THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 13, 1994 TAG: 9412130264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
About 250 Camp Lejeune Marines returned Sunday after a 90-day tour in Cuba providing relief and protecting refugees from two countries.
Members of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, were stationed at the U.S. naval installation at Guantanamo Bay, where expatriates from Haiti and Cuba were being held.
``Basically, it was a humanitarian operation,'' said Cpl. Derek Soloway, after arriving on base. ``We provided food, shelter, and also security for the base.''
When the Marines arrived in September, thousands of Cubans were on base after President Clinton ordered the Coast Guard to take those found on rafts trying to reach the U.S. to Guantanamo. Many of those Cubans left the base after their government promised they would not be prosecuted.
Haitian refugees were also at Guantanamo while waiting for democracy to return to their country. by CNB