NEW YORK (USTCNS) --- Monday morning aboard USNS Comfort dawned bright and sunny as the city of New York struggled to recover from the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Comfort is in New York at the request of the city, providing food, berthing space and laundry services to rescue workers and emergency personnel working on the recovery efforts.

A steady stream of official visitors and rescue workers trekked on and off the ship throughout the day Sunday. More than 270 military and civilian emergency workers checked aboard Comfort on Sunday for showers, food and some rest. The ship's galley fed nearly 300 additional emergency personnel and workers from the mayor's command center located adjacent to Comfort on Pier 92.

"We'll provide anything we can," said Capt. Ed Nanartowich, master of USNS Comfort. "We're here to help the people of New York any way we can."

Work continued throughout the ship. In the galley, Navy mess specialists readied meals and snacks for the chow lines that served meals around the clock. Navy ship servicemen prepared to wash clothes for the rescue workers as well as worked at their normal duties of providing laundry service for the ship's crew of more than 300.

Navy personnel in the casualty receiving section of the ship where rescue workers check in were sorting donated underwear, socks and shirts. One of the most popular items was foam innersoles for tired feet.

By mid-afternoon, nearly 150 Air National Guard troops arrived on the pier with their gear. They were moving aboard Comfort to clean up and get some much-needed rest. Many of the group had been working at the destruction site in Southern Manhattan. Some slept under a bridge in lower Manhattan, and others spent the previous night sleeping on cots in a parking garage. All were grateful for the respite and hot food. Even though the Guardsmen were comrades in arms, a Marine security team nevertheless carefully checked all their baggage that was brought aboard the ship.

Moving among the people on the pier throughout the day was CNOCMC Mike Oldknow, Military Sealift Command force master chief. He greeted people, helped sort sea bags and gear, and generally acted as a facilitator to the military and civilians arriving at the gangway. He was everywhere helping, greeting and directing people to the right person.

"My boss, Rear Admiral [David L.] Brewer, said to help out any way I can. So here I am," said Oldknow.

Early Sunday evening, 67 additional sailors from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., arrived to lend their shipmates a helping hand. As they lined up to check in at the pier, a television crew from Univision, the Spanish television network, walked among the sailors, speaking with them about their assignments.

Cristina McGlew from the MSC public affairs office ran up to join the Univision crew. She carefully explained, in Spanish, Comfort's mission in New York and answered a myriad of questions about the ship and crew.

By mid-evening, a small group of Chicago firefighters exhaustedly climbed Comfort's gangway. Dirty, tired and hungry, they were greeted warmly by the sailors at the reception desk and assisted to their berthing spaces.

The same group was checking off the ship, thanking the Comfort staff, by 7:30 a.m. Monday morning. "We're going back to the site," said one, referring to the destruction area. "They need us down there."

(FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)