Operation Tomodachi

The residents of the Terauchi No. 2 housing project served up heaping portions of thick, tangy Japanese curry, with a side of steamed rice and grilled ham.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet has directed 13,000 military personnel as part of Operation Tomodachi, bringing in hundreds of tons of relief items to the Japanese people hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brent Brell has spent two days ankle-deep in sludge, helping Japanese residents of Hachinohe clean up after a 9-foot tsunami hit the city following the March 11 earthquake.

Just minutes after a massive earthquake struck northern Japan on March 11, several flights bound for Narita International Airport were descending on this air base on the western edge of Tokyo.

Chock-full of schools supplies, personal hygiene kits, snacks and toys, nearly 900 backpacks from Camp Zama have made it into the hands of homeless children along the tsunami-ravaged coastline by Friday.

As the specter of potential nuclear contamination spread throughout Japan in the week following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the top U.S. military commander in the country felt as uncertain as many of the Americans under his protection.