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USS Blue Ridge Arrives in Manila for Routine Port Call and Goodwill Visit

U.S. Seventh Fleet Commander Admiral John Bird (left), U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney (third, right), USS Blue Ridge Commander Captain Thom W. Burke (right), and guests cut the ceremonial cake at the reception aboard the Blue Ridge on February 19. The flagship of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, the USS Blue Ridge, was in Manila February 19-23 for a routine port call and a goodwill visit conducting community outreach with Gawad Kalinga and donating schoolbooks and medical supplies to local schools and the Philippine Department of Social and Welfare Development. With them are (from left): Presidential Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita; Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim; Col. Rafael R. Estrada, a Filipino World War II veteran and founder of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, and Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Alexander B. Yano (hidden).
The USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, is met by a tugboat in Manila to guide it into Manila’s Pier 13. The 18,500-ton ship, forward deployed from Yokosuka, Japan, arrived in Manila on February 19 for a routine port call and goodwill visit. During the visit, the Blue Ridge’s personnel conducted humanitarian and community relations activities such as construction of Gawad Kalinga homes, turnover of Project Handclasp donations, and free public concerts by the Seventh Fleet Band.
Filipino-American personnel of USS Blue Ridge wave from the U.S. Seventh Fleet flagship as the ship docks at Manila’s Pier 13. The ship arrived in Manila on February 19 for a routine port call and goodwill visit that continues the longstanding military, historical and personal ties that bind the Philippines and United States.
Captain Thom W. Burke, Commander of the USS Blue Ridge, listens as students of Taguig National High School read aloud from the schoolbooks that the high school received from the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp, which are donated materials from the American people. The Blue Ridge donated eight pallets of library books as well as backpacks to the school in southern Metro Manila’s largely Muslim community.
A group of high school students from Taguig take turns sitting in the U.S. military helicopter that is used to transport the Admiral of the U.S. 7th Fleet during their tour of the USS Blue Ridge on February 20.
Students of Taguig National High School take their pick from the mess hall counter of USS Blue Ridge at the end of their tour of the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s flagship on February 20. Earlier in the day, the students and teachers of the school also received from Capt. Thom W. Burke eight pallets of library books and backpacks that the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp donated to their school.
Philippine Navy Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez (right) congratulates U.S. Navy Culinary Specialist Paul Arboleda after the Filipino-American took his oath of reenlistment with the U.S. Navy before the Vice Admiral in a ceremony at the Philippine Navy Headquarters in Manila on February 19. The event marked the first time that a U.S. serviceman took his oath of reenlistment in the Philippines. Arboleda is assigned at the USS Blue Ridge, which was in Manila on February 19-23 for a routine port call and goodwill visit. Arboleda was born and raised in Aklan, Philippines before moving to the U.S. His family joined him for the oath taking ceremony.
Director Castillo (middle) of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development receives medical supplies and other hygiene products from USS Blue Ridge Capt. Thom W. Burke (left) upon the USS Blue Ridge’s arrival into Manila on February 19. The donations are from the American people and a part of the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp donation to the Philippine government.

Last Update :: 02/22/2009

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