Linda, Courtesy of the U.S. Navy, upon graduation from a special communications school at Imperial Beach, Calif., I with 3 classmates (friends) was transferred to the Naval Communications Station at Wahiawa, HI. for Further training and transfer. . Early one day in Jan '58 The Chief told us to pack our bags and standby we were being transferred. 2 went to the beautiful island of Midway, and I and Gary Chyall, went to the beautiful island of Kwajalein.. Pearl of the Pacific... Our duty was with US Nav Com Unit 40. We were not a part of the Naval Station, Kwajalein, but were a tennant activity. Our lord and master resided in Kami Seya, Japan. The island of Ebeye was off limits to all Sailors... as was the commissary and dependent housing area on Kwajalein. The natives were transported to Kwajalein in Mike boats in the mornings and returned to Ebeye in the evenings.. Those that worked on the Naval Station seemed to be clean, well kept and perhaps wealthy by island standards based upon the salaries they were paid at that time. In truth, the Marsallese were not the beautiful south pacific islanders as portrayed in Hollywood flicks. A close friend of mine, who was of the LDS persuasion and had connections with another LDS Elder who happened to be a Pilot. Routinely Commander Brown would fly a little PBY over to Roi Namor to pick up fresh native fruits (small bananas, and some other unidentifiedfruits) for families on Kwajalein. In addition to the regular air-crew, Commander Brown would sign on a couple " extra crew" to do the manual labor loading the plane... I didn't mind the labor, and enjoyed the scenic flight over and back, as well as the opportunity to get "off the rock" if only to go visit another rock... Some short time after I departed the island in April of '59 a Civilian outfit - somehow associated with what was a missle test range, giving the Navy a very short period of time to clean out and clear out. I don't recall any unhappy sailors from that developement. I was on Kwajalein during the atomic testing conducted on the island of Bikini. I never gave it much thought. To date there has been no known after effects caused by radiation. I did get notification from our Gov't that the statute of limitations had run out... Just my luck, tomorrow various body parts will probably start glowing yellow in the dark...!!! Sincerely, John D A little SoWest of North Jill Johnston wrote: > John, > I was on Majuro from Dec.1985 til Feb. 1988. Went to assist the local > Baha'i community and to teach school in a private, non-parochial > cooperative school begun some years earlier by former Peace Corps > people who had married locals and wanted a U.S. grade education for > their kids. > > The Marshallese govt gives funding to ALL schools, public & private, > because it can't afford to provide teachers and school buildings to > house all its kids. There is very little land (Majuro atoll is only > about 30 mi. long and in several places a guy could throw a rock from > oceanside to lagoonside) and very many kids, and that's BEFORE kids > come in from the outer islands. Admittance at the public high school > is through a competitive process due to lack of space, and not all > islands even have a high school. At that time, teachers were poorly > prepared, knew little about classroom management, and had few or no > books. The education system was a mess. > > I lived in a Marshallese neighborhood, in a tin-roofed, plywood shack > that had, unlike the neighbors, electricity, refrigeration, and an > electric cooking stove. We had govt imposed water hours, so when we > heard on the radio when those were, we tried to have someone at home > to fill the 30 gal garbage can we kept for just that purpose. (I got > so good at conserving water that I could shower and wash my hair with > the water in one toy sand bucket!) When it rained, people would stand > under the eaves and shampoo their hair. One year, we didn't have ANY > water hours for 2 wks! Droughts and rising sea levels are devastating > there. High elevation was less than 20 feet, so with such limited > land, any loss is major. > > Our neighbors cooked outside using coconut husk fires; they also > washed & hung their laundry outdoors. The children readily took in our > son Jim, and taught him how to use a soup can lid cutter to make sail > boats from aluminum pop cans. They were very resourceful; most kids, > even as young as three or four, could juggle the coral rocks.They'd > play ball using old pieces of plywood or sticks for bats and coral > rocks or rubber balls to hit. And talk about accuracy-- I swear those > kids could throw a rock and hit anything they targeted! :-) > > I was on Kwaj (paradise of the Pacific) two times, once on my way to > Ebeye, and once returning. I was thoroughly disgusted, and my blood > still boils at the thought of the injustices of that situation. > Because I am white, no one noticed when I wandered away from the > landing area and moseyed into the Kwaj grocery store. I couldn't > believe my eyes: fresh veggies that could've been in any U.S. > supermarket. Everything was spacious, clean, and well-stocked.Even in > the capital city (Majuro) we didn't have access to that quality of > goods. And the physical area was like a well-tended U.S. golf course, > manicure, watered, green LAWN (not just grass), painted and maintained > apartments. > > Meanwhile, just three miles away via a diesel-stinking 'cattle car' of > a shuttle boat, was Ebeye, home of the under-paid Marshallese workers > who did the maintenance and service jobs on Kwaj. Conditions caused > Ebeye to be called the hell-hole of the Pacific. Over-crowded into > rotting plywood and tim-roofed shacks, Marshallese had barely enough > room to pass another person between 'houses.' There were no patches of > grass, only a few isolated strands due to heavy foot traffic, lack of > space and lack of water. There was no source of fresh water except > what the U.S. base on Kwaj brought over in a tanker a couple of times > a week. There may have been a few private wells which tapped into > fresh water lenses (there were on Majuro), but I didn't see any. No > space for gardens. There was one basketball court-- yippee. And in > the grocery store, it was absolutely shameful: the produce shelves > were empty except for a few squishy, brown celery stalks fit only for > pigs. > > I am still aghast at the disparity of conditions and the lack of > conscience shown by the U.S. govt toward the Trust Territory peoples. > And I won't EVEN go into the Bikini bomb test fiasco. It is another > case of misrepresentations, lies, and broken or half-kept promises > just like the American Indian mess. (The Brits did the same to their > Pacific island trustees.) Governments just use and abuse the > powerless. I hadn't really had the opportunity to see that before. > > Before I left, they were constructing a desalination plant on Ebeye so > there would be fresh water available. And, of course, the Trust > Territory is no more, the Marshalls having been 'granted' free > association status. I've never been completely sure of just what that > entails, but I do know that Marshallese citizens can move into the > U.S. freely. > > Living in the Marshalls was, in many ways, like rolling back U.S. time > 30 years and more. For example, few businesses even had phones; bank > casheirs still did math with pencil/paper and the lines were long and > slow-moving. But at the same time, there was inundation by video and > TV, creating awareness of and desire for 'stuff'. And, unfortunately, > it was these media that provided many people with their major source > of English language experience (God forbid!) and with their ideas of > appropriate and 'normal' U.S. lifestyle, behavior, etc. > > Meanwhile, the traditional Marshallese culture has taken huge hits. > People's traditional roles are, for the most part, no longer available > and there was, at least at that time, nothing to replace them, so > break-ins, juvenile drinking, etc. was becoming a problem; > unemployment was high, and wages were pathetic. Since life on the > OUTER islands, such as Mili, was still relatively cashless, families > on Majuro were strained to the max when relatives came in to try to > find work or waiting get to the airport to go to Honolulu for medical > issues. > > All in all, living in the Marshalls was, hands down, the most > stimulating, awareness-raising, and valuable experience I've ever > had!!! It was hugely enriching, and it made me aware of the difference > between being a toursit and living in another culture: it's the > difference between being among, observing and being an active part > of. I find that I am no longer fulfilled by being a tourist. > > John, I'm not going off on you personally. I just have to clear my > pipes on the subject occasionally. :-) No offense intended. I'd be > interested in your experiences there. > > Jill in Washington state > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Armstrong" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 9:08 AM > Subject: Re: [ARMSTRONG] occupations > > > > >> Jill, >> When were you in the Marshall Islands??? >> I lived on Kwajalein from Jan 1958 to April of 1959.. >> >> I retired from farming at the age of 17 >> and chose a 30 yr career in the US Navy.. >> >> Sincerely, >> John D >> A little SoWest of North > > >>> College works, though. Taught an education class in the Marshall >>> Islands (in >>> the central Pacific). What an experience! The government assigned >>> 'teachers' >>> to be sent to the outer islands, but none had any teaching >>> background. In >>> fact some were nurses, etc. So I had to design a course on >>> everything-you-need-to-know-to-manage-students-and-teach. >>> Challenging, but >>> very satisfying! >> >> > > >