Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Marines from Mexico and Netherlands join US Marines in Biloxi cleanup

Knight-Ridder:

The Marines have landed in Biloxi. The Mexican Marines.

And Dutch Marines, too.

Marines from Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States are allies in an international Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort based on ships about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Four Canadian ships are on the way.

...

About 75 Mexican Marines landed Thursday on the beach just east of the Beau Rivage casino to begin cleaning up Biloxi, Miss., especially around schools and churches.

One of the Marines, Mario T. Rodriguez, said he left a small city in the far south of Mexico to volunteer for hurricane relief duty. He has a 3-month-old daughter with his wife at home.

"The U.S. is so rich, but even a rich country can need help," he said.

The Mexican Marines will be aided by Spanish-speaking crew members of the USS Bataan as they work in the devastated areas of Biloxi and Gulfport.

For the first time in the history of the Mexican military, women have been assigned a mission, said Lt. Leonardo Tun Humbert of the Papaloapan: Three female physicians and two nurses from the Mexican navy are aboard the ship waiting to be assigned to hurricane relief work.

...

The Mexican Marines got a bit of a culture shock when they met Capt. Nora Tyson, the commander of the Bataan. The 844-foot ship is equipped with six helicopters that began rescue operations in New Orleans the day after Katrina struck, then was sent to Biloxi on Thursday.

"We were surprised to find a woman commanding a ship," said Pretelin, the Mexican navy fleet officer. "We found her very professional, very well mannered."