Photo By Staff Sgt. Steven Colvin | Mr. James D. Melville Jr. (center), the U.S. Ambassador for Estonia, with the help of...... read more read more
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KUUSALU, Estonia – The U.S. Ambassador for Estonia, James D. Melville Jr., joins Estonian civilians and U.S. Soldiers from Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, stationed out of Vilseck, Germany, for a tree planting ceremony in Kuusalu, Estonia April 22, 2016.
On the morning of April 22, the U.S. Soldiers crammed into a 12-passenger van and went to Kuusalu, a small town 60 kilometers from Tapa. Eagle Troop will be training, working and living with their NATO allies while conducting multiple field training exercises in the upcoming months at Tapa Training Area.
During their rotation in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve 2016, Eagle Troop Soldiers decided they wanted to participate in a local community event to help build their relationship with the Estonians. The tree planting ceremony gave them the opportunity they were looking for.
“Today opened my eyes about the environment,” said Sgt. Joseph Reopell, a team leader with Eagle Troop. “We have to take a step out of our ordinary work day and start doing our part to keep nature healthy. We are here today in Estonia, planting trees to show them that we, too, care about the environment and that we want to build a good relationship with them.”
Shortly after arriving at their rally point, a small convoy of vehicles travelled to a secluded area in the woods where the ground was already prepared for the planting of the young trees. The volunteers gathered around Tiit Ruus, a worker for the State Forest Management Center of Estonia, and his wife, Anu Ruus, an English teacher for a basic school in Harju County. Anu also served as an interpreter for Tiit.
After a brief introduction, Anu introduced the rural municipality mayor of Kuusalu, Urmas Kirtsi, who welcomed and thanked the volunteers for participating in the tree planting ceremony on Earth Day.
“First, I’d like to thank all of you for volunteering your time today to help us plant young trees,” said Kirtsi. “It is a special day because it is also Earth Day and I am very glad you could come.”
When Kirtsi finished, Anu gave instructions on where to plant the young trees and how to use the pottiputki, which is a planting tool.
The first tree was planted by Ambassador Melville Jr. He was excited to see how many volunteers came out to help with the tree planting ceremony and was especially glad to see U.S. Soldiers participating in the local community event.
“I’m really impressed with the number of people that came out to be a part of the tree planting ceremony, especially on Earth Day,” said Melville. “I’m very glad to see the U.S. Soldiers out here, too. It shows the Estonian local communities that not only are we here to train and shoot our weapons, but we are also here to build a relationship.”
After two hours of non-stop tree planting, the volunteers enjoyed homemade Estonian soup, bread and drink. When everyone completed their meal, Anu thanked the volunteers again for participating in the event.
Anu said the event went very well and more trees were planted than was expected.
“I think today went extremely well,” said Anu. “The weather was beautiful and we planted 4,300 young trees today in about two hours.”
She continued to explain that her husband, Tiit, is in charge of planting 800,000 new trees every year in his district, which stretches from Tallinn to Rakvere (around 100 kilometers). In all of Estonia, she added, there are 20 million trees planted each year.
When the event was over, the Eagle Troop Soldiers expressed how glad they were to be a part of something that will last for years to come.
“It’s nice to be a part of something that will help build a good relationship with the Estonians,” said Reopell. “When new Soldiers come here to train years from now, they will be able to see these trees that we helped plant.”
Other than the distinguished guests, volunteers of Kuusalu’s tree planting ceremony on Earth Day included adults and children from the local community, members of the Estonian Embassy, Estonian Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (G.L.O.B.E.) students and coordinators, and U.S. Soldiers of Eagle Troop, 2nd Sqdn., 2CR.
Activities like these are part of the U.S. Army Europe-led Operation Atlantic Resolve land force assurance training taking place across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to enhance multinational interoperability, strengthen relationships among our allies, contribute to regional stability and demonstrate U.S. commitment to NATO. (Story by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Steven M. Colvin/Released)
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2016 13:31 |
| Story ID: | 196431 |
| Location: | KUUSALU, EE |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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