The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release (dated August 2) concerning the hospital ship USNS Comfort, which is crewed by members of the SIU Government Services Division.Hoops Diplomacy – Comfort’s Civilian Mariners
Build Goodwill on the Basketball Court
ACAJUTLA, EL SALVADOR – Civil service mariners, or CIVMARs, from U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) befriended locals in Acajutla, El Salvador, this week over a few evening games of pick-up basketball. The ship was at port in Acajutla conducting humanitarian operations as part of a four-month mission to the region.
On Comfort’s second evening in port, a group of about 10 CIVMARs went to a park near the ship to play basketball and, rather than just play each other, struck up a game with some of the locals.
“We were over there playing ball and then some of the locals called us over and we started playing with them,” said boatswain’s mate William Ramos, who speaks Spanish and served as a translator.
“Sunday, our second night playing, it was so crowded, there were at least 100 people in and around the park watching us play and having fun with us,” said Ramos. “At first they were cheering for their own people, but after the third game they started cheering for us, too.” On their last night playing, one young boy even brought a small American flag.
Some of the people in the crowd had been treated on the hospital ship and recognized the crew. “There was one lady who had had an operation on the ship, and she remembered us and asked us if we were from Comfort,” said Ramos.
The CIVMARs took Gatorade, water, snacks and even a soccer ball to share with the other players and the many children who gathered to watch the games. Three of the CIVMARs even gave some of their expensive athletic shoes away to their new friends. “I just really like these people,” said ordinary seaman John “Junior” Rogers, who gave a pair of Air Jordan tennis shoes to one of the players.
“It was nice – all of those people fell in love with us playing basketball,” said Ramos.
So, who won? The CIVMARs won the first game, but after that the El Salvadorans managed a winning streak that continued through the ship’s last night in port July 29.
Comfort was in El Salvador as part of a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin American and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries.
Sixty eight civil service mariners working for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command are responsible for the 894-foot ship’s navigation, propulsion and engineering services, while the ship’s military and civilian doctors and nurses work with medical professionals from host nations to provide care to local populations. MSC owns and operates Comfort and its sister ship, USNS Mercy, which has also conducted humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions in the Eastern Pacific.
Military Sealift Command operates approximately 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military equipment and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces.
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