A young Vietnamese burns victim has captured the hearts of some of the steeliest US and Australian Navy personnel.
An annual maritime humanitarian assistance and disaster preparation mission, called the Pacific Partnership, is in Malaysia following visits to East Timor, the Philippines, Vietnam and Palau.
The partnership involves medical clinics, civil engineering projects, natural disaster preparation and training workshops in some of the world's poorest communities.
There are more than 900 military and civilian personnel on board US hospital ship Mercy and a Japanese ship, including 30 Australians.
US captain Peter Roberts, who heads up the medical facility, said the partnership had an incredible power to touch lives of people across the Pacific and build ongoing relationships.
He shared the story of a little girl in Vietnam, who has received medical treatment and rehabilitation over several years through the partnership after she was severely burnt.
Captain Roberts said she's gone from not being able to walk to being able to run up and down the hallway.
"Her smiles just tell the whole story," he told reporters, adding that medical personnel have been trying to help her get more mobility with her hands.
For Australian Navy captain Mike Spruce, docking at Dili in East Timor has been one of his personal highlights because of the warmth and friendship of the Timorese people.
In the Philippines outside Legazpi City, he met a five-year-old boy in a dentist chair and decided to play tooth fairy.
"I managed to press a five peso piece (coin) into his hand, and in the middle of getting his teeth removed he managed to smile," Captain Spruce said.
"I told him if it starts to hurt grip the coin hard."
The partnership is due to make its last stop in Indonesia.
