MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. --
It was a mission that only a few volunteered
to take on. The objective: Go in, in stealth mode, remove equipment from one
area and reassemble it in another, and go out as quietly as they came in.
Although this may sound like a frag
order from a higher command, or the opening to a new movie, it was actually a
call for assistance from the Veterans Home of California-Barstow to Marine
Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
The Vet Home asked for volunteers to
help them remove exercise equipment from two areas of the facility and
reassemble it in an area which would become the main workout room for the
residents.
When the volunteers showed up Teresa
Rochester, public information officer for the facility was quite surprised.
“I was hoping for only about five or six
people,” she said. Instead 14 people – Marines, a Sailor and a few dependents –
volunteered to give up a Saturday morning to provide the help she requested.
Once the group was shown which equipment
was to be moved and where, led by Master Sgt. Abram Milton and Gunnery Sgt.
Daniel Garcia, the volunteers wasted no time getting their hands dirty and
moving the gear.
While they were moving gear into its new
location a few spectators decided to come out and see what was going on. One
such spectator was 93-year-old Don Gantenbien, a Coast Guard veteran of World
War II.
After observing the group for a few
minutes and figuring out what they were doing Gantenbien said, “We’re going to
love this.”
Another couple standing by watching the
activity was David and Mary Doolittle. Initially, 68-year-old David had many
questions about where some of the equipment was and will the group of
volunteers finish the task at hand.
For the Doolittles the workout room is a
very important part of their daily routine, especially for Mary. At age 70,
Mary said working out every day is important to keeping her diabetes under
control. She is very health conscious and has been that way since she was
involved in a car accident which nearly took her life.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a very
long time,” she said referring to the in-house gym. “I use the workout room
every day and because of that, my doctors are very surprised when they see my
diabetes levels lower than what they expected to see.
“We just want to thank you guys so much
for doing this for us, it really means a lot,” said Mary.
Not long after the small group of
spectators left, the group of volunteers completed their mission. The gear had
been moved, setup and was waiting for the first customers to come through the
door.
Rochester thought that it would take the
MCLB group a few days to get it all done; instead they completed the task in
less than three hours.
“I can’t thank you guys enough for
coming out and giving us a hand with this. I know the residents will enjoy it
very much,” she said. She then invited the hard-working volunteers to join the
residents for lunch.