deployment pay to sleep in a hotel room in the city.
“Spending the night out in town gave me the opportunity to take a real shower and sleep in a real bed, as opposed to a rack that I can barely fit in,” said Staff Sgt. Monica Brooks, 13th MEU (SOC) Command Element Nuclear, Biological and Chemical chief. “It gives you a change of scenery, you breath some fresh air, relax and have a good time.”
Along with spending the night in the city, many took the opportunity to volunteer their time reaching out to the local community by participating in a one-day community relations project coordinated by the MEU chaplain and his assistant.
According to Petty Officer 2nd Class Bien V. Duong, 13th MEU Command Element chaplain’s assistant, MEU Marines and Sailors participated in six different community relations projects in different parts of the city.
The projects involved landscaping, painting and cleaning of several of the city’s schools and churches, and preparing and serving meals at a homeless shelter.
“We had around 46 people who signed up, which we evenly assigned to a project site,” he said. According to Duong, most of the projects started at around 9 a.m. and ended around 2 p.m. the second day in Darwin.
Most of the assigned work was completed by the volunteers in the limited time they had, said Duong. “We had a lot of positive feed back,” he added. “The place where I was at, St. Paul, the people were very grateful. This was the first time they’ve ever had military volunteers.”
While some were volunteering to clean the place up, other MEU Marines along with Germantown and Peleliu personnel got a little dirty during several friendly games of rugby with local teams.
Marines and Sailors from the Peleliu who practiced their rugby skills for two months in the Peleliu’s dim hangar bay at night finally got a chance to show what they had in an open field against the Stray Cats, a local Darwin team.
The Peleliu team, comprised of mostly beginners who gained interest in the sport on board Peleliu, showed the opposition they were able to hold their own when they tied the game one, one, with the more experienced Australians.
“Everybody just came out there to have a good time,” said Lance Cpl. Mike C. Hopp, Landing Support specialist, MEU Service Support Group 13.
According to Hopp, the interaction with the Australians also gave them a lot of insight on the strategy, tradition and camaraderie of the sport. At the end of the game, the two teams barbequed food and enjoyed a couple of beers while forming new friendships.
Another experience many Marines and Sailors took advantage of was a visit to Australia’s famous Outback.
Capt. Trea Schocken, MSSG-13 Transportation Support Detachment commander, said a fine balance between outback tours and city life made her time in Darwin a great experience.
"By day you're hiking through beautiful gorges, swimming under waterfalls or on a boat tour watching crocs jump out of the river, then at night it's great food, good music and just the nicest people," said Schocken. "We were eating lunch on a tour, and all of a sudden a kangaroo bounded across the field. That made my day."
"Our tour guide apologized one day that the Litchfield National Park seemed to just look like this vast expanse of green foliage,” she added. “After the neverending views of water or sand we saw on this deployment, I don't think any of us minded seeing all those trees. Besides, we're on the way home, so as they say in Australia, 'She's Humpty Doo!', which means everything's just fine."
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/932D1B8C20F57D3F85256E3A002A19CC?opendocument
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: