Photo By Lance Cpl. Kasey Peacock | Sgt. Jennifer Abel interacts with Thai students from Ratchasima Wittayalai-Two High...... read more read more
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KORAT, Kingdom of Thailand — As the student walked up to the newly-arrived man in uniform with caution, many people watched the interaction attentively. The uniformed man stooped to meet the child at eye level, offered his hand and introduced himself. After a smile from the student, it was clear the rest of the day would be one to remember.
This was the scene as Marines and sailors visited the Ratchasima Wittayalai-Two High School, Feb. 9, as part of an annual visit during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012. Service members interacted with the students during their English classes to build camaraderie and assist in their studies.
“The visits can be very surprising and freighting for the students,” said Nuanlaor Walla, head of the language department at the high school. “Overall, it helps the students to interact with the service members so they get a greater understanding of what the service members are like.”
The visit started with the service members standing in formation as the students performed a morning ritual in which the more than 2,500 students gathered outside for the Thai national anthem and a moment of prayer. After the morning ritual, students presented roses to the Marines in light of the upcoming holiday, Valentine’s Day.
“Thailand is our partner and anything we do to nurture our alliance is great,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Jeff K. Arruda, commander of Coalition Marine Forces Aviation Combat Element. “This is the kind of stuff you join the Marine Corps for, seeing the world and interacting with other cultures.”
As the service members met with different English classes throughout the day, students circled around different service members to interact in English and get to know each other. Among the activities between the service members included dancing, arm wrestling, karaoke and picture taking.”
“I was impressed and glad to see everyone,” said Rataya Chathprathum, a student at the school. “It was a great experience to interact with the service members in English.”
Although visiting the school has become an annual tradition during Exercise Cobra Gold, for some of the students it was their first time meeting any U.S. service member.
“A lot of the people in Thailand do not know what is going on when they see U.S. service members everywhere,” said Prasarn Charoensuk, a Thai pastor who helped coordinate the visit. “It is great for the students to get to see what the service members are really like. I wish they had more time.”
As the day wrapped up and the visitors boarded the bus, 1st Lt. Travis E. Coffey, a Marine Corps Religious Ministry Team chaplain, had these inspiring words for the group; “The lives that you touched today are the future leaders of the Kingdom of Thailand. Remember that the impressions you made today will help carry out our alliance with the Kingdom of Thailand for many years to come.”
CG 12 is an annual Thai-U.S. co-sponsored joint and multinational exercise designed to advance security throughout the Asia-Pacific region and enhance interoperability with participating nations.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2012 22:09 |
| Story ID: | 83710 |
| Location: | KORAT, TH |
| Web Views: | 223 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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