The troops stationed at Joint Task Force-Guantanamo received some distinguished visitors as Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and members of the SOUTHCOM command team, joined the troops to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
Coinciding with Richardson’s visit was the arrival of the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which is in the middle of a 7-week deployment as part of Continuing Promise ’22, a humanitarian mission providing medical and veterinary care to populations in select Latin American and the Caribbean countries.
The hospital ship most recently completed a week-long mission in Cartagena, Colombia, where teams provided medical assistance to over 5000 people, performed approximately 80 surgeries, and affected the lives to more than 25,000 citizens with additional activities and programs.
Richardson, along with U.S. 4th Fleet commander RADM Jim Aiken, JTF- Guantanamo commander BG Scott Hiipakka, and members of the SOUTHCOM team, served Thanksgiving meals to servicemembers and their families as well as to sailors, troops, and volunteers assigned to the USNS Comfort.
“I wanted to thank each and every one of you for all that you do,” Richardson said, speaking briefly to those in attendance at the galley prior to enjoying her own meal. “You guys [with the Comfort] are bringing a face and a name to a humanitarian mission of what the United States is about. And we do it because people in the United States care about everybody else.”
At the conclusion of the festivities, Richardson returned to Miami with her team while the Comfort set sail for her next stop in the Dominican Republic.
Read More: SOUTHCOM Commander celebrates Thanksgiving with troops at JTF Guantanamo, USNS