Ie Shima

From Aug 1994 to Aug 1995, while still in the Marine Corps, I was the Officer-in-Charge of the Operations Support Detachment Ie Shima. Ie Shima is a small island off the west coast of Okinawa, Japan. It is a small island you can only get to by air or on the ferry. There is a small local community of farmers and fisherman as well as a couple hotels. My detachment was only 11 Marines. We were responsible for the training range on the west end of the island. At the time it was one of the top training ranges for all services in the Western Pacific.  Helicopter, AV-8B Harrier jets and C-130 aircraft used the runway regularly. We also supported parachute operations, small boat operations, and all sorts of training exercises across the land areas of the range. Being the senior military officer on the island, I was viewed by the local Japanese community with the same respect as the local mayor.  We also let the farmers keep their goats on the range (there was no live fire on the range) and come cut the grass to feed their cattle. This also meant we got to help catch the goats for special occasions and join in the preparation and feasts.

I remember when the Japanese phone company hired one of Japan's top film directors to do some commercials and ads for them. He wanted to do them on the island and on our range. The production company came out to ask permission and took me out for a wonderful dinner to discuss the details. We had a wonderful relationship with the locals and we all loved our time on the island. The island is mostly famous as the place where the famous war reporter Ernie Pyle was killed during the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945.  There is a small memorial park on the island to Ernie Pyle and the Marines are responsible for the upkeep of the park and hold a ceremony every April to remember him. Dignitaries come from Okinawa, mainland Japan, and lots of senior US military and WWII veterans.

In the spring of 1995 I was informed by headquarters that there would be two WWII vets and their wives visiting the island. They had gone through their Senator in Texas to arrange all permission and I was instructed to show them around and provide any help I could. They were going to stay at the YYY resort on the island. Both vets had been in the Army Air Force and flown fighters from the airfield on Ie Shima during WWII. They were very nice and it was a pleasure to show them around the island and listen to their stories from their time on the island. Neither had been married during WWII and they both joked with their wives that they had received "Dear John" letters from their sweethearts at the time, while stationed here. We had some excellent dinners and they enjoyed reliving some of their WWII experiences. After I returned to San Diego in the fall of 1995, they contacted me to tell me their old unit from their time in Ie Shima was holding a reunion in San Diego and invited me to be the guest speaker at their dinner. I had a fantastic time at the reunion and enjoyed hearing even more stories and being able to tell them how important such a small island still was to the military. The two gentlemen who had visited Ie Shima had told me that they had been flying fighter escort for the bombers that dropped the atomic bombs. One of them shared with me a letter he had written home to his parents after witnessing this sobering moment. I would like to close my reminiscing with his letter dated August 9, 1945.  Sometimes history is more powerful in the first person, as it happens.

"Of course, the topic on everyone's lips is the atomic bomb. Will they or won't they quit? When you receive this, perhaps it will all be history, but I doubt if the Japs will throw in the sponge very quickly. Isn't it an amazing weapon, though?  I just happened to be looking at the horizon to my left from "Cherry's" cockpit when it seemed as though there was a sunrise at midday.  The horizon, even in the brilliant light of near-noon, became a vivid and awful orange.  It truly was a horrifying sight.  Then before ten minutes had elapsed, a symmetrical cloud column had risen high into the sky.  With our gunsights we estimated the cloud to be fifty thousand feet high.  It made us all feel rather humble, if not futile.  E.M.C. Jr."



 

ALEX TURNS 3

Alex turned 3 yesterday and had a nice party at school that Ellie was allowed to go upstairs to join. He has come a long way in 3 years. At Burger King for ice cream the day before his birthday he showed how he has grown into his role as a big brother. There was a large poster with all the Transformer toys available in kids meals. Ellie kept pointing to the pink motorcycle she had gotten last week and saying "my bike, my bike" as she believes most of what she sees is hers. (I think this comes from us always calling her a princess.) Some of Alex's classmates from school were there and also starting pointing to the bike saying "my bike, my bike". Alex quickly jumped in and starting defending his sister by saying "no, Ellie's bike" and stood in front of the picture so the other boys could not point at it anymore. He stayed in front of the picture for quite a while refusing to allow anyone else to claim the bike as theirs. As a send off to his 2's he threw his biggest tantrum to date while we were in Burger King for ice cream. He got upset it was time to go and ended up on the floor screaming and crying and clinging to my leg as I tried to walk across the floor. I think he has done a good hand-off to Ellie as she jumped right into the role of cheeky, naughty 2 year old. On the way home from ice cream Alex was screaming for fun in the car and I reminded him they were not allowed to scream in the car. His reply was "Can we scream at home?" Perhaps the lawyer in his mummy is rubbing off on him. He loves to remind mum when he finds her shoes around the house that she needs to put them in the shoe rack by the front door.


By coincidence constitution day here is just a couple days after July 4 so we get a bank holiday weekend on the 4th of July. Alex and Ellie wore their special outfits to school the day before to show they are all-American kids. The next weekend Ellie actually got to have a play date when her friend Amelia from school came over on Sunday morning with her family for breakfast and a busy morning in the pool. Ellie loves to paddle around the pool with her float belt on and Alex is getting good at swimming around completely on his own with no floats and can even swim to the bottom to pick up his little seals.


For his birthday he got a train, an airplane and a "Cars" umbrella. (Ellie also had to have an umbrella as she believes she is the same age and for a month-and-a-half she is technically correct!) Later that afternoon they were playing outside with the umbrellas even though there was no hint of rain. it still amazes me what kids find so entertaining.

After much hassle, effort and frustration, mostly at the British, Latha finally arrived this afternoon. It finally took getting a transit visa for a 3 hour layover in Heathrow. It took 5 days, several sets of photos, money, lots of paperwork and numerous trips to a variety of British Embassy sites in Muscat so she could change planes in London. The kids are so excited to see her and I think she had one whole suitcase of presents for them.

We are off to Minnesota to visit the family on Aug 7. It will be great to see the American clan again. In preparation for starting work the end of August I have started a website that is a little bit about maths. Even if you are not one of my students you should check it out. I also have another blog which is devoted to maths and school. Mr Block's maths home

GRADUATION

Last Sunday the kids school had their graduation ceremony. Alex and Ellie are too young to be graduating, the ceremony was for the four year olds who were graduating nursery and ready to move on to the big kids school for kindergarten next year. We went because Alex's class were to be flag holders for the procession of graduates as they paraded up to the stage. Ellie's group was to perform a little song.

We arrived just in time for the start and the hall was packed. The ceremony was at a local hall that was set up very fancy. Alex went shy right away and would only stand in his spot with his flag if mummy sat with him. Even being next to his girlfriend didn't help with his shyness. (Yes he used to have a girlfriend back in Muscat but she moved away to Africa and has never called or written him since, so he has moved on!) To the tune of "Pomp and Circumstances" the nine four year olds paraded down the middle of the seating area, past Alex's class holding their little Cayman flags, and up onto the stage where all the staff and guests were seated. All the kids were in their green traditional graduation caps and gowns. One of the graduates was overcome with sadness at having to leave nursery and was in tears the whole time. (Maybe it was just his fear of having to go to kindergarten next year!)

There were lots of poems and songs by the graduates and speeches by the teachers and staff. There was a speech by the guest of honor. While the speech was interesting, I think she forgot that most of the audience were kids under four and their parents. Once the four year olds loose their focus, the parents then loose theirs. In our case it involved chasing Alex around the hall as he dragged a large balloon sculpture after him. There was a large pot luck buffet set up in the back of the hall. Ellie spent her time walking along the tables naming the food and trying to get into the cakes. Ellie's group did a good job with their little teddy bear song and the ceremony was really nice.

We all had a good time and happy there was no valedictory speech!

UPDATE FROM THE ISLAND

It has been a while since I have written so I will try to quickly mention what we have been up to. It is amazing how time goes so quickly when you are in a routine with two little ones who never let you get into a groove no matter how hard you try.



On Friday before fathers day we had a luncheon at the kids school. They had made cards for me and some other presents and we got to all have lunch together. The kids have now become water rats. They are really enjoying swimming in the pool and it is now hard to get them out. Alex wears his mask and is swimming well on his own. Ellie just puts on her float belt or water wings and floats around the pool on her own not worried if she ends up on the other end of the pool from me. She spends her whole time smiling saying "look at me, look at me" which is her new favorite phrase. She also loves to walk around telling everyone who will listen "I'm a princess!"

On Saturday, June 20 I participate in the Flowers One Mile Sea Swim. It is a huge annual event here that had almost 750 swimmers. There was a large number of swimmers from all over the world including a large contingent of kids from Australia and lots of current and past Olympians. Check out the web site for details on all the Olympians as well as the results. It was cool to swim against the likes of Ian Crocker, Neil Walker, Anthony Nesty, Kirsty Kowal and others. Ryan Lockte was here on the beach chatting with swimmers and posing for pictures but did not swim as he is prepping for World Championships in a couple months. The water is warm and crystal clear and there is lots of prize money as well as loads of raffle give-aways at the end for all finishers. I hadn't swum a stroke in over two months and had a slight course misunderstanding. I thought the buoys marked the course and I had to stay seaward of them. After about a half mile it finally occurred to me that everyone else was swimming just off the beach and I was actually off the course. I had to head back in to shore. I still managed a 71st finish so there is lots of room for improvement next year. The race was won by Shaune Fraser, a local swimmer who now swims for University of Florida. He recently won the NCAA 200 free and fly with a NCAA record for the fly. His brother was close behind who is also at Florida. Anyone who is a swimmer or wants an excuse to head down here should come swim next year. After the swim we had fun playing on the beach hoping to win a raffle prize. After living on the beach for seven weeks and showing no interest in swimming at the beach Alex has suddenly taking to the waves. One of his best friends from school Zeke was there as his mom had done the swim. They kept the entire beach entertained running naked up and down the beach and through the waves. The sight of me chasing them down the beach shouting at them to stop brought a lot of chuckles from beach-goers.

The rain has become more regular but we have only had one day when it rained all day. It rains a lot during the night and is nice during the day. The rain at night brings out the frogs and the chorus is deafening. The rain has also brought out the land crabs. We had a large one trying to get in our back door the other night. We figured he lost his way after a big night out. A friend of Emma's works on the Humane Society Animal hot line so we called her and she explained it is time for the land crabs to come out. We did not find out whether we should help them find their way into our kitchen!

We just learned that Latha arrives on Saturday evening, so July 4 will be a true Independence day for us! Our offer on a home has also been accepted. We still need to have a survey done and get the financing, but it is looking good. We will be planning to move in during October when our lease here runs out. The house is across the street from the ocean, a short stroll to town and has a huge yard and pool. It is just one block from Eden Point, which is the best snorkel ling spot on the island. We will keep you updated on the progress of the sale and then we look forward to seeing everyone.