Today Is The 70'th Anniversary Of Pearl Harbor Attack

Today Is The 70'th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Attack

I was able to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial In 1969 while making my way home from teaching on Okinawa. At that time oil was still oozing to the surface from the sunken USS Missouri. I heard on TV this afternoon that this will be the last gathering of the men who survived the attack that killed over 2000 military folks. There are only about 150 survivors still alive. When Jeanine went to Hawaii last year she shook hands with some of the survivors who were there then. Most of these vets are in their late 80's or early 90's.

Okinawa Memories Part X

Suicide Cliff On Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa-

Some Things To Remember:

1. Over 250,000 people died in the battle

2. Among those 150,000 Okinawans died in the crossfire between the American

forces and the Japanese forces. About 1/3 of the population of the island.

And remember that Okinawa is only 13 miles long and about five miles wide.

A lot of dead bodies in a small area. In Germany I met a DOD middle school social studies teacher who as a 19 year old army G.I. was on the island in 1945. He said the entire island smelled of decomposing bodes. Can you imagine. This gentleman was Coleman Burke who taught at the Frankfurt American Middle School in the '70s. He is now deceased. The Okinawans lost the most people. So sad considering to this day the Japanese consider Okinawans as the second class citizens of Japan.

3. This was the largest lost of civilian life in any battle of World War II except for the Battle of Stalingrad.

4. The U.S. Navy lost the most ships ever in the Battle of Okinawa.

5. Over 100,000 Japanese forces fought to the end of their lives as kamikaze pilots, soldiers, and navy personnel. Many chose suicide instead of surrender.

6. The famous World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle who was living and writing about the U. S. marines lost his life on one of the offshore Ryukyu Island, Ie Shima.

7. Over 10,000 American forces lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa.

8. Over 50% of the American forces were wounded in some fashion.

9. The battle lasted from April 1, 1945 to June 21, 1945. In the midst of the battle President Roosevelt died and the first atomic bomb exploded in New Mexico.

10. The fiercest hand to hand combat was from May 12 to May 18 when the U.S. forces were fighting at the Shuri line.

Okinawa Peace Park

1969

Yours Truly Standing By One Of The Many War Memorials For Okinawans and Japanese.

The Rock:
Memorial For U.S. General Simon Bolivar Buckner Who Was Killed By Shell Fire.




Why?
Why Is The Battle of Okinawa Overlooked In Military History?
Because The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Wiped It From America's Front Pages.
But Truman Allowed Hiroshima and Nagasaki To Happen Because of What Occured On Okinawa.

Okinawa Memories Part IX

Okinawa Beaches

This one was a local fishing village.

Notice the painting on the canoe.

Another Okinawa Beach

These two high land masses with the little inlet leads to the sea and offshore islands.

Okinawa is the largest island in the Ryukyu Island Chain

The Ryukyu Islands long ago had its own king although the king gave tribute to China.

Then Japan conquered the Ryukyu Islands as a defense against China in the 1800's but treated these island people like second class citizens.

Most Famous Attraction on Okinawa

Suicide Clift

This is the site where the two Japanese commanding generals committed hari kari on a white sheet symbolizing death when they realized that the Battle of Okinawa was over and the American navy, marines and army had defeated the Japanese royal navy, army and air force. I read that the the generals donned their dress uniforms, prayed for themselves and for the continuation of the homeland of Japan, stabbed their mid-sections with a knife and then had their military subordinates finish the suicide task by using a sword to decapitate them. One general went first while the other watched. Then the other general followed suit.

Tomorrow I'll finish my week long post on Okinawa Memories by writing about the Battle of Okinawa.

Okinawa Memories Part VIII

View of the Town of Koza From Roof of BOQ #400
Main Street in Koza

See the little Okinawan girl wearing plastic shoes.
The Benji Ditches (open sewers) ran next to the sidewalks.
That was a very unpleasent smell in the warmer months!

Side street in Koza

Here they are making bingata dye fabric.

Another Craft Shop in Koza

These ladies are creating lacquerware.
Koza Children

Two little girls in uniforms heading home from school with backpacks on their backs.
The first time I ever saw school children with back packs was on Okinawa.
Now all American kids head off to school with back packs that must weight 10 pounds at least.

Market Scene in Naha, The Largest City On Okinawa

Notice how the one lady is carrying her packages wrapped in yards of cloth that is tied
to make a handle for carrying.
Notice how the other lady is carrying an open umbrella to protect her skin from the strong sun.
No wonder people on Okinawa live a very long time. They don't expose themselves to the sun's
strong rays.

Black Market in Naha

(I don't know why it was called the Black Market unless you could find stolen items?!)
This lady is purchasing tea.
By the way, the movie Teahouse of the August Moon starring Marlon Brando and Glen Ford, was the story of the Americanization of Okinawa after the end of the Battle of Okinawa and World War II. This movie was filmed on Okinawa. To learn more click here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-teahouse-of-the-august-moon-play-2
Another Photo of Naha's Black Market

Again the school girls have on their blue school uniforms.
Notice the fresh oranges, grapefruits and watermelons.

Flower Lady At Naha's Black Market


This is one of my favorite photos of Okinawa.
The old lady is sitting serenely under the umbrella waiting patiently for someone to come along
and purchase some of her flowers.

You could find anything at Naha's Black Market: dried fish lying on the street, kitchenwares,
fabrics to take to your tailer, live animals like mongooses and habus (snakes), electronics, etc.
believe it or not I once was taken on a date to see an Okinawan mongoose and habu fight. This was a common sport on Okinawa and the habu which was a python snake usually won the fight.
The Okinawans would bet on who would win.
And the Okinawans also had their own version of bullfights using water buffalo.
I wonder if this still occurs today on Okinawa.

Okinawa Memories Part VII

Sukiran Elementary looked like this while I taught there. If you would like to see how Zukeran Elementary looks today just click and go to the school's website: http://www.zukeran-es.pac.dodea.edu/

Okinawa Memories Part VI

The Little Girl In The Second Row

Wearing The Jumper and Blouse

Is

Elizabeth Vargas

An ABC News Journalist

She currently does 20/20 news magazine for ABC News. Starting in March of 2006 Elizabeth anchored the ABC Evening News with Bob Woodruff. When Bob Woodruff was injured in Iraq she continued the broadcast by herself until she took a leave of absence for having her second child. Elizabeth's father was stationed on Okinawa and later in Germany where I ran into Elizabeth again at the officers' club in Frankfurt. She was then in sixth grade and had grown very tall. That was the spring of 1974. In 1980 Elizabeth graduated from Heidelberg High School in Heidelberg, Germany. You can learn more about Elizabeth Vargas by clicking here: http://usliberals.about.com/od/thepressandjournalist1/p/EVargas.htm

This is a pic of my first grade girls for Japanese Girl's Day. I think Elizabeth Vargas is the little girl in the second row on the far right. She has a short pixie haircut.

Final comment: I had completely forgotten about her until the night in 200? I was watching Elizabeth host the 20/20 show on the book, The Da Vinci Code. All thru this 20/20 show I kept being drawn to Elizabeth's eyes. Finally I said to Jack who was also watching the show that I had the weirdest feeling that I had seen those eyes in real life but I couldn't figure out how I would have ever met Elizabeth Vargas. So I went to bed.

When I awoke the next day I suddenly remembered that I had had a cute little petite girl with dark hair in my first grade class my first year on Okinawa. It was like my unconscious brain had solved the problem while I was asleep. So I ran to get this class photo. Well, they look alike in the face? Could it be? So then I ran to my computer and did a bio search for Elizabeth and learned that she had graduated from Heidelberg American High School the spring of 1980. Well, that's it. I did remember those eyes. Strange huh?

Skywatch Friday = Okinawa Memories Part V

Skywatch Friday = Skies Over Okinawa 1968-70

Sukiran Elementary DOD School

Still In Operation Today

Called Zukiran Elementary Today

View of Sukiran Elementary From Helicopter Pad

At Fort Buckner Headquarters

When The Top Army Brass Flew In and Out They Flew Over The School.

Noise Was So Loud!

You Stopped Teaching Till They Were Gone.

The Okinawa Culture Teacher

Teaching Origami To My First Graders

This teacher would visit our classroom three times a week. When she entered the room the students would stand and bow and say good day in Japanese. When she left they would say "arigato" thank you! You can see the students' chairs in front where I had reading groups. The larger chair was my chair. One day my chair started moving and I thought one of the boys sitting next to me was playing a little joke and moving my chair. Then it happened again and all the students felt their chairs move a little. What's this. Then one bright little boy exclaims "Miss Gariety, I think we are having an earthquake!" Sure enough we were! But it was not high on the Richter scale.

Blurry Picture of a Halloween Party

The reason I'm including it is that you can look up and see the high windows are open. They were open across the room too. No air conditioning in 1968 in sub tropical Okinawa. The first two months of school (August and September) were the hottest and most humid months. At those times you didn't mind a typhoon to bring some cooling winds to the island.

Official First Grade Class Photo

Sukiran Elementary 1968

First Row from left to right: DOD School Superintendent, Principal Mary Muehring, Vice-Principal, Administrative Assistant to Principal, School Nurse and Yours Truly.

Now look carefully at the last little girl in the second row. She is wearing a dark jumper with a white blouse. All of you I am sure have seen her on TV. She grew up and became a news media person. You might recognize her by looking at her photo. She still has the same eyes and smile. Come back here tomorrow and I will tell you what news media personality was in my first grade class on Okinawa in 1968.

Meantime go visit some other Skywatch memes by clicking here:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Okinawa Memories Part IV

Betsy and Jerry Plunkett

June 1970

Octagon House Museum

San Francisco, California

Beautiful Wedding Reception

The Wedding Cake

The Minister Who Officiated At The Wedding Ceremony

At An Episcopal? Church

Was On Crutches From A Recent Accident.

I remember that it took him longer than Betsy to go down the aisle. LOL!

Many Sukiran Elementary Teachers Attended The Plunkett Wedding.

We all were heading back to the states for summer vacation and to do one of three things in the fall: return to Okinawa, transfer to another DOD school somewhere in the world or resign and stay in the states. So we all took various flights from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in the course of a week and flew into Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco where we all did some sightseeing before gathering together for one last time at Betsy and Jerry's wedding. In this photo you see Betsy's three attendants. The one on the far left was Joan, a San Francisco chum of Betsy. Sadly Betsy told us that Joan has died of lung cancer and that Betsy flew several times to where Joan was living to help hospice take care of Joan at the end of her life. The other two ladies were Betsy's brothers's wives.

My last photo to share with you of Betsy and Jerry's wedding day.

And here's Julie on the far left. She didn't know then that she would meet Gordon in Iceland and would be planning her own wedding in less than a year.

Okinawa Memories Part III

Betsy and Joann

August 2009

Who's Missing?

Julie Arnold who was the third member of our Sukiran Elementary Gang.

Julie and I taught first grade.

Betsy taught second grade.

********

Betsy who was from the San Francisco, California area married Jerry Plunkett in 1970 and moved with Jerry to Korea, then Germany, then the Panama Canal Zone, then Germany again and then back to California where Jerry retired from the army twenty years. Betsy then became the principal and classroom teacher of the smallest one room school in California.

********

Joann left Okinawa after two years there to spend four years teaching with DOD schools in Frankfurt, Germany where she met and married Jack. Jack and Joann returned stateside to spend five years in Arizona before moving to Virginia where they have lived in various homes for the last thirty years.

**************

Julie transferred from Okinawa to Iceland to teach DOD students stationed there. Iceland has periods of all daylight and periods of all night.When Julie visited me in Germany she told me that they had to take each kindergarten and first grade student by the hand and walk them from and back to the school buses during the period of total darkness. Wild, huh? She also related how she kept falling into holes in the dark on her walk from the BOQ to her school. She related that the astronauts spent time training in Iceland because its topography is a lot like the surface of the moon. iceland was such a hardship tour that all teachers were flown free of charge on military airtcraft to Germany for a two week Christmas holiday. Interesting.

Julie met and fell in love with Gordon Arnold, a navy officer who hailed from Texas. Julie was from the Los Angelas area but when she married Gordon in 1971 she became a Dallas, Texas lady after spending a short period living with Gordon in the new planned city of Reston, Virginia. Julie and Gordon have now moved from Big D to Austin, Texas since they both are retired.

August 2009

Jerry and Betsy

Jack and Joann

**********

I attended Betsy and Jerry's wedding in 1970 in San Francisco, California Betsy and Jerry attended our wedding in Frankfurt, Germany in 1974. April 15, 1974 --it was our wedding day.That was the last time that that we had seen each other till this past week.

Jerry and Joann goofing for the camera clickers.


Betsy and Jack goofing for the camera clickers.



Let me introduce you to the next generation of DOD teachers.

Here's Patricia Plunkett.

Math and AP Chemistry Teacher at a DOD high school in Turkey.

You can tell that Jerry and Betsy are very very proud of her. Tomorrow I will show you photos of Betsy and Jerry's beautiful wedding at the Octagon House Museum in San Francisco. I will also show you some photos of Sukiran Elementary School on Okinawa where Betsy and Julie, the golden California girls, taught with Yours Truly, the Midwest farmer's daughter. (Does that remind you of an old Beach Boys song entitled California Girls?)

Just for the fun of it you can go here to see the lyrics of California Girls: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beach+boys/california+girls_20013916.html

Okinawa Memories = Work and Play Hard

Okinawa Memories

Work Hard and Play Hard

Work hard and play hard was the motto of the U.S. military on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era of the 60's and 70's. The small Japanese island of Okinawa that was only 13 miles long and about five miles wide was the preparation point for a lot of people who would go on to the war in Vietnam. So time was very very precious. The military worked hard and played hard. We DOD teachers teaching the children on Okinawa adopted this motto as our own. We worked hard and played hard too. When not teaching we were busy exploring the Japanese culture of Okinawa and preparing plans for our next trip around southeast Asia from the "hardship tour" on Okinawa. Another way to spend time was by hanging out at the Officer's Clubs on the island. Above is an old photo of the Castle Terrace Club which was right next door to BOQ #400. This club had a live band five nights a week so a lot of socializing went on at the Castle Terrace Club. That's where I learned to skip sweet alcoholic drinks like grasshoppers and drink straight scotch and water.

This is yours truly returning to her one room efficiency in BOQ #400 after a busy day of teaching first graders at Sukiran (now called Zukiran) Elementary. This photo must have been taken in January or February when it is cold and rainy on the island because I'm decked out in a raincoat.. Colder being a relative term for Okinawa has a climate similar to northern Florida---mainly hot and humid with the threat of summer hurricanes except the hurricanes are called typhoons in the Pacific Ocean.

And here is a memory I won't ever forget. One weekend someone got the bright idea to put a bar on one of the BOQ's wheeled moving carts, build up the cart with wooden boxes and turn it into a "floating BOQ bar". We rolled it from room to room on a floor and pushed it onto the elevator to switch floors. We would roll it to someone's door, then knock, when the person behind the door answered his/her door that person was required to serve drinks to the folks standing around the bar outside their room. LOL! In this photo I'm standing outside my door between two communications command officers, John and Bob. The famous floating bar had just arrived across the hall at the residence of a Green Beret. Remember Barry Sadler's song The Ballad of the Green Berets? "Fighting soldiers from the sky, fearless men who jump and die".

That song was in my head just now but I couldn't remember all the lyrics so I searched and found this link for the lyrics of the song. Believe it or not I found it under scout songs. Oh, my gosh! Here's the link:
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/balladofthegreenbaret.html

This Green Beret was a nice guy who was dating another teacher from my school, Sukiran Elementary. I think she taught fifth grade. I don't remember her name or his name but I do remember that I learned later from someone that this Green Beret captain did go on to Vietnam where he was severely injured in battle with a head wound. I don't know if he recovered from it or not. Now don't get me started on the Vietnam War and all the wonderful young men and women we lost for a civil war that couldn't possibly be won by U.S. intervention in it. I'm not going to dwell on the bad times but the good times.

Come back tomorrow and I'll share with you a photo I took of Betsy and Jerry with their daughter Patricia last Thursday. Patricia Plunkett is now a DOD high school math and chem teacher in Turkey. And she doesn't live in a one room BOQ but in a huge house that is so big I think she said she had to buy extra furniture to furnish it. The times are still a changing I guess.

My World Tuesday = Okinawa Memories

Okinawa 1969-1970

Bachelor Officers' Quarters #400

The five story BOQ that was right off the highway that ran all along the coast of Okinawa from Hedo in the north to Naha in the south.

View of the South China Sea from BOQ #400.


Betsy's BOQ Room

It had
battleship grey walls with a blue pull out sofa bed.
Betsy is relaxing in her room after attending a formal army dinner dance with her date, Jerry Plunkett. I attended this formal dinner dance with a guy Betsy and Jerry fixed me up with.

Having Fun

Here I am in Betsy's room in my white gown laughing about something --- who knows what.

Both Betsy and I had our formal gowns handmade by Okinawan tailors.

BOQ #400

The tall tower in the middle was the elevator.

My room was on the second floor towards the back.

I forget what floor Betsy's room was on---maybe the third or fourth.

Well, give me a break.
This was forty years ago!

LOL!

Now look at us today.

Betsy and Joann

August 2009

What a nice surprise to have a visit from Betsy.

The first time to see each other in over thirty-five years!

By the way, Betsy married her date for that formal dance.

So both Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Plunkett came to visit Jack and I last Thursday from Salinas, California.

We surely had fun reminiscing about great old times teaching on Okinawa.

and remembering the typhoon parties when school was canceled.

(I guess Japan and China are experiencing a very severe typhoon right at this moment.)

So this entire week is going to be dedicated to Okinawa memories.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you pics of the floating bar party in BOQ #400.
LOL!

In the meantime you go visit some more My World Tuesday memes by clicking here: http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

March 3 Girls Day in Japan

Did you know that in Japan March 3 is known as Girls Day? Little girls dress in kimonos and in their homes they set up a display of their porcelain dolls. This photo I took on March 3, 1970 on Okinawa with my Japanese Pentax camera. The girls in this photo were the girls in my first grade class at Zukeran Elementary School.

They all now would be in their early forties. My how time flies. I wonder what all these sweet little girls who were the daughters of U.S. Army soldiers stationed on Okinawa are doing today. Are they married and living somewhere in the U.S? The little girl on the right with the flaming red hair was an exceptional student. She was already reading on a high school level when she entered my classroom in August of 1969. For our holiday Christmas show I had her read aloud the Gospel of Luke of the Christmas Story. Everyone in the audience who heard her read the gospel were totally blown away for she read with such great expression.

This photo was taken under the porch eve of this open design school that was located very, very close to the army headquarters on the island. Every time a helicopter carrying the top Army brass landed or took off from the headquarters you had to stop teaching for about five seconds because everything being said was drowned out by the roar of the helicopter. And believe me with the Vietnam War still in active warfare then this happened several times each and every day at the school. In my classroom I had the children of lowly privates as well as full bird colonels.

To see how this same DOD school looks today go the schools website by clicking here: http://www.zukeran-es.pac.dodea.edu/

You will find a slide show and an updated photo of this same school where I taught for two years: 1968-1969 and 1969-1970. To the right in the school photo you will see the same school wing with overhead porch. We went outside every time we left our classroom to go to the library, gym, music room, and cafeteria. The roaming primary Japanese culture teacher visited our classroom three times a week and taught us all some Japanese phrases like arigato (thank you). And from this web site you can explore other DOD schools in the Pacific as well as Europe. Have fun exploring.

Final thought for today: I hope these little girls held on to their Japanese kimonos for I'm sure that they are very valuable today and hold priceless memories for these American girls.

News Flash: I think it is appropriate here since we are thinking of the Pacific to mention that my friend and fellow blogger Dragonquilter has now posted the most beautiful pictures of a family wedding she attended this past week in Hawaii. Stroll down my blog roll to find her blog and take a look. So beautiful! And the flower girl in pink almost stole the show!

We Meet Again - 36 Years Later

Saturday Jack and I drove to the little village of Clifton, VA and I was able to meet again, 36 years later, someone that taught first grade with me at Frankfurt American Elementary School #1 in Frankfurt, Germany. Linda Franklin (now Linda Franklin Carroll) was one of the twelve first grade teachers at Frankfurt #1 that I taught with in the early '70s. At the time Linda was married and had two sons. While at my school I remember that she had her daughter, Kellee, unexpectedly on a vacation trip to London. And I remember going with the other first grade teachers to her home to meet baby Kellee. But most of all I remember having her precocious six year old son, Kirk, in my first grade class the school year of 1971-72. How precocious was Kirk? Well, he showed up in my first grade class already having read Lew Wallaces's novel, Ben Hur. What a thrill it was to meet again yesterday after 36 years! Retirement parties are bitter sweet occasions. I found myself both laughing and crying and rejoicing at the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend and work colleague from long ago. And it was a thrill to meet the now grown man Kirk Franklin and his lovely wife Teena. I learned that Kirk now lives in San Francisco and is working in the web design field. No wonder the retirement party invitation included a website Kirk designed for his mother's retirement. Take a look if you like. I guarantee that even if you don't know Linda, you will be shedding tears at this wonderful Thanks For the Memories tribute that Kirk created for his mother. Here's the address: http://lindafranklin.i2ilabs.com/ Linda is retiring from Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Fairfax County where she has been a kindergarten teacher for the past 34 years. Wow! Current and former principals, teachers and kindergarten students came to the retirement picnic to give Linda a big retirement send off. Happy Retirement, Linda!

Permission Letters to Wed

You have heard of people younger than 21 who have had to get permission from their parents to get married. (To sign for them) Well, even though Jack and I were both approaching 30 we had to get permission from our bosses in Frankfurt, Germany to get married in Basel, Switzerland! We laughed about it at the time. We could see them asking for a letter from our parents but from our bosses! Holy Cow! Anyway here's what our bosses wrote:
Joann's principal, Mr. Templeton wrote:
This is to certify that Miss Joann M. G......... is a Department of Army Civilian assigned to the USDESEA School System and is located in the Frankfurt Germany Elementary School #1. She has been an employee of the Department of Defense Oversea Schools for six years and after researching her records there is nothing to indicate that she is other than of the highest character. After two years of personal contact the undersigned can personally attest to her professional competencies, integrity and character.

It is indeed a pleasure to recommend Miss G........ as an excellent teacher and an outstanding person. I have no reservation in recommending that her application for marriage be approved.

This is what Jack's boss, Dan C. Crowley, the associate district manager of the European Army Audit District, wrote for Jack:

Mr. Jack S........, an employee of the European District, U.S. Army Audit Agency, is free to wed Miss Joan G........., a U.S. citizen.