On a hot, humid and rainy Saturday morning, they took to the mountains armed with shovels and pickaxes.
Working tirelessly through the afternoon, they moved rocks, shoveled gravel and extracted the soupy sediment heavy rains had deposited into a community pool.
For three summer weeks the Futashika community has been unable to use their pools.
But Marines and a few Single Marine Program representatives put in more than seven hours extracting nearly 50 tons of debris to fully resurrect the children’s pool and nearly restore the adult pool Aug. 1.
“(The work) was just non-stop manual labor, but it was actually fun and it was all worth it in the end seeing the little kids play in (the pool),” Lance Cpl. Anthony R. Brewer, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171’s senior Single Marine Program representative and supply clerk, said.
The job was definitely challenging and the community really needed help getting their pools back in working order.
“The community up by three-falls is nothing but old or retired people or young, young kids so there are really no middle-aged people to help out,” said Brewer.
Despite the arduous task, the Marines managed to power through with some small amenities.
SMP provided the necessary supplies for a cookout, and after about five hours of cleaning, the cleaning crew sauntered down to the adjacent three falls, picking up trash as they went.
After a short respite and bellies full of food, the volunteers returned the way they came, again collecting trash along the way and mentally preparing for round two.
As the day waxed and waned on, spirits began to break.
Taking in the situation and surveying the local surroundings, the Marines stuck in the pool came up with an obvious solution — everyone must get wet.
“We were just tired and we were kind of losing motivation, but we were pretty much almost done with the children’s pool and we found some people who were filling sandbags and what not,” said Brewer “They were working hard, but they hadn’t got in the pools like some of us did — we just pretty much pulled everyone in.”
Overall the event was very successful and a personal achievement for Brewer.
“It was awesome that 171, we got like 20 people out there within two, three days of notice,” he said.
More than just the overwhelming response from MWSS-171, the event helps to further reinforce the good coming from the presence of the station.
“People should know it’s really good for us to get to interact with the Japanese people so they know us in a better light than we’ve had in the past,” Seaman Recruit Bryan T. Banks, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 religious program specialist, said.