With 27 days left until I leave Saipan I thought it might be nice to take a drive around the island with my camera and take some pictures for you but I couldn't upload them all because I got a message saying I've used up my 1gig of space...sheesh...I deleted a bunch of pictures from Picasa but it may take 24 hours to complete. I'm hoping to squeeze in a few more pictures before I shut this blog down and start the new one in Japan.
I've added a few links to various websites that have pictures on them and a link to the American Memorial Park website. Hopefully that will make up for my lack of space.
Having once been forces to recon with are now but shadows of themselves - and have been transformed into homes for small island reptiles and jungle plants. They are constant reminders of the price that was paid for our "freedom". Living in Saipan for the past thirty years has made me very aware of the effects of war. The reminders of war are everywhere here. There is not a place on the island you can go that does not have some small reminder.....even on the beaches you still find bullet casings and artillery wrecks.
Concrete bunkers that provided protection to Japanese soldiers are now almost hidden beneath the jungle overgrowth. This one is on private property and has been uncovered, now visible from the road.
At the Last Command Post I climbed up the stairs to the bunker that was cleverly hidden in an outcropping of rock. As I crawled through the small concrete entrance I imagined what it must have been like all those years ago.
I stood quietly inside the bunker, now a complete wreck. The afternoon filtered in through gaping bomb holes blasted into the sides of the fortress.
I thought I heard the shouts and screams of men...and explosions in the far-off distance. When I closed my eyes I could imagine....visions of soldiers hidden in these caves....rockets falling all around them...some concentrating fiercely upon surviving the onslaught, some holding pictures of loved ones back home and crying....some...putting a gun to their head and taking their own life to avoid capture by the enemy-the Americans. Not because they were afraid of the enemy-but because they believed it would bring dishonor to their country to be captured alive.
This was the fate of some of the Japanese soldiers and civilians that refused to give up -they fought until their last breath. You have to admire that kind of courage. I hope if worst comes to worst I can muster even half of it.
No matter how many times I visit The Last Command Post I always feel the same way. It chills me to the bone to think that I am standing in the very spot where it all happened. The ghosts of those soldiers still haunt these places, I'm sure. There is such a strong energy here-many have remarked that they feel something strange .....something they can't explain.
My day's journey took me to American Memorial Park where the names of thousands of United States servicemen and some women are inscribed in a granite wall. I touched the wall....all these lives lost...all of them sons and daughters, friends and family. I was proud to be an American. I looked up at our nation's flag flying with strength over the Court-flanked by the flags of our military branches. A tear spilled over and ran down my cheek as I looked for a moment longer at the flag that bears the insignia of the United States Army....and I thought of my daughter and my son-in-law as they go off to war....another war...war..it's just hard to imagine sometimes that we are at war. Many of us have been so privileged-so spoiled. I think to myself, have I trained her well? Have I instilled her with the faith that will give her courage to face the enemy? I have to shake the rest of the thoughts from my mind....and concentrate on the moment or else it becomes too much to cope with.
There is a book that is called WE DRANK OUR TEARS: Memories of the battles for Saipan and Tinian as told by our elders.
This is a book written by the children of the Northern Mariana Islands-experiences of the war as told to them by their elders. The illustrations are all drawn by the children. It is on Amazon.com for around 89.00- BUT you can purchase it HERE from our American Red Cross website for $20.00.
I've added a few links to various websites that have pictures on them and a link to the American Memorial Park website. Hopefully that will make up for my lack of space.
I've blogged about Saipan's history before. The Battle of Saipan was one of the bloodiest in the pacific. Not a nice thing to think about, I know, but, there are reminders everywhere. The skeletons of once fierce military machinery are scattered about our landscape.
Concrete bunkers that provided protection to Japanese soldiers are now almost hidden beneath the jungle overgrowth. This one is on private property and has been uncovered, now visible from the road.
I stood quietly inside the bunker, now a complete wreck. The afternoon filtered in through gaping bomb holes blasted into the sides of the fortress.
I listened to the sounds of tropical birds and the wind as it blew through the jungle foliage. I imagined the sounds of explosions and machine-gun fire that thundered through the rain-forest. Scattering flocks of birds and sending small jungle animals cowering beneath rocks.
I wondered also, did the soldiers ever sit during moments of silence and close their eyes...and listen to the birds and the wind...and imagine what this island might be like without war?
The civilians, in order to avoid capture jumped off the cliffs and committed suicide.
This was the fate of some of the Japanese soldiers and civilians that refused to give up -they fought until their last breath. You have to admire that kind of courage. I hope if worst comes to worst I can muster even half of it.
No matter how many times I visit The Last Command Post I always feel the same way. It chills me to the bone to think that I am standing in the very spot where it all happened. The ghosts of those soldiers still haunt these places, I'm sure. There is such a strong energy here-many have remarked that they feel something strange .....something they can't explain.
My day's journey took me to American Memorial Park where the names of thousands of United States servicemen and some women are inscribed in a granite wall. I touched the wall....all these lives lost...all of them sons and daughters, friends and family. I was proud to be an American. I looked up at our nation's flag flying with strength over the Court-flanked by the flags of our military branches. A tear spilled over and ran down my cheek as I looked for a moment longer at the flag that bears the insignia of the United States Army....and I thought of my daughter and my son-in-law as they go off to war....another war...war..it's just hard to imagine sometimes that we are at war. Many of us have been so privileged-so spoiled. I think to myself, have I trained her well? Have I instilled her with the faith that will give her courage to face the enemy? I have to shake the rest of the thoughts from my mind....and concentrate on the moment or else it becomes too much to cope with.
There is a book that is called WE DRANK OUR TEARS: Memories of the battles for Saipan and Tinian as told by our elders.
This is a book written by the children of the Northern Mariana Islands-experiences of the war as told to them by their elders. The illustrations are all drawn by the children. It is on Amazon.com for around 89.00- BUT you can purchase it HERE from our American Red Cross website for $20.00.
I highly recommend this book for teachers or anyone that is interested in WW2 and the battle for the pacific.
Saipan THEN and NOW
Saipan THEN and NOW
1 comments:
We lived on Okinawa for 3 years, down south in a town called Itoman. It was far from all the American bases. Anyway, your description of the 'feeling' of the place is exactly how I felt in places around Itoman. Especially by the cliffs (where many jumped). There is a very sad energy and, as much as I love Okinawa, I was glad to move on.
I hope things are going smoothly for your move!
Post a Comment