Photo By Spc. Vanessa Davila | Service member picks up litter around Cable Beach at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Sunday...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - Barely two hours after the sun rose on Guantanamo Bay, service members around the island congregated on Cable Beach to attack the litter. On a Sunday morning, when many of GTMO’s residents were probably sleeping in and recovering from a late Saturday night, dozens of service members showed up to participate in the first ever beach brigade. With trash bags, gloves, and neat contraptions to help them pick up trash, volunteers braved the heat, with some eventually abandoning the neat contraptions in favor of their hands.
“The beaches are a big part of the community here,” said Army Capt. Thomasina Scudere, one of the volunteers. “We want to make sure everyone’s safe and can enjoy them when they have free time.”
With the Naval Station taking up a mere 45 square miles of land and water, there isn’t a whole lot to do around the small island. What there is to do often revolves around the water and GTMO’s beaches.
“I use the beach a lot, so I figured I’d just give back and try to clean up as much as possible, because I do see a lot of garbage when I’m here using it,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Ross.
For some volunteers, being awake and on the beach early on a Sunday morning wasn’t much of a stretch.
“I love doing this. I do it on my off time too, you know come over to the beach in the mornings,” said Sgt. 1st Class Monica Salamiiyile. “So when they brought up the idea of cleaning it up, I said ‘yeah, let’s go for it.’”
The cleanup was organized by Morale, Welfare and Recreation as part of the Liberty program.
“Liberty is the single, unaccompanied, active duty enlisted program. It’s the E-1 through E-6 program,” said Stephen Prestesater, MWR community activities director. “Anyone who is on this base that is here unaccompanied, they are all more than welcome to come participate in the Liberty program.”
When the volunteers were finished, MWR treated them to a cookout as a thank you for their hard work.
Check with MWR for a list of additional Liberty events happening throughout the month. Prestesater said there are many more beach brigades to come.
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2012 13:06 |
| Story ID: | 95108 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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