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U.S. troops get warm welcome in Myanmar

Flying into Yangon, Marine Cpl. Bryan Hampson looked out the windows of his C-130 cargo plane at an expanse of marshland covered with a thick, brown blanket of water.

As the plane through the clouds, he didn’t know what to expect. His flight Tuesday was only the second one that Myanmar’s ruling military junta — often hostile and suspicious of outside interference — had allowed the U.S. military to fly into the cyclone-devastated country.

What awaited was virtually a hero’s welcome.

“They kept telling us thank you and shaking our hands,” he said of the 40 Burmese people who unloaded by hand the 19,900 pounds of emergency supplies onboard. “They were really friendly toward us. They were excited to see us.”

After strong appeals from Washington, Myanmar allowed the second and third U.S. military flights Tuesday and appeared to be willing to accept more, said Marine Lt. Col. Douglas Powell.

The two flights come after Myanmar allowed an Air Force quick-response task force to deliver its first C-130 cargo jet full of supplies from Utapao Air Force Base in Thailand, a bomber base for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.

About 50 airmen from the 36th Contingency Response Group, deployed out of Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, have set up the relief operation.

The 36th response group, created to speedily deploy to Pacific-region disasters such as the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami, has also placed other aircraft and personnel on standby: a C-130 and its crew from Yokota Air Base in Japan and a C-17 Globemaster III from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

Powell said the first flight Tuesday carried blankets, water and mosquito nets. The second took in a 24,750-pound load. The U.S. has pushed hard for the ruling military junta in Myanmar to let U.S. troops play a big role in relief operations in the aftermath of the cyclone, which has killed tens of thousands and severely affected an estimated 2 million people.

The U.S. military, which has already brought forces to the region for its annual Cobra Gold exercise, has 11,000 Marines, sailors and airmen, at least four ships and six C-130s that could be used in help the mercy mission.

Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Forces, flew into Myanmar on the initial aid flight Monday to try to persuade the junta to relent.

Keating said the U.S. military could provide 200,000 pounds of supplies a day, which would be a massive boost to the lagging relief efforts. But Myanmar state television said navy commander in chief Rear Adm. Soe Thein told Keating that basic needs of the storm victims are being fulfilled and that “skillful humanitarian workers are not necessary.”

The operation, named Joint Task Force Caring Relief, will not go ahead without the approval of Myanmar’s military rulers, who have so far refused a broad range of help offers because they fear foreign meddling in their domestic affairs.

Staff writer Patrick Winn and The Associated Press’ Eric Talmadge contributed to this story.

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