THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290334
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
True, it was a pretty arduous assignment. The men and women of the Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, staged thousands of day and night helicopter take-offs and air-cushioned landing craft launches.
They backed up NATO implementation forces in Bosnia. They logged a record number of sorties and flight hours and transferred several million pounds of cargo.
But it was not all work. In fact, the days on land and sea endured by the crew of the Wasp, which returned to Norfolk Wednesday along with sister ships the Whidbey Island and the Shreveport, were full of drama, education and the satisfaction of good works.
After dodging four hurricanes en route to the eastern Atlantic, the Wasp received a distress call. Four German divers were suffering from decompression sickness. Wasp crew members reversed course, dispatched a rescue helicopter, brought the divers onboard, stabilized them and transferred them to Rota, Spain, where a decompression chamber awaited.
While putting Marines on shore in Albania during Adriatic Sea exercises, they sent a medical and dental team to provide badly needed care to two orphanages.
And in Haifa, Israel, more than 50 sailors and Marines gave their free time to help two other orphanages. They painted and cleaned and repaired playground equipment. They played games and sang with the children, many of whom were severely handicapped.
Onboard, several hundred crew members took college and pre-college courses and college board practice exams.
In the process of their six months, the 2,600 aboard - including the ship's crew and Marine passengers - devoured 37,000 pounds of ground beef, 36,000 pounds of chicken and 30,000 pounds of french fries, not to mention 316,332 eggs and 205,400 candy bars.
And, thanks to satellite communications, they saw plenty of television, including the Super Bowl.
``We were not cut off from the rest of the world like we used to be,'' said Capt. Raymond Duffy, the Wasp's commanding officer.
Waiting as the crew prepared to disembark, Mike Harris of Herndon, Va., and his two children, Allyson and Chandler, caught sight of their mother, Lt. Commander Sandra Morris ``I love you,`` she spelled out with exaggerated hand signals.
Morris, a nurse anesthetist, became the first Nurse Corps officer to receive her surface warfare qualification while at sea. ``I passed with flying colors,'' she beamed.
A team of 16 doctors and medical personnel went to Tirana, Albania's capital, to lend help. They examined children at two orphanages and gave out multi-purpose immunizations and medicines.
The Navy often lends its medical personnel to countries it visits. ``I thought it was a really good experience as a corps member and as a person,'' said Hospital Corpsman Shayne King.
``Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime,'' said Eric Sarmiento, another hospital corpsman. ``Personally, I think it was the highlight of our cruise.'' ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Mike Harris waits with Allyson, 9, and Chandler, 11, for wife, mom
and nurse anesthetist, Sandra, to sail into port Wednesday. She
spent six months on the Wasp, her first deployment. The family lives
in Herndon, Va.
BETH BERGMAN/
The Virginian-Pilot
ABOVE: Vincent Mongelluzo, who works in aviation ordnance, embraces
his girlfriend, Dawn Brennan, as he disembarks from the Wasp. They
both live in Norfolk.
NAVY PERSONNEL
AT LEFT: Father Denis Rocheford, a Catholic chaplain on the Wasp,
visits an orphanage in Tirana, Albania, with a medical team.
by CNB