They Do Us Proud: Soldiers and Marines Helping in Japan

The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is running helo relief operations into earthquake devastated Japan. And our Marines?

Marine forces in Japan are delivering food, water and other supplies to assist in disaster-relief efforts following the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region Friday.

The first personnel and equipment to arrive include command-and-control and logistics assets, plus CH-46E transport helicopters and KC-130J cargo aircraft, officials said in a news release. Those assets have moved from Marine facilities in Okinawa and are now operating out of mainland Japan.

They will be joined shortly by elements of the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, who are returning from exercises in Cambodia.

Aviation assets from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma were quickly dispatched to areas on the mainland where the need was greatest, Lt. Col. Karl C. Rohr, a spokesman for III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a news release.