U.S. warship arrives in Cambodia for goodwill visit

Cambodia-born U.S. navy commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz

USS Mustin (Photo: Reuters)

December 03, 2010
Xinhua

The missile destroyer USS Mustin docked in Sihanoukville Autonomous Port on Friday for a five-day goodwill visit in Cambodia, said a U.S. embassy official in Phnom Penh on Friday.

The missile destroyer USS Mustin is commanding by the Cambodia-born U.S. navy commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, with the more than 300 sailors under his charge.

Vanrith Chrea, Public Affairs Section, told Xinhua on Friday that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) docked at Sihanoukville Automomous Port on Friday morning for 5-day (Dec. 3-7) goodwill visit.

"In Cambodia, the naval crews will conduct community service projects, visiting orphanage, do humanism work in Bateay Meanchey province's Samlot district and meet with Cambodian Navy for military experience exchange," he said.

Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz was born and living at the outside of the capital Phnom Penh in the late 1960's until April, 1973, a young American woman, who worked at the U.S. Embassy, took him for adoption in the U.S.. It is his first time to return to his birth country in 37 years.

Raised by his adoptive mother Maryna Lee Misiewicz, Misiewicz enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in Lanark, Illinois.

He was selected for the Navy's Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program and attended the U. S. Naval Academy, where he received his commission in 1992.

His service as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer ultimately brought him to command the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.