Soldiers are working with city leaders and community members in Dongducheon City, South Korea, on a host of civic and environmental projects.
Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, cooperated with Soldiers from the 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and Dongducheon officials and community members for two projects March 29 and April 5 to clean up the Sincheon River that runs through the town of nearly 100,000 people near Camp Casey, and to plant trees on the nearby AhnHeung-Dong Mountain for Arbor Day
The Sincheon River cleanup and the Arbor Day events are annual cooperative events for the Soldiers of Camp Casey and Camp Hovey, and the people of Dongducheon City.
"I believe Dongducheon is the only place in South Korea where U.S. Soldiers and Korean citizens work shoulder-to-shoulder to protect nature and the city they live in," said Dongducheon Mayor Sechang Oh.
For the river cleanup, an annual event since 2004, Ironhorse Soldiers threw rocks coated in special materials into the river to act as a filter to clean the water, and picked up trash and debris from the river banks.
"It's good to get to do something different, and give something back," said Pfc. Vincent Nair, a supply specialist in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st ABCT. "We are in a different country representing America."
Nair, a native of the Fiji Islands, said service in South Korea is about more than just defending the Peninsula, but also about being good neighbors, a sentiment echoed by Nair's brigade commander.
"It's a great opportunity for us to support the community of Dongducheon and give back to the people with live with and work with every day," said Col. John DiGiambattista, commander, 1st ABCT.
At the Arbor Day event approximately seven miles west of the city, Soldiers planted more than 2,100 Fir trees.
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