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Comment by Janine on July 14, 2010 at 2:16am

Janine and families –



I and the rest of the crew had a nice relaxing time in Singapore. We had a terrific 4th of July weekend while in our “resupply and rest” port (a new definition of R and R). Singapore is a great city – clean, safe and thoroughly enjoyable. Our sailors, airmen, soldiers, volunteers and Marines all stayed out of trouble – my thanks to them!



Singapore in many ways is the “gateway” to Southeast Asia – it’s where business, commerce, transport and people transit as they disperse throughout the region. We just happened to pull into their port halfway through our mission. The hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops all benefited from our presence, and from our dollars.



We’re now on our way to the Indonesian province of North Maluku. Our first stop, Tobelo is a small city, and does not have a pier we can tie to, so we’ll be offshore once again, taking boats and helicopters back and forth (as we will in all of Indonesia). We’re ready to get back to the mission – preparing for disaster relief in case we need to come back. The “up” side of this preparation is that we get to provide medical, dental, surgical, optometric, engineering and veterinary assistance to the host nation as we “prepare.” It’s a win-win situation all around.



We’ve had a couple of fun events since leaving Singapore. We “crossed the line” – literally went far enough south to cross the equator. For those who had not done this before, we had a ceremony commemorating the event – as we evolved from “polliwogs” to “shellbacks.” We had over 700 people participate in this time-honored Naval tradition. For those of you concerned for your loved ones, the ceremony these days is not the stress-filled “testing” of the sailors that it was in the old days. Everything was done in a safe and non-threatening manner (except for the occasional rainstorm).



We followed the ceremony with yet another steel beach picnic, and the supply department, with the assistance of the First Class Petty Officer Association did a tremendous job - how could we not enjoy steaks, chicken, bratwurst and burgers; all accompanied by music (and again a rainstorm).



While near Jakarta, we took 50 Indonesian translators on board – they are mostly nursing and medical students, so understand well what we are doing here. A highlight of having them aboard was an Indonesian cultural night last night – we had an exhibition of dances from Bali, eastern Indonesia and Sumatra! It was a lot of fun, and we once again had smiles all around. I’ll send along some photos of events separately when we finish posting them. They still tend to clog the internet pipelines if too many at one time.



Once again, I thank you for loaning us your sailors (we’re all sailors when on a ship). I’m certain that we’ll all come home with a new perspective on all of Southeast Asia. Every time we see those smiles on a grandmother seeing her grandson for the first time after cataract surgery, a farmer with a newly straightened broken leg, or even the 2 year old baby girl getting vitamins and hugging her new stuffed animal, it’s absolutely heartwarming!



Respectfully and thankfully,





Jeff Paulson





CAPT J.W. Paulson, MC USN

Commanding Officer

Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T-AH 19)

Comment by Suzanne Kathleen on July 14, 2010 at 12:28am

Thanks for the warm "Welcome" Gloria! =) I heard from my sailor a couple of hours ago Tonya. He said they'd been pretty busy the past couple of days, and sounded tired. He didn't give many details, but said things were going well.

Comment by Suzanne Kathleen on July 12, 2010 at 5:23pm

I'm new here. Thanks for the link "A Sailors Mom"!

Comment by audra on July 12, 2010 at 7:56am

Video link from pacific fleet about the pacific partnership in Cambodia
http://www.cpf.navy.mil/media/videos/youtube/pacificpartnership10ca...

Comment by audra on July 12, 2010 at 7:55am

My son is now a shellback.lol

Comment by Jen J on July 9, 2010 at 8:34pm

So excited this is part of her trip, she was disappointed that she didn't cross any of the special lines in the Atlantic last year.

Comment by abbyblue on July 9, 2010 at 5:31pm

My DIL is a pollywog ,she said there are many shellbacks,hope they dont get to wild......

Comment by abbyblue on July 7, 2010 at 8:56am

I hear mail is not so good,mailing box today DIL said she may not get until a month later. wonder if i should even mail it....

Comment by Jen J on July 4, 2010 at 7:40am

Happy 4th of July, huge Thank You to all your soldiers for the amazing work they are doing on the Mercy and everyday! And to all you Moms, Wives and Girlfriends who are supporting them!! Hope you all have a safe holiday weekend!

Comment by ABHWIFE on July 4, 2010 at 7:24am

Thanks to all the men and women who serve our country....... who give us the most greatest gift of all......... America's Independence.......... We Love You To Pieces.........:)

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