| Submarine
Group SEVEN Sailor Returns After Serving in East Timor by LT David W. Nikodym, USN, COMSUBGRU SEVEN Public Affiars |
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A call went out for Independent Duty Corpsmen
for a three month humanitarian aid tour in East Timor, and HM1(SS) Steven
Johnson answered it. He had to fight daily heat and humidity. "It is
so hot and humid here it seems to drain the life out of you." The
heat and humidity aren't the only obstacles that Johnson and the other
U.S. Support Group, East Timor (USGET) personnel have had to conquer. The
USGET personnel were sent to East Timor in support of global United
Nations humanitarian relief efforts. Other pitfalls in this incredible
effort have included a lack of English-speaking interpreters, primitive
medicine and medical facilities, and Portuguese names on medicine commonly
used by US doctors.
Violence in the region after local independence elections led to the killing of over 1,000 civilians and the displacement of over 100,000 people. The United Nations was permitted to send humanitarian relief to the area shortly after the hostilities calmed down and treated numerous patients at various clinics in East Timor. Petty Officer Johnson said, "The majority of diseases that we treated were malaria and tuberculosis." In addition, while providing health care to his patients, "Doc" Johnson advised local university medical students on common treatment regimes and hygiene and provided prescription eyeglasses to many of them. "It was a tough assignment," said Johnson, "but it was rewarding to put my Navy training to good use." |
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