Photo By Lt. Col. Daniel Herrigstad | Spc. Albert L. Penarejo, from the National City, Calif., area, tests the eyes of a...... read more read more
MIHAI VITEAZU, Romania — A local San Diego, native, in the U.S. Army is spending his summer in Romania and Bulgaria helping local civilians here get free eyeglasses that they could not have otherwise been able to afford as part of a Department of Defense-funded humanitarian civic assistance project.
Spc. Albert L. Penarejo, 38, from National City, an Army medic and eye technician assigned to the 212th Combat Support Hospital stationed out of the Heidelberg Medical Center in Heidelberg, Germany, is on a two-month tour in Eastern Europe helping some local nationals here see things just a little bit clearer.
"I love it," said Penarejo. "I'm so happy I got this opportunity and I'm so glad to be here," he said as he tested the eyes of a four year old girl in this small town just outside of Constanta.
"I feel like I'm making a difference and... no one is shooting at me," he said referencing his tour in Iraq in 2005-2006 with the 3rd Infantry Division where he was stationed both just outside of Baghdad and in the International Zone.
Penarejo is taking part of operations related to Joint Task Force-East, a bi-lateral (U.S.-Romanian and U.S.-Bulgarian) U.S. Army Europe mission where U.S. forces are training side-by-side with their host nation military partners. This HCA mission is a part of the operations in these two countries designed to build relations and facilitate regional theater security cooperation.
The HCA team, consisting of Romanian (and Bulgarian when they are in Bulgaria) military and civilian and U.S. service members, are providing medical, dental and optometry screenings, health education classes, and community health assessments for 18 small villages in Romania and Bulgaria between now and October. Penarejo helped provide nearly 200 sets of glasses the past two days in Mihai Viteazu and anticipates providing another 1,600 to those in need before he returns to Heidelberg.
Penarejo is a 1989 graduate of Samuel F.B. Morris High School. His parents, Alejandr and Aurelia Penarejo and other extended family members still reside in the National City / San Diego area.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2009 07:22 |
| Story ID: | 36755 |
| Location: | MIHAI VITEAZU, RO |
| Web Views: | 266 |
| Downloads: | 189 |
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