Yankees Go Home - A Youtube video

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Embedding is disabled, so you need to go to Youtube to watch this Australian Broadcasting Corporation report.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGh6CCrragQ

April 1996
We take a look at local resentment of the US military presence in Okinawa.

This valuable archive looks back over the strained relationship between the two groups in this Southern Japanese island. Many Okinawans resent the US army presence and the pollution. The governor complains: "We cannot use our own land. We cannot use our own sky."

[okisteve]

Interesting video. What a f-ked up world.

[P_chan]

Interesting video. I liked how it showed that some people never even bother to leave the base and take in the Japanese and Okinawan culture. Also shows how some Americans have a total lack of consideration for anyone else but themselves.

[Black Orchid]

yes very interesting vid.... i love it here in okinawa.. and the culture is very nice, and im sorry that i have to experience it by this means sometimes... im sorry that some okinawans feel this way.. i guess anyone else would in another country if it was the same else where.

[Anterrabae]

I was actually just wondering about this. In light of recent events with certain members of the Marine Corps. and a rising tension within the Okinawan community, I was wondering if that was directed at only Marines. I only wonder this because I'm in the Air Force and when I go up north to Nago (for example) I am not looked at in any manner resembling hatred; that is not to say they don't talk behind (or in front of me for that manner) my back. Then I hear how certain establishments are banning Marines altogether from entering, but, again, nothing about Air Force (or any other branch of service).

From my point of view, I don't think the Okinawans hate the Air Force/Army/Navy. The only reason I base this on is: this weekend at the Churaumi Aquarium, two little Japanese kids were throwing the ball, which got away from one of them and bounced towards me. I lean down pick it up, walk a few steps closer to one of the kids and toss him the ball, which the kid immediately tosses back to me and our little game of catch starts. Suddenly there is a man standing next to me (I'm assuming their Grandfather because he was older) and says "Marine?" I respond "No, sir, Air Force" and the guy smiled and said some things and bowed a little and sat down and watched me play catch with the kid. I wonder what would have happened if I were a Marine?

So, what is the deal on this subject that i rambled on and on about? lol

[okisteve]

I was actually just wondering about this. ...

So, what is the deal on this subject that i rambled on and on about? lol

I think you are just about right about this. Last week right after the incident was announced, I asked a visitor, a very intelligent young Okinawan woman, what she and her friends were thinking, and how they felt about the US military. Her answer was exactly that - Marines are bad, Airforce is OK.

Heaven forbid that I ever make a generalization:first::first:, but I think the fact that Marines are reputed to be the macho service attracts males with more testosterone than brainpower, and maybe the AF is thought of more as a place to acquire and use technical (nerdy) skills.

[Bones]

As posted by okisteve:

I think the fact that Marines are reputed to be the macho service attracts males with more testosterone than brainpower, and maybe the AF is thought of more as a place to acquire and use technical (nerdy) skills.

Ask your friends one question for me.

How would they react to being married to a guy, who boasts this kind of thing to their buddies:

"Just because I'm married, don't mean I can't have sex with anyone I want to."

Muttered by an "Air Force" guy, during our last stay over here. He was single at the time, but he lost a lot of his female friends after that statement.

His only response was, why are "the chick's" avoiding me?

Go figure.

NBTP

He had lied about being married as well. What a catch!!!

[okisteve]

NBTP - OK, well, WTF, I wasn't really trying to defend the AF either, just to put it in perspective.

[P_chan]

As posted by okisteve:



Ask your friends one question for me.

How would they react to being married to a guy, who boasts this kind of thing to their buddies:

"Just because I'm married, don't mean I can't have sex with anyone I want to."

Muttered by an "Air Force" guy, during our last stay over here. He was single at the time, but he lost a lot of his female friends after that statement.

His only response was, why are "the chick's" avoiding me?

Go figure.

NBTP

He had lied about being married as well. What a catch!!!

LOL! Did this guy have light skin, freckles, and curly red hair? How about the way he talked? Did he have a heavy Puerto Rican/Spanish accent?

I only ask because one of my old coworkers said EXACTLY that all the time.

[Crazysix]

Whats the point of this vid? we are here and understand the day to day BS of being here, Okinawans and Oki-Gaijins who oppose the military being here need to remember the the Japanese Govt wants here and inconvenience their own people. I can wait to leave this piss ant of country behind, with all their little quirks and issues.

[hankypanky]

And go back to the states worrying if your kids are going to get shot for a pair of shoes? Or somebody is gonna have them try some crack? good luck in the land of the big px. Not for me thank you.

[Ammoyankee]

Yep, we are here forever whether they like it or not. They will always keep bilking us out of dollars and b!tching about our presence and we will always have a violent crime every few years, you know... the norm for Okinawa!!!

[Mad Hatter]

You know, I think that one reason that you can tell a Marine from the AF... Marines walk with a certain level of pride that the AF hasn't found yet. :)

[Oxmix]

Maybe the answer is to pull the Marines and replace them with Army. Bring back the 1st. Special Forces to Okinawa also.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Oxmix/1stSpecialForcesPatch.jpg

Regards

Ox

[spike7165]

There are really some dumb posts floating around on this board and others.
I am British and a Japanese resident, not sofa or military and have been in OKinawa for over a year.
The point of the Okinawa attitude is not that the military is here at the Japanese governments request or about jobs or about houses etc etc the point is that the vast majority of marines as well as foreigners in general dont understand the Japanese society.
This IS an issue with military integration.
When as a civilian I chose to live in a foreign country I make sure i understand the local laws and customs. I am aware that getting arrested here is not a good idea, that you can spent weeks in jail before they charge you, that Japanese are law abiding as part of their upbrining and because of severe penalties for breaking the law.
I think that American military here on Okinawa are insulated to all of this. So they arrive here, most of the marines are young and have no idea how to behave off base. THAT IS the fault of senior personnel not the individual marine.
Driving as a sofa person is relatively easy here. For me I have to go to Naha and spend several hours and lots of paper to get a driving licence and if I have an accident I know what the penalties will be. Why for example do people still get DUIs when the penalty under Japanese law is a huge fine and several years in prison! Because they dont have integration training,
The problem as I see it is top brass dont properly educate young marines in the Japanese society and penalties AND the young marines dont think Japanese law applies to them that being military or SOFA will protect them.
You are in an Asian society with a strong rule of law, courts here have a 99% conviction rate, if you go to court you will be found guilty.
This is not America or Western Europe.

[Asshat]

The point of the Okinawa attitude is not that the military is here at the Japanese governments request or about jobs or about houses etc etc the point is that the vast majority of marines as well as foreigners in general dont understand the Japanese society.

Spike, there is not an "Okinawan Attitude." The vast majority of Marines spend the vast majority of their tour here deployed to Iraq. That deployment, or the life they lead IMHO has much to do with a bullet proof attitude perhaps.

When as a civilian I chose to live in a foreign country I make sure i understand the local laws and customs. I am aware that getting arrested here is not a good idea, that you can spent weeks in jail before they charge you, that Japanese are law abiding as part of their upbrining and because of severe penalties for breaking the law.

While I am sure this is because of a personal decision to become informed, I would also like to submit that it is an indication of your age. I'll bet you are older than a 19 year-old young serviceman here on his first tour.

I think that American military here on Okinawa are insulated to all of this. So they arrive here, most of the marines are young and have no idea how to behave off base. THAT IS the fault of senior personnel not the individual marine..

All of them receive training when they get here. At least they used to. All the training in the world will not erase the ignorance of youth- or immaturity.

Driving as a sofa person is relatively easy here. For me I have to go to Naha and spend several hours and lots of paper to get a driving licence and if I have an accident I know what the penalties will be. Why for example do people still get DUIs when the penalty under Japanese law is a huge fine and several years in prison! Because they dont have integration training,.

The Marines are not allowed to get SOFA licenses until they are a certain rank. The license is considered a priviledge and is not handed out free-style. All Marines are required to attend a week-long safety class, drivers improvement, and if they have never been licensed, the process is much longer. The fact that anyone still gets a DUI is indicative of a problem with alcohol, not ignorance of the law.

The problem as I see it is top brass dont properly educate young marines in the Japanese society and penalties AND the young marines dont think Japanese law applies to them that being military or SOFA will protect them..

This is simply not true. If it were a lack of education, the DUI rates would be higher for the Marines than it is for the Japanese. However, the Japanese drivers still have more DUI's.

The Marines are given classes on SOFA responsibilities. It comes down to a few people making mistakes. Not an indictment of a lack of awareness.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

That's how one DoD official described bases on Okinawa during a visit.

They say fences make good neighbors. An American expression. Perhaps the fences aren't strong enough.



Another sex crime was allegedly committed by a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa. A 38-year-old Marine was arrested Monday on suspicion of raping a junior high school girl. According to the investigation, he offered to drive her home and later attacked her in his car.

The girl tearfully called for help on her cellphone.

Okinawa's anger at such crimes goes back to 1955, when the body of a young girl was found on a beach. She had been exposed to the elements and her fists were clenched.

The "Yumiko-chan incident" caused Okinawa to quake with anger. Six-year-old Yumiko had been raped and killed by an American soldier.

The incident was so brutal that no parents on the island named their newborn daughters Yumiko for some time.

The U.S. military vowed to be "a good neighbor" every time such crimes occurred. But each time, Okinawans have been betrayed. A volcano of anger has long been accumulating. The eruption of public outrage came after the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen in 1995.

The U.S. military then promised to enforce strict discipline. But a promise made during the rain tends to be forgotten on sunny days. Crimes have continued. Okinawa is weeping and crying "not again."

How can we be expected to "love our neighbor" when he repeatedly commits offenses?

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200802140054.html

[dk]

How can we be expected to "love our neighbor" when he repeatedly commits offenses?
Ah, I see.

How am I supposed to "love our neighbor" when he's such a racist, god-awful driver.

[TheLastDon]

Ah, I see.

How am I supposed to "love our neighbor" when he's such a racist, god-awful driver.

Dang DK get up on the wrong side of bed this morning. :rolleyes::p

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Care to post your driving record, to back that braggado up?

[dk]

Care to post your driving record, to back that braggado up?
Zero accidents. Zero tickets. No DUI's.

[dk]

Dang DK get up on the wrong side of bed this morning. :rolleyes::p
My point was that it's the individual who is at fault. The U.S. Military is not one individual. The author was putting a big group of people into one box.

It reads about as idiotically as me calling all Okinawans racists because of a few bad apples I've met over the years.

[Asshat]

Zero accidents. Zero tickets. No DUI's.

Me too. And that is over 28 years of driving here on a SOFA license. I haven't been to any jails or raped anyone either, but I am trying harder.

[dk]

Yeah, I haven't raped anyone either, but I'm not SOFA. Maybe if I get a base job...

[hankypanky]

Me too. And that is over 28 years of driving here on a SOFA license. I haven't been to any jails or raped anyone either, but I am trying harder.

to achieve that you just have to get younger:D

[TheLastDon]

My point was that it's the individual who is at fault. The U.S. Military is not one individual. The author was putting a big group of people into one box.

It reads about as idiotically as me calling all Okinawans racists because of a few bad apples I've met over the years.

I know dude I have to work on my sarcasm. I read through a lot of this stuff today and it really is getting old. Back and forth; round and round...

Lame is all I can say. Some people are making it sound like if you walk down the street the local people will spit on you for being American or something.

I was out and about Sunday and Monday. Not one dirty look or anything.

[dk]

Lame is all I can say. Some people are making it sound like if you walk down the street the local people will spit on you for being American or something.

I was out and about Sunday and Monday. Not one dirty look or anything.
I know I'm a little bit more paranoid when I'm walking to Lawson for beer at night... I kid you not. Last thing I need is to be attacked by some angry local who has lumped all foreigners in with the military and all military members in with this ALLEGED rapist. Doubt it'd happen, but you never know.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

So dk, you were pretty worked up about JU reporting the guy's name and making him sound guilty. How'd your talk with management and the owners go?

[dk]

So dk, you were pretty worked up about JU reporting the guy's name and making him sound guilty. How'd your talk with management and the owners go?
I'll let you know when I do. I haven't forgotten, and I'm sure the boss has seen my post.

It's not my paper, so I'm not promising any change, and I'm not giving up my job over disapproval on this point. But I will gladly tell my boss what I think, and I'm sure it won't be news to him.

This seems to be common practice in Japan. Never noticed it until now, but I'm seeing it done at every Japanese news website I visit, as well as international news.

[hankypanky]

I know I'm a little bit more paranoid when I'm walking to Lawson for beer at night... I kid you not. Last thing I need is to be attacked by some angry local who has lumped all foreigners in with the military and all military members in with this ALLEGED rapist. Doubt it'd happen, but you never know.

don't worry dk, most of them think your jesus christ walking to lawsons. you still need to get yourself a staff and wear sandles!:D

[dk]

don't worry dk, most of them think your jesus christ walking to lawsons. you still need to get yourself a staff and wear sandles!:D
Yeah, well, he WAS crucified...

[TheLastDon]

Good one DK.