Here is another story about how the US military is assisting with the relief effort in Japan:

The stretch at Nobiru, about halfway down the line, was one of the hardest hit. The Nobiru Station building’s windows are shattered and its roof will need major repair, but it is still standing.

That makes it one of the few among thousands of buildings in this beach neighborhood that wasn’t ripped from its foundations and swept away in the tsunami.

On Thursday, 42 U.S. soldiers and a team of Japan Self-Defense Force ground troops arrived at Nobiru on a mission to clean out the station.

The U.S. soldiers, based out of Camp Zama and Okinawa, are not construction workers. They are parachute riggers, Patriot missile operators, mechanics and others who have been doing the hard work of helping dig Japan out of its wreckage since March 20.

They found such a mess at Nobiru Station, it was difficult to know where to start. The building was jam-packed with sludge.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link but it is good to see that USFJ is using Soldiers of any specialty to help with the clean up effort.  I wonder if there are any other nations helping with the clean up effort or did everyone just leave after the search and rescue missions were complete?  These Soldiers are definitely doing the hardest and most unglamorous work which is the clean up but appreciation from the locals I’m sure makes it all worth it for these troops:

Fortunately, the physical destruction is where the Iraq comparisons stop. Around here, the locals have truly welcomed these soldiers.

Mason keeps a thank-you letter in his pocket from a Japanese boy whose school was cleaned by soldiers last week. He also has a photo of the Japanese flag the school presented them, signed by the school’s survivors and inscribed with a message in English: “When we had a crisis, you rushed in and helped us.”

For soldiers doing such back-breaking work, such moments of appreciation make a big difference.

“It was a pretty good feeling,” said Mason, of the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment. “The people here are keeping their heads up. Despite everything, I don’t think they’re letting this get them down too much.”