KOTZEBUE, Alaska -- You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout I'm telling you why, the U.S. Marine Corps is coming to town.
D Company (-) Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division members assigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, participated in Operation Semper Fidelis, a humanitarian mission with Toys for Tots, which provides toys for children in Alaska during the holidays.
The unit members worked with the village schools and the Northwest Alaskan Native Association to ensure they have a name of every child in the villages, and they've checked their list more than twice. No child is left behind when the U.S. Marine Corps comes to town.
Unit members successfully completed this mission for the past 15 years, and have been working to expand the program to reach more remote villages each year. "The first time I heard of Toys for Tots was when I was a kid," said Sue Johnson, Kiana School principal. "I think it's one of the greatest things going. There are so many kids today that really need somebody to care about them."
The Marines, along with a few Airmen, went through several weeks of mission-specific training to prepare for this year's journey. "Taking lessons learned last year, we incorporated a cultural training where we were able to educate the Marines and Airmen, who went out, to be able to best interact with the tribes and the local villages," said Marine Corps Maj. William Allen, commander of Delta Co.
The teams also attended Arctic Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape school. SERE courses helped ensure the group had the tools necessary to, not only survive an emergency, but to maneuver from point 'A' to point 'B' at negative 45 degrees, said Allen. A contracted snow machine instructor who helped ensure everyone could safely travel throughout the harsh Arctic environment.
The group split into four teams after training. Each team was assigned a specific village of operation with Team 1 being McGrath, Team 2-Galena, Team 3-Kotzebue and Team 4-Barrow.
The teams were flown to their respective village. From there, they traveled by snow machine to deliver toys to three additional villages.
The teams endured the rugged terrain and weather, which in Kotzebue averaged a temperature around negative 35 degrees Fahrenheit, with a guide to bring a small portion of warmth and joy to the local children.
Team 3's guide was Kiana Mayor Brad Reich, who helped them get safely from one village to the next.
"It was really inspiring to see what they did in the schools with the kids. It really felt like the kids got something and to give them something at school is really good," said Reich.
Along with tons of toys, donated by local Alaskans, the teams also had a special guest with them who knows a thing or two about delivering toys. Kris Kringle made a few guest appearances with the Marines to help distribute the toys.
"When the door flew open and in walked Santa, there was just this collective gasp from all of the children," said Johnson.
Due to some untimely aircraft mechanical issues and inclement weather, the four teams weren't able to depart on time. Because of this delay, Team 1 and Team 4 were unable to get to their villages. However, that isn't stopping the unit members from ensuring the children of those other villages get their toys. The unit is shipping the toys with individual members to the villages that were missed.
"You don't realize how unique this program is, especially up here in Alaska, until you actually go out to that remote location," said Marin Corps Sgt. Hollis Versyp of Delta Co. He said when he handed a toy to a young child he knew that's probably the only toy the child is going to get that Christmas.
"It makes up for all the long days and hard nights that we have ... to go do something like this," Versyp added.
You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout I'm telling you why, the U.S. Marine Corp and Toys for Tots is coming to town.