Photo By Cpl. Abigail Brown | Lance Cpl. Polin Hem, left, and Sgt. Scott E. Chandler, center, both aviation supply...... read more read more
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GINOWAN CITY, Okinawa - The evening of Sept. 27, two Marines were walking to base from dinner when they saw Ginowan police officers chasing two men. Sgt. Scott E. Chandler and Lance Cpl. Polin Hem at first thought someone was hurt and began running with the police to see if they could help, Chandler said. Both are aviation supply clerks assigned to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 36, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, as part of the unit deployment program.
Soon, one policeman yelled at the running men to stop, Chandler said.
"That's when we realized that [the running men] were being chased and not leading the way to a wounded person," he said.
Chandler and Hem said they continued to follow the fleeing men to a dark house. At the house, police signaled the Marines to go one way around the house, and they went the other. The men hidden in the house choose to run again, and when they did, the two Marines captured them and handed them over to the police.
Afterwards, Chandler and Hem again began walking back to base only to see a third man race from the house. The two Marines chased this man too and handed him to the Ginowan police.
"You can tell the Marines are trained, because they chased the criminals well, very well," Akira Motomura, police inspector, section chief of 1st Criminal Investigation Section, Ginowan Police Station, said during a recognition ceremony for the two Marines at the Ginowan Police Station Friday.
Chandler and Hem said they were just reacting to the situation.
"You get caught up in the moment," Hem said. "I knew we had them, so we just kept going."
"It will take a while to investigate," said Kiyomasa Yasumura, police superintendent, chief of Ginowan Police Station. "But, without [Chandler and Hem], we couldn't solve this case."
The Marines were awarded framed certificates of appreciation and glass mementoes by the chief of the Ginowan Police Station for helping catch the men who they later learned were suspected of driving illegally with stolen license plates.
"I feel happy to be given this, but at the same time I know other people are doing much greater things, so that makes me humble," Hem said.
Policemen from the Ginowan Police Station also recognized and showed appreciation for Chandler's and Hem's actions.
"Praise these Marines to the bases so others can imitate the great things these Marines are doing," Yasumura said.
Marine leaders also at the recognition ceremony were equally appreciative of the accolades received by Chandler and Hem.
"I really appreciate you taking the time to recognize the Marines who did this," Col. Robert M. Brassaw, commanding officer, MAG-36, 1st MAW, III MEF, told Ginowan police during the ceremony.
"It shows our cooperation and demonstrates that we are all just trying to be good citizens," Brassaw said.
| Date Taken: | 11.22.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.22.2009 21:12 |
| Story ID: | 41891 |
| Location: | GINOWAN CITY, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 295 |
| Downloads: | 176 |
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