Emory S. Land's Junior Enlisted Help Clean Cemetery

OLONGAPO CITY, Republic of the Philippines (NNS) -- The Junior Enlisted Association (JEA) on board submarine tender USS Emory S Land (AS 39) took the lead on a community relations (COMREL) project and helped the local community clean up the Olongapo City Public Cemetery in preparation for an upcoming holiday, Oct. 27.

The local community will be celebrating All Saints Day, a Philippine holiday in which the citizens will pay respects to their family members and friends who are no longer living.

"The locals will come out to the cemetery to light candles, pray and spend time at the graves of their families," explained Dr. Arnildo Tamayo, City Health Officer, "It's important that we clean up all the brush so that the citizens can properly celebrate the holiday at the respective headstones.

Due to the tropical climate in the Republic of the Philippines, weeds and other vegetation grow rapidly and have covered the headstones in the cemetery.

Land's religious ministries department coordinated the COMREL, however the JEA took the lead and provided the volunteers.

"When we caught wind of the project we knew this would be a great opportunity for our organization to make a difference," said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Darius Davis, JEA vice president.

The JEA is an organization, comprised of Sailors, E-5 and below, who coordinate and fundraise for morale and welfare events and also participate in volunteer service projects.

"It's important for us to step up as the junior enlisted at our command because we are the leaders of tomorrow," said Davis, "we're showing that even though we're young Sailors, we are capable of going out there and representing the Navy in a positive light. That's what the JEA is all about."

The Sailors and the other volunteers were able to clean roughly 50% of the brush from the grave sites and headstones.

"My volunteers and I couldn't have done it alone," Said Dr. Tamayo, "This was a community-wide effort and right now the Emory S Land is part of our community so we really appreciate all of their help."

Land is in the Republic of the Philippines as part of ongoing theater security and cooperation and undergoing a voyage repair period in Subic Bay. Land, homeported in Diego Garcia, is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender on an extended deployment conducting coordinated tending moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

To learn more about USS Emory S Land visit www.as39.navy.mil.>