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U.S. Navy Lt. Christopher R. Grady makes a Play-Doh creation Feb. 2 at Seishin Children’s Home in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, during Artillery Relocation Training Program 13-4. Twenty-four Marines and sailors visited the home to interact with the children. Grady is the chaplain for 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

Photo by Sgt. Brian A. Marion

Marines bring joy to local children’s home

21 Apr 2014 | Sgt. Brian A. Marion Okinawa Marines

 While stationed overseas, service members have the unique opportunity to interact with community members and impact the lives of people across the globe, as well as their own.Twenty-four Marines and sailors visited the Seishin Children’s Home Feb. 2 in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, during Artillery Relocation Training Program 13-4.The Marines and sailors are with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force.


“We always want to try to work with children,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Christopher R. Grady, the battalion’s chaplain. “We want to bring joy and smiles to these children.”Prior to the service members’ arrival to Seishin, the home was filled with anticipation for the foreign visitors, according to Seiko Yoshikawa, the director of the home.“The children were really looking forward to the visit,” said Yoshikawa. “This visit gave the children a unique experience in interacting with Americans.”When the service members arrived, they greeted their young hosts and began to pass out Play-Doh. Within minutes, children and service members produced everything from multicolored dinosaurs and flowers to purple sideburns, mustaches and glasses.“It was pretty awesome being out here and interacting with the children,” said Cpl. Danniel R. Fillinger, an intelligence specialist with Headquarters Battery, 3rd Bn., 12th Marines. “It felt good to bring some joy and happiness to their lives.”The service members also participated in Mamemaki, a Japanese tradition during the holiday Setsubun, which is intended to ward-off evil spirits and bring good luck throughout the year.For Mamemaki, four service members wore masks and pretended to be “demons.” The children had to fend off the demons by throwing beans at them. Then they ate the number of beans equal to their age to bring them luck for the rest of the year.“I’m happy that the children were able to interact with the Marines,” said Yoshikawa. “I believe that experiences like today will affect them in a good way.”Following a quick snack for the students and U.S. volunteers, the service members taught the children how to sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”With all the songs and revelry complete, the Marines spent the last few minutes saying goodbye to their new friends before returning to their deployed base of operations at the Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji.

“This entire event worked out beautifully,” said Grady. “It started out with the Marines and children shyly interacting with each other, and it ended with the children chasing the Marines around, and everybody laughing."