Comment

Comment by audra on July 2, 2010 at 11:11pm

My son who had never lived out of the state of TN, He worked three jobs while going to high school. And is now traveling around the pacific ocean participating in a multi-nation humanitarian mission. WOW. That's what all mother's want. For their children to leave the nest and explore the world and understand the meaning and feeling of "service to others less fortunate than yourself".Because that is how a person's spirit evolves and matures.

Comment by audra on July 2, 2010 at 11:04pm

Be forewarned moms, Sinapore is known as a tattoo destination for the Navy. So don't too surprised if the next time you see them, their inked. LOL

Comment by audra on July 2, 2010 at 11:02pm

From my son, "Singapore is one of the most amazing places I have ever been too...."

Comment by Jen J on July 2, 2010 at 7:52pm

My daughter sent this little blip about Singapor, it sounds very nice there, thought I'd share:
"alright well im in singapore and its really nice here its not as extreme as everyone says so long as your polite and follow the rules i think its actually really nice like no one can chew gum here and what not. its basically like a really clean new york city go figure" lol Can't beleive how lucky she has been to be able to see all these places!

Comment by abbyblue on July 2, 2010 at 3:57pm

PLEASE STAY JUDY......

Comment by ncmadocent on July 2, 2010 at 12:49pm

Judy, You don't have to go yet. I am sure your son would still like to hear little tidbits that come back to us. Also, he probably will still have friends on board that he may communicate with and have some info that we might appreciate too. So, if you can, please stay with us until the end of the cruise. Who knows what wonders are still coming?

Comment by judy on July 2, 2010 at 12:06pm

Happy 4th to everyone!

I spoke to me son also he leaves the ship on the 4th to come home his cadet shipping complete. He said he couldn't of got a better cadet shipping. He was so impressed with everyone he meet. He did say that Singapore was very expensive that Cambodia was more affordable.

My daughter and I also mention Orchard St. - Chanel bags, Red jade, silver! He is not what I would call a shopper so this will be interesting!

I want to say THANK YOU to you all for letting me be part of your group, this has been an interesting experience for me! Letting go and not hearing for your loved ones is very hard and not a lot of people understand that in civilian life.

I do not know what my son has planned for his future I do know he said he has pick the correct field so whether it was be the Navy, Merchant Marines, Coast Guard or shipping with Military Sea Lift Command this has been a great educational experience for him.

Comment by Janine on June 30, 2010 at 5:29pm

Following update from,

CAPT J.W. Paulson, MC USN
Commanding Officer
Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T-AH 19)


Good morning MERCY family!

I have got to tell you what a tremendous job all our staff here is doing. We worked nearly 30 days straight in Cambodia and Vietnam, without weekends, holidays or real “days off” and have seen nearly 30,000 patients!! It amazes me what this crew can do! They took care of over 250 surgical cases, handed out nearly 25,000 pairs of glasses and saw over 1000 animals!

Yes, animals – for we can’t forget the veterinarians and their assistants here with us. For families that rely on their pigs, water buffalo and chickens, those animals are truly a lifeline and our veterinary services department sets out nearly every day to roam the countryside and help out the working people. They also provide their expertise in subject matter expert exchanges, and even see a puppy now and then!

We’re arriving in Singapore tomorrow for a couple days of “relative rest.” I say that because one of the big jobs in Singapore is resupply, meaning our supply department personnel have work to do the minute we tie up the ship. We need to restock the ship’s store, the vending machines, the freezers, etc…… It’s a big job and their liberty doesn’t start until it’s done.

We’re all looking forward to Singapore though. It’s a great liberty port – clean, but a little expensive. The laws there seem a little strict, but it’s all to the good! MWR has provided us both tours and hotel bargains, so I expect a lot of rest and relaxation. The shops on Orchard road have all the “good” stuff, so put your orders in with your sailors now. They’ve got Bulgari, Tiffany and all the designer labels, as well as California Pizza Kitchen and McDonalds. And the black pepper crab on Boat Quay is good, but really expensive!

We got 13 pallets of mail yesterday, and that is still being distributed to our crew, so we’re all looking for those letters and packages from home. It’s really our first big receipt of mail since we left San Diego. It’s a little like Christmas……

In any case, I’ll send along some photos now that I’ve downloaded them from my camera. They show our team in action, and at rest! We have a transition point for personnel here in Singapore, with nearly 500 people coming and going (250 each way). It will be busy days and nights for the duty sections since flights arriving here tend to arrive at 11 pm and leave at 6 am for travel back to the US.

We’re still doing well, with success and smiles across the board. I hope all of you are well also. You should be proud of your sailors, airmen, soldiers and volunteers out here. They’re really a great group, and I’m happy to serve with them.

R/ Jeff Paulson

Comment by Janine on June 17, 2010 at 8:50pm

Janine and families:

Once again, the fates conspire against our electronics communications. In other words, e-mail quit again for a good part of the day yesterday. This time, it was due to work being done in San Diego. As they say, “it’s always something.” Last thing I heard was that we are back to our back-up system, so once again, please don’t send or expect large attachments or photos with e-mails. It only clogs up the system and could plug it up completely.

We are in our third day in Cambodia now, and are happy to be getting back to work. We had two days between Vietnam and Cambodia, after having seen over 19,000 patients and doing over 120 surgical cases in Vietnam! Though we couldn’t manage to take time off for a real weekend, we did have an “indoor steel beach” picnic on Sunday, with hot dogs, hamburgers, chili, chicken and steak. The supply department came through once again and set up an ice cream social with real ice cream and toppings that evening – followed by “movie night” with popcorn on the mess decks. I never said we were in danger of losing weight here!

Tuesday we screened patients for surgery at the Sihanoukville Provincial Hospital, and were able to fill our schedule for the next two weeks here. We will also be joined in Cambodia by Operation Smile, a non-governmental volunteer group that will come aboard and assist with up to 80 cleft palate and cleft lip repairs while we are here. We’re fortunate to have them with us, as they have a smoothly run organization that does this on a regular basis throughout the world.

We also sent our clinical teams out to the “MEDCAP” sites yesterday – one of which is over 300 miles north of the ship. That group will stay at the site for several nights, in an area where very few of the residents are able to access medical care at all. We still have our DENCAPS going strong alongside the MEDCAPS, and are sending our veterinarians, our biomedical equipment technicians and our preventive medicine experts out throughout Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.

Unfortunately, for the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fans among you, we are not close enough to the temples of Angkor Wat to visit while we are here. It was one of the sites where that movie was filmed, and is remarkable for the giant tree roots growing across the fallen stones of this ancient temple. We are working at arranging other day tours for those that have time off.

Fortunately, all here remain well. We’ve had a few of the usual sprains and bruises, same as you’d expect if we were home. I still see smiling faces every day, both among our staff , and among our patients. It makes me proud to serve with this entire crew!

R/ Jeff Paulson


CAPT J.W. Paulson, MC USN
Commanding Officer
Medical Treatment Facility, USNS MERCY (T-AH 19)

Comment by judy on June 17, 2010 at 6:45pm

I too finally heard from my son, he said he loves Cambodia, it is beautiful. He says he has been very busy, they change his shifts so he has not had a lot of time. He went a shore yesterday and they had red snapper, fried noodles, fried octopus and .50 drafts he said he spent $5.00.

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