THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 5, 1994 TAG: 9407050236
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
A four-ship Navy amphibious assault group will be dispatched from Norfolk to Haiti Wednesday, a senior defense official said today.
The deployment is being ordered to add some 2,000 Marines to the region to assist in any evacuation of U.S. citizens or officials from the Caribbean nation, the official said.
The addition brings to 13 the number of U.S. warships sailing off the coast of Haiti.
The additional group is led by the Inchon, a helicopter assault ship, and includes the Trenton, Portland and Spartanburg County.
They will join a larger amphibious assault ship, the Wasp, which has been in the region conducting training exercises with some 650 Marines on board.
Besides the Wasp, the Navy has eight other smaller warships that have been enforcing the U.S. trade embargo of the island nation.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB