Posted on: Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Navy ship back from tsunami aid mission

By Audrey McAvoy
Associated Press

The Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy docked at Pearl Harbor yesterday after treating more than 70,000 people during a six-month tsunami relief mission.

The world's biggest hospital ship attended to ailments from pneumonia to broken bones in Indonesia's Banda Aceh and Nias. The ship also treated another 30,000 during stops in East Timor and Papua New Guinea.

The ship's medics performed 466 surgeries, conducted 6,000 dental procedures and distributed more than 4,000 pairs of eyeglasses.

Rear Adm. Douglas McClain said the joint effort by Navy, non-governmental organization, and U.S. Public Health personnel was unprecedented.

"What you all did to symbolize what America is, and to aid and comfort people around the world, is truly without exception one of the strongest messages this country has sent in a long time," McClain said in greeting the ship at its Pearl Harbor pier.

The Mercy left its berth in San Diego in early January after a magnitude 9 earthquake near Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered massive waves on Dec. 26, killing more than 176,000 people across 11 countries.

The converted oil tanker, three times the length of a football field, boasts space for up to 1,000 beds, a 50-bed emergency room, and 12 operating rooms.

The ship offers patients the latest medical equipment, including a CT scan, and digital X-ray and radiology machines. Four distilling plants onboard can turn 300,000 gallons of seawater each day into fresh water.

Capt. Mark Llewellyn, the Mercy's commanding officer, said the resilience of those rebuilding their lives after the disaster inspired his crew.

"Getting to know those great people as individuals — that sort of sharing, being part of the same family on earth, all neighbors in the Pacific — that was all very good," Llewellyn said.

"In many ways, we received if not as much, more than we gave. And I think we gave a lot."

The Mercy will head home to San Diego after a few days in Hawai'i, but will leave behind six members of a Pearl Harbor medical unit that joined the mission.

Petty Officer 1st Class Loretta Mabrey, who departed for Indonesia only a few months after returning from Iraq, said the tsunami relief mission was unique.

Meeting people from different cultures made the experience especially memorable, she said.

"The children were great. Really friendly. They would come up to you and shake your hand," said Mabrey, who is from 'Ewa Beach.