Iwakuni-based Marines praised for helping Japanese man impaled by fishing spear

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Two Iwakuni-based Marines were lauded Tuesday for aiding a Japanese man who was injured while spear fishing near the air station on July 27.

Cpls. Jose Castrobaez and Raekwon Johnson — C-130J engine mechanics from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 — were flying drones on the bank of the Nishiki River near the Kintaikyo Bridge when a friend of the injured man asked the Marines for help, the pair told Stars and Stripes on July 31.

“We met these guys who were having their own barbecue,” Castrobaez said. “They invited me to go swimming with them. I believe they were practicing how to spear fish, and the next thing you know I was doing my own thing and they told me, ‘Hey our buddy needs help.’”

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/1.593363