Defense.gov - Special Report - On Location Abroad the USNS Comfort

Video: USNS Comfort Wraps Up Continuing Promise 2009

American Forces Press Service reporter Fred W. Baker III recently went aboard
the USNS Comfort off the shore of Corinto, Nicaragua. It was the final stop of a four-month humanitarian mission to Central and South America. The ship also provided medical and dental care to patients in El Salvador, Colombia, Panama, Antigua, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Overall for the deployment, Comfort's medical and
dental teams treated more than
100,000 patients.

Featured Stories

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Loh, a dentist sailing with the USNS Comfort, listens as a translator describes a patient's tooth complaints during at a medical site in Chinandega, Nicaragua, July 11, 2009. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III

Crew Leaves USNS Comfort Changed by Mission

CHINANDEGA, Nicaragua, July 24, 2009 – It’s just after 9 a.m. in this hot, humid town, and Navy Capt. Colleen Gallagher already looks tired. She is in the throes of running a medical site manned by health care providers from the Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort. Story

Navy Capt. Tom Negus, mission commander for the USNS Comfort Continuing Promise 2009, talks about the mission to local reporters during a stop in Nicaragua, July 10, 2009. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III

Hospital Ship Serves 100.000 During 4-Month Trip

ABOARD THE USNS COMFORT OFF THE COAST OF CORINTO, NICARAGUA, July 22, 2009 – Since he was a small boy, Juan Carlos Manzanares wanted to be a surgeon. Growing up in Leon, Nicaragua, Juan admired the skills of the doctors on television and dreamed that one day he could join their ranks. Story

Reporter’s Blog

A Nicaraguan boy tells an interpreter where his stomach hurts while a pediatrician from the USNS Comfort evaluates him at a clinic in Chinandega, Nicaragua, July 11, 2009. The hospital ship has been on a tour of Central and South America for the past four months and has treated thousands of patients in seven countries. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III

USNS Comfort Spawns Countless Stories

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, July 15, 2009 – I left the USNS Comfort July 13 after a little more than three days aboard the hospital ship. It was not long enough. Story

A red band is placed on the wrist of a child waiting in line to be screened by doctors and nurses from the hospital ship USNS Comfort at Chinandega, Nicaragua, July 11, 2009. The bands allow the patients into the clinic. Hundreds turned out that day, and thousands have been treated during the ship’s final stop in Nicaragua. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III

Hundreds Endure Heat for Health Care

CHINANDEGA, Nicaragua, July 14, 2009 – I saw a Navy commander cry the other day. He wasn’t bawling. And truth be told, he’d probably rather I hadn’t noticed the single tear stream down his left cheek as he looked away. Story

Beyker Maldonado and his friend chase a toy car July 10, 2009, while waiting in the reception area of the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort off the coast of Corinto, Nicaragua. Maldonado turned 2 on the ship as he waited for eye surgery. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III

Boy Forgoes Birthday Party for Eye Surgery

ABOARD THE USNS COMFORT OFF THE COAST OF CORINTO, NICARAGUA, July 13, 2009 – It was Beyker Maldonado’s birthday last week. The toddler likes to run, chase bouncy balls, and run. Sporting a cloth diaper, a dirty T-shirt, socks and sandals, Beyker zips up and down the reception area here with Navy corpsmen in chase. He turned 2 on July 10. Story