Fifteen airmen from the 52nd fighter wing at Spandahlem Air Base, Germany, were so amazed by Chania, Crete, that they decided to give something back to the local community. During their downtime from training deployment between the U.S. and Hellenic Air forces at Souda Bay, they volunteered to take part in and organize a beach cleanup.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Tyler Marcee said that the idea came to the team after three of them went rock-climbing. They were mesmerized by the beauty of the beach and couldn’t resist cleaning it in order to see it at its full potential.

“We gathered about 20 bags, and I’d say about 150 pounds of trash,” he said. “More people showed up than I thought, even with it being a Saturday.”