Those Islands in the Pacific
Looks like there’s some sort of protest movement underway on Guam, one of our westward military bases in the Pacific, as well as on Okinawa.
A small group of Guamaians don’t want the military there, despite the fact that the island is a US protectorate and the US military does provide income to the locals.
While Japan and the US are engaged in a co-operative effort to upgrade military bases on Okinawa, the local residents are concerned about how it will affect them.
A similar program of upgrading the military base on Guam to accommodate 5,000 Marines is underway. Transferring the Marine Corps from Okinawa to Guam will begin in 2020.
The contention by one of the Japanese residents of Takae, Okinawa is thus: “Since bases and live fire training ranges are built to prepare for future wars, it is without a doubt that residents of Okinawa and Guåhan will be exposed to irrevocable harm,” Ashimine said. (See article above) Now, you do reasonably have to ask if Ashimine is even vaguely aware of the damage done to Okinawa during Operation Iceberg in 1945. Some of these archival photos clearly show that the island’s forest was almost completely destroyed by that warfare. Nature has an amazing way of replacing and repairing over a long term all the damage we humans do in the short term. You may find these archival photos interesting: https://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/33-Photos-From-the-Battle-for-Okinawa-101458847
There is a group of residents of Takae on Okinawa whose concerns are that a helicopter may crash on someone’s house. Construction on the helipad base in that area began in 2006. I can understand their concerns, but construction of the helipad base started 11 years ago and they’re protesting now?
At any rate, these ladies of the No Helipad Society have traveled to Guam to assist a small group of Guamaians in their protest against more militarization. The Guam group Save Ritidian, now protesting further militarization, also seems to be blithely unaware of Guam’s history. Since January, Save Ritidian has opposed the live fire training range complex to be built above Ritidian, on Andersen Air Force Base. For them, it’s about the environment of Ritidian and its surrounding lands, such as Yanbaru Forest, that are at risk, including Guam’s major source of fresh water, the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer.
Again, I think that these well-meaning people are either unaware of the history of Guam and the US during WWII, or they have chosen to ignore it. But as you may recall, the Japanese had seized what was then a US-protected territory, the island of Guam, and had parked 19,000 members of the Japanese Army there. This video from Youtube is about 45 minutes about the Battle of Guam in 1944, where the US regained its island territory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuCEODNyQM
I do understand these things, because for years, a major source of concern where I live now was PCBs in the water being retrieved from the lakeshore harbor, which is now a major recreational site. The cleanup took some time, but it has been completed, and trout are caught there occasionally in the summer. And I live near a very large military base with active duty people who frequent a restaurant I go to occasionally, as I explained previously: http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=71528
That means that I live in what used to be termed a ‘target area’, just as my home town was because of its railyard and its heavy equipment, tire and electronics factories.
We are facing constant threats against us from all corners of the world by people who want to annihilate because we exist. The bone of contention of both these groups is that we should be pressing for peace. You can almost hear ‘at all costs’, can’t you? What they seem to miss completely is that if you are not preparing for war waged against you, then you end up with Pearl Harbor being bombed or two skyscrapers and other buildings being crashed into by hijacked planes, and you will have no peace – ever.
So while I understand the concerns of the protest group on Guam, I have to wonder if they realize or even vaguely understand what might have happened to them if the US had not retaken the island of Guam from the Japanese.
Simply put, they might not be here today.
Category: Antiwar crowd
“For them, it’s about the environment of Ritidian and its surrounding lands, such as Yanbaru Forest, that are at risk, including Guam’s major source of fresh water, the Northern Guam Lens Aquifer.”
Andersen AFB is smack dab on top of that aquifer. The base also happens to be a EPA Superfund site. They’re a whole lot of years late if they’re trying to protect the aquifer.
No? Really??
Yeah, here’s my shocked face too. Also, here’s my addendum to my VA claim since they found Trichlorethelsomething and Perchlorsomething in the water at NAS Agana during the timeframe that I was there.
The same stuff that they found in the water at Camp Lejune…
Trifluorotrichloroethane?
We used that exclusively as a solvent in our Hydraulic patch tests, and clean-up after working a messy aircraft maintenance job…until Navy got ‘smart’ and then we had to use PD-680.
1.1.1 Trichlor We had it in my shop for cleaning electronics.
1,1,1 Trichlorethelene. Dow Chemical. Bought it in 55 gallon drums back in the early seventies for cleaning solder flux from electronics. Used it in heated ultrasonic cleaners.
Took a lot of it home to clean Harley parts.
Then suddenly, everyone switched to Freon.
I am amazed that I still have a liver.
Agent Orange was used extensively on
Guam. It kept the foliage from growing around the air base. Many veterans have suffered due to it’s effects.
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play…
— Rudyard Kipling, 1890
The more things change…
“But Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool–you bet that Tommy sees!”
Snowflakes in Guam?
And why is it that these “Give Peas a Chance!” groups have to import folks to help the benighted locals learn about the terrors they are facing?
::sigh::
Well, if there are 15 Japanese No Helipad people added to the 11 or so Save Ritidians, they look like a bigger group than they are.
I think that none of them take North Korea’s missile tests seriously, which is a mistake on their part. None of them are protected from what Norkiland does if the US were to withdraw.
And there you have it. They want to look bigger than they are, and they are not rational at all.
SOP for libtards.
“While Japan and the US are engaged in a co-operative effort to upgrade military bases on Okinawa, the local residents are concerned about how it will affect them.”
This kind will swallow a camel, but gag on a gnat.
Wait until little Rocket Man is sailing missiles over their houses on “test” runs a few times. They’ll be glad those scary military-types are there. Environment be damned once their lives are even the least bit impacted.
He’s getting frisky again, threatening an airburst H-bomb over the Pacific, location unspecified.
Here’s a thought: maybe we should just let the little basterd carry out his threat, detonate the whatever megatonnage bomb he has where he says he’s going to splodey-dope it, and wait for Japan’s and Guam’s Peasniks to come crying and knocking on the door.
That is rather unfair to the Japanese and the Guamanians who do appreciate and support the USA.
If we could just locate them all in one place (say Berkley) and let Kim have his way…
Are the snowflakes agitating the locals by telling them they’re also being “oppressed” by the US Military? Just look at what our withdrawal from the PI did to their economy now that they’re no longer “being oppressed” by the US Military!
Didn’t something similar happen in some areas of Germany, API?
I heard from a Congressman that they should be more concerned with Guam tipping over if those extra Marines are stationed there.
I have wondered for the longest time how ADM Willard answered that idiotic comment with a straight face.
I also note that Mr. Johnson is a mannerless, clueless ignoramus who is only interested in hearing himself talk.
And the media gave him a free pass as he explained that it was deadpan humor.
I appreciate, and often practice, deadpan humor. That was not deadpan humor. That was a stunning and frightening lack of common sense.
Nice way of saying Mr. Johnson is a blithering, brain-damaged idiot.
But that may be insulting to blithering brain-damaged idiots.
Hey, some of my best friends are brain damaged idiots!
They just know enough not to run for congress. 😉
Humor? I recall hearing from several apologists for Mr. Johnson that he was under strong medication at that time.
Now it’s humor instead? Go figure.
Hardly anything new.
25 years ago, Angel Santos was protesting the Naval Air Station there, which happened to share the runway with Guam International Airport.
He climbed the fence a few times, got arrested and charged a few times. So when BRAC finally shut down the NAS, they all cheered until they figured out how much revenue was lost to the island, which shut them up real quick.
Couple that with them building a DoD school on the island because the local schools sucked ass so bad (and the further loss of revenue from that) you have to wonder how many of these idiots even begin to consider the consequences of their actions.
He also wanted to march onto the lands and “reclaim Lake Fena for the people” or something like that.
He was informed that 1. That lake was created when the Navy built the dam that’s holding back the water to form the lake. So that makes it not yours. 2. That lake also happens to sit on the lands inside the boundary of the Naval Magazine, so if you step across that line you will get a bullet in your ass.
Of course that was dressed up in diplomatic curly bits and not as blunt as I put it, but that was the essence of the message.
Wish he’d tried to see if they were right.
Someone from Puerto Rico needs to tell Guam and Okinawa what happened to the local economy when the USN shut down NAS Roosevelt Roads and the Vieques range.
Ask Puerto Rico how well shutting down the Vieques Island range worked out- they lost Roosevelt Roads Naval Base and Air Station, and the millions of irreplaceable dollars it brought.
Don’tcha just love it when a plan comes together?
My mama used to call that “cutting off your nose to spite your face”.
(Sigh) Roosey Roads.
(sigh) And cases of Bacardi for pennies on the dollar.
I recall entire spare bedrooms in houses in Va. Beach stacked floor-to-ceiling with cases of Bacardi rum.
‘Pink label!…’
Unless Guamanians have changed since I was stationed there 45+ years ago, I doubt most will pay much heed to these peaceniks. The Guamanians are a rather laid back group. However while I was there they were pretty upset with the sailor boys knocking up their nubile young ladies then disappearing to places like Nam.
Most of the guys back in my time would either date girls off the tender/air station/hospital or try to tag some Japanese tourist girls down in Tumon.
But eventually most went back to one of the original acronyms for Guam–give up and masturbate.
It’s true that if all humanity laid aside their weapons, there would indeed be peace. But look at the price we’d pay for that sort of peace. Suppose some tyrant took over peacefully, and decided to subject the people to a truly oppressive dictatorship. I suspect the tyrant’s subjects would rather have the presence of war rather than the absence of freedom.
Double the Spam imports and all will be fine.
Lots of easy bake jobs on the Base, most would not be happy to lose them.
What is worse, not doing your job for Uncle Sam or serving drinks to some pain in the ass tourist?
I have two cans of Spam that I could send them, except that I was planning to make Spam hash with them. The hickory-smoked type looks good, might be good with scrambled eggs or in a frittata.
In fact, they could invite the US Navy to make movies there, like a re-up of “South Pacific” or something. That might make it more attractive to tourists.
Ex-PH,
Try the black pepper one. Cut thin & fry. Talk about delicious!
If I can find it, I will. Walmart has just about everything.
Fall is here and winter is on its way. Time to get out the frying pan and the baking tins.
Spam musubi and spam kelaguen.
Trust me.
Guamaians? I’ve been calling them Guam-bats and Guammy Bears this whole time. Boy, is my face red.
I’m not really sure if what I use is correct, but at some point, I gotta have something!!!
Wikipedia lists the demonym for Guam residents as Guamanians.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam
Guamanians it is!!!!
And the lefties there would be Guamitistas.
Is that like a tyrantita? (extra points for knowing the source)
Is that a video game of some kind?
“Zorro The Gay Blade”. Your penalty is having to watch it again.
Peaceniks, no matter where the are found, are all nothing but shills for the worldwide communist conspiracy. A pox on them all.
They’re what the likes of Lenin, Stalin and Mao referred to as “useful idiots”.
Sounds like the Asia-Pacific version of Code Pink.
Follow the money. I wonder how many of these groups are running on Soros money.
The PRC has stirred up shit on Okinawa for years, paying protesters and all. Guess Guam is getting some of that CHICOM lovin’ now too.
Guam has come a long, long way for Sailors since the days of ‘Give Up And Masturbate’. 😉
I was at NAS Agana from 88-91. My roommate was part of the auxiliary security force. There was a Red Cell exercise coming up and I commented to him that I wondered if it would be delayed due to the tropical depression that had just reached typhoon strength. His reply: “This fucking island is a tropical depression. Let’s go to Barney’s and get drunk.”
Barney’s. One of the few bright spots, along with Jeff’s.
The Jungle was good until that asshole murdered a girl off the Holland. Last I heard he’s still rotting in jail there.
Barney’s was great when it was still on the beach. Not so much after it moved inland.
Jeff’s is still going though.
I seem to remember that EOD got called out to the cove by Jeff’s. Some sport divers thought they had found a torpedo. Turns out that it was a torpedo shaped device that was used for clearing mines. The picture in the paper showed the EOD guys posing on it like Slim Pickens in Dr Strangelove.
I went through a Red Cell at NAS Lemoore, in 1989 while undergoing A-7E FRAMP with VA-122.
That was a fun filled few days. lol
Buddy of mine was there a few months ago. To hear him tell it, not that much has changed.
Still rolling blackouts, still football scores on Monday afternoon, still watching the demolition derby on any given portion of Marine drive right after the 4 PM rain shower, but at least they have the Horse and Cow there!
Won’t surprise me to find out that Soros has money in this game….
Me, neither, but he won’t live forever. He nay think his kid is in daddy’s shoes, but kids don’t always do what their parents expect them to do, no matter how willing they may seem to be.
I’d piss on George Soros’s grave even faster than I would on “Hanoi Jane” Fonda’s.
Take a double-helping of ExLax after hitting the all-you-can-eat TexMex buffet, and risk the indecent exposure charge at the graveyard.