see pages 8-10 · 2020-06-12 · add cake flour (150g) and baking powder (a small spoonful), or...

SEE DONUTS ON PAGE 2

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHOJI KUDAKA,STRIPES GUAM

Time to whip up some delicious Okinawan donuts

O n a normal Mother’s Day, I would take my mother out for a nice

dinner at a local restaurant. However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, that’s not an option this year.

So, I decided to try some home cooking. For me, that was a somewhat reckless

decision given how rarely I do any cooking on

my own. But luckily, my

home of

Okinawa has a nice solution.Sata Andagi is an Oki-

nawan donut that is common-ly cooked at home. Meaning “deep-fried sugar,” Sata An-dagi is a local favorite often

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I was on the road

with Hope

See Pages 8-10

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archives

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VOLUME 15 NO. 47 JUNE 12 – JUNE 25, 2020 FREEGUAM.STRIPES.COM SUBMIT STORIES TO: [email protected] FACEBOOK.COM/STRIPESPACIFIC

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 1served up during special oc-casions. To me, it brings back childhood memories as my mom used to cook them up for an afternoon snack.

So, I borrowed an old cook-book from my mother and did some “test cooking” to make sure my doughnuts will be a tasty when I make them fresh on Mother’s Day.

My mother, who stood by my side for tasting and was watch-ing me do the cooking, could hardly stop laughing at how bad I am at rolling dough into a ball and awkward I am with a fry-ing pan. I managed to cook 18 Okinawan doughnuts the size of

Dunkin’ Donuts’ Munchkins.So, if you want to whip up

something for your mom or wife for Mother’s Day or any other occasion, I recommend Sata Andagi. They are simple and easy to make, even for a guy like me who doesn’t feel at home in the kitchen.

Listed below is a recipe I used. There are different ways to make them, and also many ways to modify the flavor, such as sprinkling coconut powder or mixing dough with sweet po-tatoes, etc.

What are you waiting for? Get in the kitchen and start making some Okinawan [email protected]

2

3

45

Put a raw egg into to a bowl.

Recipe (for about 18 doughnuts the size of Munchkins)

Add sugar (70g) and stir the mixture.

Add a small spoonful of cooking oil (I used a Japanese spoon for 5cc) and stir the mixture.

Add cake flour (150g) and baking powder (a small spoonful), or cake flour (100g) and Japanese pancake mix (50g).

Add crushed peanuts and knead the dough.

Fry the balls with cooking oil in a frying pan.

Roll the dough into small balls.

DONUTS: Fun in the kitchenJUNE 12 − JUNE 25, 20202 STRIPES GUAM A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC

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STRIPES GUAM 3JUNE 12 − JUNE 25, 2020 A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC

I’ve got dirt packed under my fingernails. There’s a blister the size of Dela-

ware on my thumb. My face is sunburned in a distinctive raccoon pattern around my sunglasses. I’m walking with a slight limp, thanks to the pain in my knee from too much squatting.

This happens to me every spring. As soon as winter gives up its death grip on the soil and the bees begin to buzz, I get the bug to plant things in my gar-den.

And now that we have been confined to our houses in coro-navirus purgatory for months on end, we are all looking for something — anything, for criminy’s sake — to interrupt our ceaseless monotony. Peo-ple everywhere are knitting, puzzling, bird-watching, cook-ing, ping-pong playing, Netflix bingeing, bread baking, book reading, sewing, sketching, in-strument playing, yoga-ing and biking with newfound vigor. Hobbies have become so popu-lar, good luck ordering your fa-vorite board game online these days, and beware that you may not find flour at the grocery store this week.

Gardening has become a top coronavirus pastime, and

supplies are flying off the shelves almost as fast as toi-let paper and hand sanitizer. Last week, when the grocery store displayed flats of annu-als outside the entrance, and the hardware store offered specials on grass seed, I found myself in a half-panic, heaping my cart with flowers, shrubs, vegetables, seeds, pots and mulch. I even grabbed four bags of manure just because it was there. Needless to say, the drive home in my SUV was not exactly fragrant.

Back at home, I informed my husband, Francis, that we had to pull out the overgrown shrubs, weeds and swamp maples running along the back fence to make room for the new plants.

We found our shovels, which hadn’t been used since last fall, and went to work. We thought we’d have the root ball of each shrub out with a few scoops of the spade, but of course, the overgrown plants wouldn’t budge. One inch under the top-soil was a complex tangle of woody roots and random rocky deposits, the removal of which would have warranted the use of combat-grade explosives.

For an hour, we chopped,

hacked, tugged and pulled, but still hadn’t uprooted any-thing, despite spewing every expletive in the book. We guz-zled water between breath-less attempts as sweat soaked through our shirts. As if he were a middle-aged male ver-sion of Monica Seles, Francis

grunted and groaned with ev-ery heave of the shovel. Final-ly, the last stubborn root broke free, and we triumphantly hurled a severed bush away.

One down, only nine more to go.

Needless to say, the day after we removed all four shrubs, two diseased rhodo-dendrons and a few swamp maples, Francis and I could barely walk. It took me a week to recover enough energy to plant the items I’d purchased, and my knee still feels like it’s going to buckle like some kind of hyperextended rubber Bar-bie doll leg.

This week, I finally managed to get those new plants into the garden beds and pots. Al-though it doesn’t exactly look like the re-creation of Epcot that I’d imagined, I satisfied

my spring gardening fix.I crave the release of dig-

ging in the dirt every spring. Pandemic or no pandemic, I long to revive my hibernat-ing muscles with the rigors of yardwork. I smell the aroma of freshly mulched borders, see the hues of artistically ar-ranged beds and taste the re-freshment of a cold beer after a long day outdoors. I envision myself, in a flowered sundress and straw hat, walking through my abundant garden barefoot on a future hot midsummer day, placing my own freshly cut flowers, aromatic herbs and plump vegetables into a basket.

In reality, it never quite turns out that way.

I’m always dumbfounded when the tomatoes suffer from bottom rot and the azaleas have blight. Thankfully, my horticultural urgings are more about the therapeutic pro-cess than the end result. My blistered thumb might not be green, but this spring as I seek catharsis, our garden has al-ready paid me back in spades.Read more of Lisa Smith Molinari’s columns at: themeatandpotatoesoflife.com Email: [email protected]

Rooting for a pretty pastimeThe Meat and

Potatoes of LifeLisa Smith Molinari

Gardening has become a top

coronavirus pastime, and supplies are

flying off the shelves almost as fast as

toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

JUNE 12 − JUNE 25, 20204 STRIPES GUAM A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC

W e know our readers love to travel and explore new places across the Pacific, something we haven’t been able to do in the past few months.

The good news is we will travel again someday soon!Plane rides and suitcases may not be in our

immediate plans, but dreaming up where we’ll go next is allowed. This is a call to lovers of the open skies, crashing waves and roads less traveled. Those who see the world as their oyster and want to taste it all. Tell us your travel tales and the secrets of your best vacation.

Stars and Stripes wants to be your travel companion. Write about your own piece of paradise and we’ll make you famous! Our annual Destination Paradise highlights the travels of your fellow community members and we want to include you in our 2020-2021 edition.

The way we travel is changing but the locations we’ve visited and enjoyed are still there waiting for our return.

It doesn’t have to be an exotic island with pristine beaches. Maybe your idea of paradise is a secluded hiking trail, a quiet park in a congested city, a colorful snorkeling spot, or the fashion district of your favorite destination.

We want to hear about a place you cherish, a place you feel most compelled to share with others.

Your story will not only appear in the Stripes Destination Paradise magazine that will hit the streets on Pacific bases in September, but it will also appear in our community newspapers – Stripes Japan, Stripes Okinawa, Stripes Guam and

Stripes Korea and websites – stripesjapan.com, stripesokinawa.com, guam.stripes.com and stripeskorea.com.

- Stars and Stripes Guam staff

Submit your story for ourDestination Paradise magazine!

Check out

Submit your story and photos [email protected] by July 19.

We’ll make you famous!

our previous

Destination Paradisemags


T he newly graduated Air-man 1st Class had just arrived at her new and

first duty station, Andersen Air Force Base. She had come from Fort Sam Houston, San Anto-nio, Texas, and graduated as an aerospace medical technician. Two months later, COVID-19 ap-peared on the island of Guam.

“We had briefly talked about severe acute respiratory syn-drome in tech school,” said Air-man 1st Class Zena Meriza Greer, 36th Medical Operations Squad-ron family health technician. “We didn’t go deeply into it. So the fact that I come here and that is what’s happening… It’s kind of shocking.”

Greer also said that coming here and tackling this pandemic has shown her the importance of the small work herself and other medical technicians are do-ing when treating patients, like taking swabs, donning personal protective equipment, or taking vitals.

Since the outbreak of CO-VID-19 on Guam, the Andersen Medical Clinic has adjusted their hours and procedures for the benefit of the base and retirees. The Andersen Medical Clinic has opened its doors on Saturdays from 7-10 a.m. for retirees. This extra day to be open provides retirees an approach to receive medical care without worrying about being around a large num-ber of other patients, who mostly come during the week.

“The biggest factor we were trying to protect was the retirees, because they are going to be at most risk,” said Capt. Everlino Ramos, 36th MDOS family health physician assistant. “We want to make sure that we still have care for them, but we make sure to isolate them as far as the care that we provide them.”

Saturdays at the medical clin-ic have at least one provider and teams for the pharmacy, family health technicians, the clinical lab for blood work, and Airmen

from the dental squadron who man the entry control point.

“Patients have definitely been taking advantage of this,” Ramos said. “We have patients getting their needs filled.”

The medical clinic has also been conducting weekly virtual visits for patients who are not able to come during the week. Ramos said that most patient’s needs can be met during a 20-30-min-ute virtual appointment over the phone, but they are still aware that some may need to come in for a physical appointment and schedule them for Saturday.

Ramos also commented on the increase in tempo for the medi-cal group. About 2-3 patients end up needing to come in on Satur-day for a physical checkup, but almost everyone who had a vir-tual appointment will most likely make their way to the clinic on Saturday to do blood work or go to the pharmacy.

The work centers complete what they would normally do throughout the week in a single day, so that retirees have less exposure to COVID-19. Addition-ally, the medical group is aug-menting Airmen to the Expedi-tionary Medical Support System, which consist of 11 medical units. EMEDS can require almost 70 or more Airmen from the medical clinic to help if needed.

The Andersen Medical Clinic is not deterred from the increase of responsibility though, and are willing to adjust for the benefit of those in need.

“The medical group is proud to extend our hours of operations to continue to provide care to all our empaneled patients,” Ramos said.

Ramos also commented that if you have a virtual appointment, that an updated list of current medication helps the process of the appointment, and to also be flexible with time. Ramos recom-mends making time up to 20 min-utes prior and after your appoint-ment for flexibility since some appointments may take longer.

If you want to make an ap-pointment, you can do so by calling 366-WELL.

STORY AND PHOTO BYSENIOR AIRMAN MICHAEL MURPHY,

36TH WING

Capt. Everlino Ramos performs an eye exam on a patient at Andersen Air Force Base on May 16.

U .S. Navy sailors sta-tioned aboard the air-craft carrier USS Theo-

dore Roosevelt donated more than $1800 to USO Guam, during an extended visit to Guam in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic May 2020.

Arriving to Guam March 27, the Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group worked closely with Com-mander 7th Fleet, Joint Region Marianas, U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, Naval Base Guam and the government of Guam in or-der to isolate and quarantine the crew of Theodore Roosevelt in phases, in accordance with rec-ommended Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stan-dards.

There from the very begin-ning was the USO.

“We strongly believe that our US military is a force for good in this world,” stated Leigh L. Gra-ham, USO Guam Area Director. “As service members, their mis-sion is an important one and war fighting and the defense of our country has to be on the very top of their minds. For this rea-son, our Commander in Chief of 78 years ago, President Frank-lin D. Roosevelt, established the USO through Congress and separate from the Department of Defense, so Americans could show support for the morale of our service members while they maintain their focus on the de-fense of our country.”

What started as a fun way to commemorate a unique experi-ence during a very exceptional deployment, designing ‘deploy-ment t-shirts’ quickly became the way a large group of Theo-dore Roosevelt sailors chose to thank USO Guam’s local team.

incredible resiliency and resolve during an unprecedented period. Over the course of my time as an OIC in Guam, I realized how in-credible it was that many of the almost 900 sailors with me had never seen each other or met each other, let alone worked to-gether, yet they seamlessly came together during a difficult time to take care of one another and support their shipmates on and off the ship. The island of Guam and the USO were integral to

that mission.”“Thank you

so much for this generous gift,” said Graham. “We promise to use it in a way that honors the ‘Big Stick’, by continuing to connect service members with family, home and country through-out their service to our nation.”

“When the TR departs, you will take a part of our hearts with you, but when you return, we will likewise be looking for-ward to seeing you again.”

“Whether they realized it or not, all of the TR sailors benefit-ed in some way from the actions of USO Guam’s family. We were just trying to give a little back to a team that gave so much,” con-tinued Yonkman. “Thanks again for your tireless efforts and in-credible support …until every-one comes home!”

Theodore Roosevelt is the nation’s fourth Nimitz-class air-craft carrier with a crew of 5,000 sailors who support and conduct air operations at sea. Theodore Roosevelt departed San Diego for a scheduled Indo-Pacific de-ployment, Jan. 17.

“The sailors recognized the tremendous support being pro-vided by Naval Base Guam and those all around the island, and were specifically awestruck by how selflessly the men and wom-en of the USO dedicated them-selves to the TR sailors each day during our unexpected stay,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Yonkman, the maintenance officer of He-licopter Sea Combat Squadron EIGHT (HSC-8) “Eightballers,” and an isolation location Offi-cer in Charge (OIC). “We u n a n i m o u s l y agreed to donate all proceeds to ‘USO Guam’ for all the amazing care and sup-port they have provided for the TR’s crew.”

“Once the sailors knew the project would benefit the lo-cal USO, the response and support was over-whelming.”

“It was so incredible,” ex-claimed Graham, when she learned of the donation. “We are unbelievably moved and hum-bled by this!”

“The sailors of USS Theodore Roosevelt have become part of the USO Guam family,” Gra-ham continued. “You and your crew are now forever part of our history, and a part of the fabric that makes us who we are. We will never forget your stay here on the Island and the sense of purpose you brought to us in be-ing able to support sailors in the greatest Navy on the planet!”

“None of us expected a deploy-ment to look like this,” said Yon-kman. “But the sailors of Theo-dore Roosevelt demonstrated

COURTESY STORYUSS THEODORE ROOSEVELT

TR sailors say thank you with more than just words

“We are unbelievably moved and humbled by

this!”– Leigh L. Graham,

USO Guam Area Director

U.S. Navy Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Elwin Familiar, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt,

checks a sailor;s temperature on the pier at Naval Base Guam on April 30. Photo by Robyn B. Melvin, U.S. Navy

36th MDG lends a helping hand


SANTA RITA – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Kiska (WPB 1336) concluded a successful 18-day patrol in support of coun-ter-Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and regional security operations in Northern Marianas and Western Pacific, in mid-May.

“I greatly appreciate the op-portunity to extend U.S. and Coast Guard presence within Sector Guam’s area of respon-sibility,” said Lt. Brenden Kel-ley, commanding officer, cutter Kiska. “Our presence in the area shows our partners the Coast Guard’s enduring efforts to pro-vide search and rescue response,

crewman, and shipboard launch and recovery of our small boat. These are essential mission skills.”

While patrolling over 2,333 square nautical miles (2,685 statute miles), the Kiska’s law enforcement team boarded a Taiwanese-flagged vessel 11 miles outside the US EEZ on the high seas and verified their compliance with all applicable regulations and conservation management measures.

“The ongoing presence of a Coast Guard cutter in this part of the Pacific to assist in deter-mining compliance with conser-vation management measures established by the WCPFC dem-onstrates the US commitment to the region and our partners,”

said Kelley. “The Kiska is one of the last 110-foot Island Class patrol boats in operation and continues to serve the Pacific ad-mirably.”

The Kiska will be joined by, and eventually replaced by the 154-foot Fast Response Cut-ters. The first of which is due in Guam later this year.

The WCPFC is an internation-al body made up of 43 nations and international organizations. Members agree to allow the 13 countries in the pact to board and record any potential viola-tions on their nationally flagged vessels. The findings go to the WCPFC, who notifies the ves-sel’s flag state of the suspected infraction for further investiga-tion.

for compliance of international fisheries regulations under the WCPFC promotes regional mar-itime governance and sustain-ability.

“Training is also an important component of underway time and affects our readiness,” said Kelley. “The team aboard Kiska knocked out officer of the deck, basic engineering, and casualty drills as well as navigation, gun-nery, and towing exercises. Our thanks to the Navy Coastal Riv-erine Group for their participa-tion.”

In addition to gaining skills, Coast Guard crews must remain current on those competencies they have achieved. During this underway period, we vali-dated currencies for coxswain,

safety in the marine industry, and oversight of important eco-nomic resources during world-wide disease response mea-sures. I also want to highlight the high crew performance, es-pecially in light of the COVID-19 precautions taken by all hands.”

Kiska’s crew protected U.S. fisheries and sovereignty by pa-trolling the region by conducting maritime security and law en-forcement patrols in the North-ern Mariana Island Chain and conducting fisheries boardings along the west and southwest part of the US exclusive econom-ic zone under federal fisheries guidelines and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Com-mission (WCPFC). Inspecting foreign-flagged fishing vessels

BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SARA MUIR,U.S. COAST GUARD

Kiska wraps up successful 18-day patrol

Seaman Cade Ambeau of the Coast Guard Cutter Kiska documents vessels. Photos courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard District 14 Hawaii Pacific

The crew conducts small boat operations.


STORY AND PHOTOS BY ED SWINNEY,STARS AND STRIPES

Published: December 15, 1964

From the ArchivesOn May 14, 1945, Stars and Stripes published its first newspaper in the Pacific. To commemorate 75 years serving the military community in the theater, we’re taking a look back at Stripes history through the writing and photography of a dedicated staff spanning generations. Stars and Stripes has proudly supported the Pacific military community since the beginning and will continue to serve the troops and families at the heart of our work.

ABOUT NOW, the project officer for the 1964 Bob Hope Christmas show is trying to crowd approximately 58

people, nearly two tons of personal bag-gage, and another ton of scenery and show props aboard a single C-135 MATS jet.

And, for the first time since 1959, that human shoe horn won’t be me.

Before joining Stars & Stripes late last summer, I served for five years as Air Force representative in a joint service activity that coordinates a worldwide live enter-tainment program for the Department of Defense.

While such an assignment may sound glamorous, it wasn’t. Once in a white, a staff visit overseas would put me in contact briefly with a small USO show or a group of college entertainers, but most or the time, we three service representatives just sat there in Washington and “co-ordinated.”

Our one big annual in-person brush with show biz, was the Hope Christmas trip, a somewhat frustrating end-of-the-year chal-lenge that I managed to monopolize for five jolly seasons. I didn’t plan it; it just hap-pened that way after the first go-around. I was the only one who had any experience at that sort of thing.

When I charged onto the scene in De-cember, 1959 (Hope claims I tried to hold reveille at 0600, followed by calisthenics). the whole project was on pretty shaky ground.

The main problem was that there had been no control in regard to the size of the

previous three Christmas entertainment troupes, and the tours themselves had had about as much advance planning as the path of a tornado.

They had been a strain on everyone and, as a result, the areas where the unit toured in 1957 and 1958 had sent up warning sig-nals that read loud and clear: Never again. They wouldn’t touch the project with a ten-foot comedian.

Nothing very remedial could be done in regard to the 1959 show. Because of the time element, it was arbitrarily sent to the Alaskan Command, which accepted it with some trepidation because of its 1956 expe-rience, when the Hope unit was as cumber-some as a pregnant elephant and about as co-ordinated as a bag of angle worms.

There wasn’t touch time, but we man-aged to slap on a few Defense Department and Hope-approved restrictions on troupe size and logistical support. The result was an entirely successful tour of six main bas-es in Alaska.

Still, because of Hope’s penchant to be-gin from a standing start about two weeks before the departure date, getting his show on the road in 1959 was like trying to hand-cuff an octopus.

Early in 1960, our tri-service coordi-nating office began to develop an SOP which has since resulted in a string of four straight successes without a miss. This in-cluded two forays into areas where initial rejection had to be overcome.

Basically, the plan was simple: Start ear-ly, co-ordinate everything fully, and light a psychological fire under Hope no later than September of each year.

I just put the troupe on a plane in 1959, crossed my fingers, and waved farewell. I went along on the next four trips, but, thanks to the Boy Scout motto, my job was reduced pretty much to that of an observer.

Many fallacies have evolved about the

Hope Christmas Show over the years, not the least of which is that it’s one great big boondoggle, a midwinter aerial pleasure cruise. Take it from me, friend — that’s a rather large crock.

As project/escort officer these past four years, I was something of a Simon Legree in blue. Back in 1962, coming down in the hospital elevator on Okinawa, I heard Lana Turner behind me moan “My God, Bob: this schedule!” This was between the af-ternoon and evening shows at Stilwell Field House and I turned to find Hope pointing, a silent and accusing finger at me.

Lana had a point. That 1962 tour was probably the roughest trip Hope has ever made. The troupe did 15 shows in 12 days at 13 different locations on six separate

geographic areas (Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Guam). In all, they traveled more than 18,000 miles.

During the four Christmas seasons I traveled with the show, the troupe was on the road a total of 43 days, did 51 shows in 30 locations and traveled an average of more than 1,000 miles a day. The total mile-age of 55,000 miles doesn’t sound like much until you realize that’s twice around the world plus two round trips across the Unit-ed States. You can call that boondoggling if you like, but I suggest you smile when you say it, pardner.

The question I’m most often asked at cocktail parties, after I’ve modestly dropped half a dozen hints about my lurid past, is: “What kind of a guy is Bob Hope?”

Editor’s note: Maj. Ed Swinney was Pacific Stars and Stripes’ executive officer at the time this story was written; in his previous assignment, he handled logistics for Hope’s annual tours.

TOKYO — To hear Jimmy Doo-little tell it, his fabled raid on Tokyo was as much quixotic as heroic, a pinprick thrust in which only slight damage was inflicted on the enemy and the real target could not even be seen.

Returning to Japan for his eighth visit — including his flashing glimpse of the Japa-nese capital on April 18, 1942 — the retired Air Force lieutenant general reached back almost 32 years to describe the raid and explain its real purposes which have been lost or obscured in legend.

To begin with, Doolittle said, it was not his 16 twin-engine bombers, flown from the deck of an aircraft carrier, that humbled and devastated Japan — the gigantic B29 bombers of the 26th Air Force, flying in the contrails of the first raiders lat-er in the war, did that.

He said his handful of air-craft, which struck Tokyo and other Japanese cities only a few months after the Pearl Harbor raid thrust America into the Pa-cific War, could not hope to ac-complish much.

“What happened was that the Japanese attack was a very successful operation,” Doo-little told members and guests of the American Club at a lun-cheon in his honor Friday. “My

operation was more of a morale thing. We couldn’t hope to do much except give good news to the people back home and some bad news to the Japanese.”

Did he succeed? Doolittle, now 77 and an executive for Mutual of Omaha and affiliated insurance firms, listened atten-tively as a former enemy, whom he met and greeted as a friend, told of the raid’s impact on Jap-anese psychology and morale.

Recalling that his destroyer escorted the Japanese carri-ers which launched aircraft for a successful, almost costless strike on Hawaii, former Adm. Sadao Chigusa said, “I asked myself then, what is war?”

A few months later, as the same strike force was in the

BY HAL DRAKE,STARS AND STRIPES

Published: March 24, 1974

Jimmy Doolittle, ex-foes recall the Tokyo raid

Retired Lt. Gen James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, center, clasps hands with retired Japanese Rear Admirals Heijiro Abe, left, and Sadao Chigusa at the American Club in Tokyo in March, 1974. Photo by Hideyuki Mihashi, Stars and Stripes

I was on the road with Hope

Bob Hope struts onstage carrying a parasol during a show in Southeast Asia in 1965.


From the ArchivesOn May 14, 1945, Stars and Stripes published its first newspaper in the Pacific. To commemorate 75 years serving the military community in the theater, we’re taking a look back at Stripes history through the writing and photography of a dedicated staff spanning generations. Stars and Stripes has proudly supported the Pacific military community since the beginning and will continue to serve the troops and families at the heart of our work.

My stock, tongue-in-cheek response is that he’s a pretty average millionaire. Ac-customed, that is, to having his own way. But that wasn’t always possible during the past four years. For example, Bob didn’t al-ways want to go where we wanted to send him at ho-ho time, but he went. After all, it was our airplane.

Actually, I’m not qualified to give a straight answer to the question. For reasons of my own, I scrupulously avoided becom-ing buddy-buddy with Hope, mainly on the premise that it might hinder my objectivity. Our relations have been friendly but some-what reserved.

On stage, Bob is a veritable dynamo; no matter who else is in the cast, or what her measurements are, Hope is the glue

that holds the whole schmear together. Off stage, he is convivial but serious; he is not one of those comics who are “on” all the time.

If I may wax philosophical for a mo-ment, I’d say that he is a different guy to different people. To some, he seems to affect a “be reasonable, do it my way” attitude, and yet I have always found him genuinely reasonable when he was apprised of the facts.

His closest associates have told me: “’Bob’s a funny guy, but we all love him.” He is on the record as an active philan-thropist, a good father, a soft touch for old friends, and yet I’ve heard him described as a cross between General Bullmoose and Pollyanna.

He has surrounded himself with a de-voted and loyal staff of professionally com-petent people, and therefore limits himself to major decisions, such as the color of the baggage tags. In other words, Hope knows what’s going on all the time.

But it is as an entertainer of the military that history will probably base its judgment of him and, as such, he has no peer. Even to-day’s 18-year-olds seem to laugh more just because Hope has said something rather than because of what he has said. He is a legend in his own time, able to get bigger laughs from a burp than most comics get from a 10-minute routine.

BING CROSBY once said that Hope is a compulsive entertainer (and Hope says Crosby is a compulsive father). Hope ad-mitted as much to a friend of mine in Alaska back in 1959. “At Christmas, I don’t know,” he said, ‘’I’ve just got to go entertain the troops.”

Not many millionaires say that these days, much less do it.

Bob has said publicly that his greatest talent has been a knack for hiring writ-ers who are ideally suited to his patented

rapid fire, topical comedy style — fast, ra-zor sharp writers who think funny on the fly (Hope scripts are under constant revision on the road by two traveling writers).

I understand Hope himself is not partic-ularly religious, but Dolores, his wife of 30

years is, and Hope’s attendance at midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is an unbroken an-nual ritual. In fact, his pre-midnight depar-ture signals the end of another Christmas

operation was more of a morale thing. We couldn’t hope to do much except give good news to the people back home and some bad news to the Japanese.”

Did he succeed? Doolittle, now 77 and an executive for Mutual of Omaha and affiliated insurance firms, listened atten-tively as a former enemy, whom he met and greeted as a friend, told of the raid’s impact on Jap-anese psychology and morale.

Recalling that his destroyer escorted the Japanese carri-ers which launched aircraft for a successful, almost costless strike on Hawaii, former Adm. Sadao Chigusa said, “I asked myself then, what is war?”

A few months later, as the same strike force was in the

Indian Ocean on the edge of a successful battle in which a British carrier and cruiser were sunk, “Doolittle stuck a pin into our brains. I told my-self, this is war.”

Doolittle clasped hands not only with Chigusa, but Kiyo-kuma Okajima and Heijiro Abe, who also held admiral rank in the postwar Maritime Self-Defense Force after serving as junior officers in the World War II Imperial Navy. Also at Doo-little’s side at a long table was Jacob DeShazer, a Methodist missionary who as a young gun-ner-bombardier took off with Doolittle’s force for a one-plane raid on Nagoya.

Bailing out over China, De-Shazer was captured by the

Japanese, sentenced to death and reprieved to spend more than three years in a Nanking prison. He decided at that time, DeShazer said, to become a missionary and return to Japan after the war.

Doolittle told of how the raiders took off 800 miles from Tokyo, some 400 miles from their originally-planned launching point, after two small Japanese patrol craft saw them. Heading for Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe, each pilot dead-reckoned his way to a carefully selected target, car-rying 1,000 pounds of bombs. One could not find his objective and jettisoned his bombs into the ocean. The others inflicted

minimal damage and maximum shock, Doolittle related. His own target, he said, was a muni-tions dump “in the manufactur-ing district of Tokyo,” and the blotch of fire and smoke only slightly marred the sprawling vastness of the city.

“On a map of Tokyo in 1942,” he said, “I could probably pinpoint the place and find it again. In the Tokyo of today, I could not.”

Fifteen of the bombers, Doo-little said, went on to China, where two went into the coastal waters, one landed by a lake in the interior and others ran out of gas and were ditched by their crews. One pilot, against orders, flew to Vladivostok,

where the Soviets, neutrals in the Pacific War, seized the bomber and interned the crew.

Sharp, alert and quick of movement and answer despite his years, Doolittle turned of-ten to a wall-sized window in the small banquet room, glanc-ing out at a tangle of buildings and freeways.

He recalled that Tokyo was a seared, bomb-pitted wilderness in 1945 and that he thought “it would be a very, very long time before Japan recovered.

“I want to take this occa-sion,” Doolittle said, “to con-gratulate the Japanese people on their magnificent recovery. This was accomplished through good organization, good plan-ning and plain hard work. I am

very pleased now that Japan and America are close allies working together for peace and for a better world.”

Doolittle planned to leave Saturday for Okinawa and will also visit Taiwan before return-ing home. Next month, he said, he and the other 52 survivors of tile original 80-man raiding force will gather for a reunion in Oakland, Calif.

Abe came to Doolittle with a faded souvenir — a brown-ish snapshot Abe took from the cockpit of a bomber over Ford Island on Dec. 7, 1941. He care-fully pointed out the blazing Arizona and West Virginia.

“Yes,” Doolittle said, smil-ing, “I recognize the area.”

Jimmy Doolittle, ex-foes recall the Tokyo raid

EXCLUSIVE NEWS FROM:

I was on the road with Hope

Kaye Stevens, playing an Army nurse

conducting sick call (hours: 8 to 8:05 a.m.),

presents patient Bob Hope with a

questionnaire to be filled out before he

can be treated. Hope: “Thank heavens it’s the short form.” The sketch

was part of Hope’s 1965 Christmas tour for

U.S. troops in Asia.

SEE HOPE ON PAGE 10

Bob Hope struts onstage carrying a parasol during a show in Southeast Asia in 1965.


Eve ritual, the cast and crew’s cocktail and dinner party, a ca-tered affair for which Hope per-sonally foots the bill.

Not all of my memories of the Hope trips are pleasant ones, nor for that matter are any of them terribly unpleasant. A little rest the first week in Janu-ary usually took away the sharp edges. In any event, they were all relative experiences, de-pending on one’s point of view.

For example, in his book “I Owe Russia $1,200,” Hope makes it appear that Zsa Zsa Gabor gave me a bad time dur-ing the Caribbean tour of 1900. Not so.

She kept pronouncing my name “Sveeney” so I began calling her “Miss Goober,” Af-ter that we got along just fine.

Zsa Zsa is a name to reckon with in Hope Show folklore. It’s not one to mention around some of the girls, and the ward-robe man is a little sensitive, too. Causes him to break out in a cold sweat. Nevertheless, Zsa Zsa did a lot to make the 1960 trip unforgettable, and you can lake that any way you want to.

Miss Gabor’s variety show capabilities are marginal and limited, and her talents other-wise are, shall we say, highly specialized. Her forte seemed to be that of aggravating every-one in sight by being overbear-ing, demanding, temperamen-tal, petty, and — when no one was looking — rather nice.

She quailed when I told her she might have to share a bath at Rainey AFB, Puerto Rico, with one of the other female stars, and stayed instead at the Caribe Hilton (where else?) in San Juan, a mere 90 miles away,

Then at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she promptly laid claim to the only VIP suite on base, which was conveniently located above the officers’ club. The other girls stayed in quonset huts a couple of miles away.

ZSA ZSA also quickly staked a claim on two personal maids and immediately placed a strain on the club’s limited room ser-vice capability.

The club manager, a red-headed Irishman named Jerry Egan, gritted, then gnashed his teeth; he growled, glared, and faced heavenward several times, but the voice in his ear wouldn’t seem to stop. To make matters worse. Zsa Zsa came down with a common physi-ological ailment that frequently strikes travelers, and began pointing out that the regular menu of steak and similar good-ies just wouldn’t do; her condi-tion called for a special diet.

She also implied that it was Egan’s responsibility to fur-nish her dietary requirements for the following day, when the troupe was to fly out to do a show on one of the Bahama Islands.

“Dolling,” grated Zsa Zsa, “I must have broth and hot tea. Understand? Clear broth and hot tea. My condition, you know.” It was normal for her to furnish such information even

verbally is duplicate and some-times triplicate.

“All right, all right,” Egan responded wearily, “you’ll get your wet picnic basket. Just stop bugging me about it.”

Next morning, when Zsa Zsa left her suite for base opera-tions, Egan was there to hand her a stainless steel pot, a can of consomme, and one lone tea bag. I don’t believe it, but Egan swore that Zsa Zsa was speech-less — momentarily.

“Why is Zsa Zsa that way?” someone asked en route to Ja-pan two years ago.

“This is why,” replied Jack Shea, the TV show director. “Hasn’t she dominated the conversation for the past hour, and she isn’t even here. She’s a walking press agent, just being herself.”

Unfortunately, a good many of the stories about Zsa Zsa can’t be repeated here. Not that they’re off-color (necessarily), or libelous; it’s just that the ter-minology required sometimes has a double meaning or is per-haps a bit quaint for a family newspaper.

The lady is sharp and natu-rally funny, often without in-tending to be. She broke us all up several times in rehearsal, and yet no one could remember exactly what she had said.

Because of her limited vari-ety show capability, the writers used a gimmick for Zsa Zsa that had worked well with Hedda Hopper — a questions-from-the-audience routine.

A couple of questions would be planted in the audience and

this usually inspired original questions from other specta-tors. One sailor in San Juan appar-ently thought he as

throwing Zsa Zsa a curve when he asked “Which is more im-portant, food or sex?”

Zsa Zsa thought a moment, then replied “I don’t know which is the most important, but I know you have to eat in order to be strong.” It took five minutes to restore order.

The next night, a Guantana-mo sailor asked, “What’s your cup size?” Before she could answer, Hope responded with “Whatcha gonna do, buddy, serve coffee?”

ANOTHER STEADY SOURCE of Hope show folklore is prop man Al Borden. Any-thing that goes wrong on stage is blamed on Al. probably be-cause if it moves, he had some-thing to do with it.

Al’s specialty is sight gags; he’s produced laugh-getting gimmicks such as beer foam that flies back on when you blow it off, trick musical instru-ments, collapsible chairs, and the like. Most of the things he cooks up work fine at rehearsal, but occasionally bomb out on camera, as though on cue.

Guns he loads either won’t fire or explode 10 seconds late; cats he’s placed in trick bass fiddles refuse to come out; a prop door will get nailed up backwards; or else Al will take a pratfall in escaping a playful kick from Hope for some real or imagined goof-up. This has

been going on for 30 years.Al is a respected craftsman,

is a great improviser on the road and can build just about any prop needed right on the spot. A few years ago, the boys were commenting on the physi-cal attributes of a beauty con-test winner who had just joined the cast. “She’s all right above the waist,” said one guy, “but she hasn’t got much of a rear end.”

“That’s okay,” retorted writ-er Mort Lachman, “Al Borden’s gonna build her one.”

Another of the many fallacies about Hope is that he uses blue material. I’ve never heard him or anyone else say anything off-color on stage. Off-stage, the conversation is no more racy than that around a neighbor-hood bar in Omaha.

Another myth is that Hope has and is quick to use high powered influence in order to get his way. Poppycock.

Bob has many friends in high places; if he felt like it and had a good case, he might be able to do a little psychological arm twisting, but I know of no such shenanigans. Since I wasn’t a hired yes man and we had many heated debates, I’m sure I’d know by now if he was.

FOR THE PAST four years, the Hope troupe has been my family at Christmastime and I’m going to miss them. I just hope that my replacement read my guidelines carefully, else he’s liable to find that cue card man Barney McNulty is still on the ground taking a 35mm slide of the plane taking off and that John Bubbles is off in some dark corner of the terminal, writing post cards to friends dating back to his “Porgy and Bess” days.

This new guy will be in for enough last minute surprises. Hope himself is usually good for a few. Last year, he sprung Phil Crosby on me the after-noon before we left for Turkey; luckily, Phil already had a valid passport.

That wasn’t the case a year before, when the guy at the passport office didn’t have the combination to the safe. I’ve told Hope a dozen times that miracles are not covered in reg-ulations, but somehow they al-ways come to pass when Hope is getting ready to hit The Road. In this case, the solution was simple: they borrowed a safe-cracker who happened to be incarcerated at the Los Angeles County Jail. He opened the safe and the passport was issued.

Little things like that make me curious about what thrills await the Hope Show escort of-ficer this year. There are always a few when you’re working with a guy who not only burns the candles at both ends but also keeps a bonfire going in the middle.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

OSAN AB — From cold, remote mountain tops reaching 4,000 feet above the Demilitarized Zone to the sharp, jagged hills below Kunsan, a U.S. Army brigade is standing guard over Korea.

The far-flung 38th Arty. Bri-gade, an air defense unit, along .with the ROK Army’s 1st Air Defence Arty. Brigade which is stationed in the south and is un-der the operational control of the 38th, guards South Korea against enemy attack by air.

Should enemy planes intrude on South Korean air space, the 38th not only could but would blast the aircraft from the skies, says Brig. Gen. John W. Dean Jr., commanding general of the air defense brigade.

Like Dean, the officers of the brigade express confidence in the ability of their Hawk and Nike-Hercules missiles to rip enemy planes out of the air, and the annual prac-tice firing by U.S. batter-ies in Korea have left 38th officers beaming.

“At Sea Range this fall,” states 1st Lt. B,J. Morris, commander of Battery A, 7th Bn. (HAWK), 2nd Arty., “we fired two missiles and killed two drones (self-propelled missile targets).”

CWO Donald R. Gay, fire con-trol maintenance officer for Bat-tery F, 4th Bn. (HERC), 44th Arty., echoed this confidence: “We fired our Nike missile at Sea Range with pin-point accuracy and had the highest score in the battalion. Although it’s not neces-sary to hit the target directly with the Nike missile, we intend to cut the aircraft in half when we fire.”

The men of the brigade also say their ground-to-air missiles are quite capable of defending the many airways into South Korea. Most of the soldiers had air defense training at Ft. Bliss, Tex., while others have received operational training on the sites in Korea.

“The men work hard and do a fine job,” says Dean. “We’re on operational status 24 hours a day. It keeps us pretty well on our toes.”

The soldiers spend 24 hours on site and 24 hours in the adminis-trative area lower on the moun-tain. During their 24-hour shifts on the site, they maintain the mis-siles, equipment, and site, a con-stant task, and man their radar scopes watching for unidentified

planes, Gay explainsThey must be ready to launch

missiles in minutes should planes threaten Seoul, Osan AB or any of the military targets in South Korea.

During the 24-hour shifts when the men are away from the missile sites, they sleep, attend training, pull details, and about every fourth night get a pass, ac-cording to 1st Sgt. Roy Dubroc of Battery F.

Perhaps the biggest problem the brigade faces is the isolation of its widely dispersed units, the officers say.

At most of the sites, the men are too isolated to go into a city on pass.

“Being in isolated locations does two good things for our units,” Dean believes. “First, it gives the men something to gripe about, and, second, it helps the units become more cohesive and work together as a team.”

The main attraction on the mountain tops at night is televi-sion, and the men say the recep-

tion is top notch at the high altitudes. Checker boards abound, and card games also help consume lonely nights of duty.

A visiting general to Battery F east of Inchon in-quired about the “strange

lines” on the helicop-ter pad located on top of the mountain, relates

Gay. “That’s a volleyball court,” the visitor was told. “There’s a barbecue pit behind the ready room,” Gay adds.

Dean notes that the men of the 38th appreciate the small bits of civilization which do reach them. “The men all know the exact day and hour when the Red Cross girls arrive at their battery.”

When soldiers of the 38th are not on duty at their missile sites, they live in the administration area usually located at the foot of the mountain. Their compounds include a company-sized PX, a recreation room, a club and mov-ies five nights a week.

Though the men may appear to be on top of the world while on duty at their mountain sites, they admit the spectacular scenery fades when the temperature falls. Normally, mountain top .tem-peratures are at least 15 degrees lower than down below, and some sites have recorded tempera-tures as low as minus 30 degrees.

The Hawk missile sites have Korean guards, as well as the U.S. soldiers.

The security for the Nike sites is entirely provided by American troops.

BY TOM GRAHAM,STARS AND STRIPES

Published: January 5, 1968

Isolated GIs guard Korea

75.stripes.com

Troops from the 38th Artillery Brigade do maintenance work at a hilltop radar installation in South Korea in 1968. Photo by T.W. Chung, Stars and Stripes

EXCLUSIVE NEWS FROM:

HOPE: Fun with Zsa ZsaJUNE 12 − JUNE 25, 202010 STRIPES GUAM A STARS AND STRIPES COMMUNITY PUBLICATION 75 YEARS IN THE PACIFIC

www.guampedia.comGET TO KNOW GUAM

Editor’s note: The U.S. territory of Guam is comprised of 19 villages, many with their own distinct character, history and points of interest. Stripes Guam and Guampedia have joined forces to present this weekly feature on each of them in the hopes that it will help our readers get out – and get to know – our gracious hosts. To learn more about Guam’s people, history, culture and places, visit: guampedia.com

C halan Pago is a Chamorro word that means “Pago Road.” Chalan Pago referred to the area traveled through to get from Hagåtña

to Pago, which may lend to the naming of the area, which is covered with Pago trees (hibiscus tiliaceus).

Pago was one of the “reduccion” villages estab-lished by Father Diego Luís de San Vitores, who established the Catholic mission in the Marianas in the 1670s. Chamorros from throughout the Mari-ana Islands archipelago were resettled and con-centrated into villages on Guam to enhance mis-

sionaries’ efforts.Ordot village seems to have originated in the nine-

teenth century. The village name is derived from the Chamorro word “otdot,” which means “ant.” Some residents believe that the name was given to the area because the type of soil there is attractive to certain types of ants.

Village historyPago is an ancient settlement in Pago Bay along

the southeastern coast of Guam. In the 1670s, Pago

was resettled as a Catholic village, established when CHamorus were forced to leave their homes throughout the Mariana Islands during the Spanish reducción. In the 1700s, Jesuit missionaries established an agricultural station at Tachogna which encompassed much of the present-day village of Ordot.

Other ancient settlements in the area included Fagtu, Tagun, Pumud, Tinaka, Pohund, and Aguan. A typhoon and an epidemic struck the island in the 1850s, which caused massive population loss as well as the abandonment of the village of Pago. Survivors joined other villages. The area remained a popular ranching area, however, because of its fertile soil and proximity to peoples’ homes in Hagåtña. Corn was the most popular crop — although some rice, taro, and yams were grown in the wetlands. Gaddo’ and dago (types of yams) were also plentiful in the region. It was not until after World War II that people again began to build permanent houses for use as their primary residences. Initially, the villages were considered suburbs of Sinajana but in 1956, Ordot and Chalan Pago combined to become its own municipality.

In 3 August 2010, the “We are Guam, We are Ordot-Chalan Pago” village mural was unveiled. The mural is part of the Guam Visitors Bureau’s branding program, “We Are Guam.” It is located along Route 10 across from Song Market and is the 11th of 19 village murals. Artists Gregorio C. Sablan and Tina Flores, teachers from John F. Kennedy High School and George Washington High School, designed and led the community of volunteers to its completion.

A VILLAGE PROFILE COURTESY OF GUAMPEDIA

Nuestra Señora de la Paz Y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Safe Voyage) is Chalan Pago’s catholic church. The fiesta for Our Lady of Peace and Safe Voyage is celebrated on the third week of January. It was established post-WWII in 1946. Photo by Nathalie Pereda, Courtesy of Guampedia

BY MICHAEL R. CLEMENT JR., GUAMPEDIA

Chalan Pago-Ordot (Chålan Pågu-Otdot) Road most traveled

The “We are Guam, We are Chalan Pago-Ordot” mural as part of the Guam Visitors Bureau branding initiative “We Are Guam.” The mural was unveiled on 3 August 2010. Photo courtesy of Chalan Pago-Ordot Mayor’s Office

SEE VILLAGE ON PAGE 12


This village at a glance• Population: According to the US Census in 2010,

there were 6,822 people living in Chalan Pago-Ordot.• Village officials: Jessy “Jess” C. Gogue, Mayor,

2009-Present; Pedro I. Borja, Mayor, 2005-2008; Vi-cente I. Aguon, Mayor, 2001-2005; Roseanna San Miguel, Mayor, 1997-2001; Vicente S. San Nicolas, Commissioner/Mayor, 1975-1997; Francisco C. Car-bullido, Commissioner, 1969-1975; Thomas B. An-derson, Commissioner, 1964-1969; Francisco L.G. Valenzuela, Commissioner, 1956-1964; Francisco L.G. Valenzuela, Assistant Commissioner (under Sinajaña), 1952-1956 (Courtesy of Konsehelon Mahot Guåhan/the Mayor’s Council of Guam.)

• Village description: The municipality of Chalan Pa-go-Ordot stretches across the narrow “waist” of the island of Guam. Housing areas are built mostly along Route 4. These villages are on the dividing line be-tween the mostly volcanic southern half of the island and the mostly limestone northern half of the island. The result is a diverse and rugged topography char-acterized by low hills, small valleys, wetland areas, and streams that seem to disappear into the ground. The area is covered with lush green vegetation and homes are built on flat areas of land at times next to small valleys. Some residences have also been built at the foothills of nearby mountains.

The area had long been a center of ranching for people from Hagåtña, but since World War II, it has

become home to two tight-knit village communities and several new housing subdivisions.

Chalan Pago also leads to Pago Bay, where home-owners have a view of the ocean on Guam’s eastern coast. A few people have also taken advantage of mountain properties, building residences overlooking the bay.

Ordot is also the site of the island’s former land-fill. In March 2008, US District Court of Guam Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood placed the dump under federal receivership after the local government failed to close it and build a sanitary landfill in another loca-tion as ordered by a federal mandate. An off-island solid waste management consulting firm was given full authority to take over the closure of the dump.

Over the years, village residents held protests for the dump’s closure as several homeowners living in Chalan Pago-Ordot endured decades of hardship living in close proximity to the landfill: families have been forced to evacuate their homes for periods of time when subterranean fires surfaced; after par-ticularly heavy rains, the stench emanating from the mountainous pile of trash (the dump was originally built in a valley) would magnify; the nearby Lonfit River — which used to be a favorite swimming spot — has been heavily contaminated by run-off from the landfill; and large flies populate in the area, proving to be a particular nuisance to village residents as well as a sanitary concern for nearby schools.

– By Konsehelon Mahot Guåhan/ the Mayor’s Coun-cil of Guam

RecreationalFrank Perez Park (Pago Bay)Although a very small park, the Frank Perez

Park is the only area within Pago Bay that provides easy public access to the shoreline of Pago Bay.

Fishermen can often be found launching their small boats to fish or wading the waters of the bay with their talaya nets or fishing poles. Just south of the Frank Perez Park are Japanese bunkers that can be seen along the shoreline; the bunkers were built during World War II as part of the Japanese defens-es within Pago Bay.

Chalan Pago-Ordot Village MuralThe “We are Guam, We are Chalan Pago-Ordot”

village mural is located along Route 10. It is part of the Guam Visitors Bureau branding project “We Are Guam.” The mural is filled with imagery and icons of the village history and community. The artists of the mural were Greg Sablan, Jr. and Tina Flores.

InstitutionsAgueda Iglesias Johnston Middle SchoolAgueda I. Johnston Middle School is located

behind the San Juan Bautista Catholic Church in Ordot. In 1974, this middle school, known as the George Washington Junior High School, was re-named after the educator and civic leader Agueda Iglesias Johnston.

Apostolic Bible FellowshipIncorporated in August 1999, the Apostolic

Bible Fellowship obtained its Kongga Road prop-erty in February 2000, and constructed the church building in 2006. The church is affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International, and is the result of the early 1980’s missionary work of Rev. & Mrs. Roy Bettis. Situated away from the busy island streets, the church is surrounded by century-old Monkeypod trees, and enjoys a peace-ful island atmosphere.

Baha’i AssemblyThe Baha’i Faith has been a part of the island

community for over fifty years. There are seven-teen localities in the Mariana Islands. Members of the Baha’i Faith Assembly of Chalan Pago-Or-dot share the task of hosting gatherings. The As-sembly may not have a building or office but can be contacted through the main branch located in Hagåtña.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of GuamThe administration office for Big Brothers

Big Sisters of Guam (BBBS) is located in Ordot. They are an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s premier mentoring orga-nization. BBBS provides one-to-one mentoring for children ages 8-16.

Dominican Child Development CenterThe Dominican Child Development Center

of Ordot is located across the San Juan Bautista Catholic Church. The Center was built in 1980 by Sisters Loreto Almira and Remedios Ignacio from the order of Dominican Sisters who arrived on Guam to assist in establishing Catholic schools, day cares and homes for senior citi-zens.

Points of interest

The young maidens that saved GuamThe narrowness of central Guam is part of local folklore. Legend has it

that a giant fish once tried to eat the island of Guam and began chomping the land away at Pago Bay and Hagåtña Bay. To stop the fish, young women used their long hair to weave a magical net to catch the fish.

• Villagefiestas:Ordot celebrates San Juan Bautista’s feast day on June 24. Chalan Pago celebrates two fiestas: Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey takes place on the third week of January while the Sacred Heart of Mary takes place on the second Friday of June.• Regionsandtraditionalplacenames:Ordot = Tachogna; Chalan Pago = Chilen-ko, Maimai, Pago, Santa Cruz, Asinan.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

VILLAGE: Many things to see


INFORMATION PROVIDED BYGUAM BOONIE STOMPERS

Boonie Stomps Guam

Complete 10 Boonie Stomps

to earn a Boonie Stomp

T-Shirt!

Every Saturday, Guam Boonie Stompers offers public hikes to a variety of destinations such as beaches, snorkeling sites, waterfalls, mountains, caves, latte sites, and World War II sites. We meet at 9 a.m. in the Center Court of Chamorro Village in Hagatna. The cost is $5.00 for hikers over 17. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Hikers should provide their own transportation. Guam’s trails are not developed. Weather conditions can make the hikes more difficult than described. No reservations required. For more information:www.facebook.com/GuamBoonieStompersInc or call 787-4238.

June 13 Lonfit River Walk

Difficult4 hours for 3 miles

June 20 Gun Beach to Tanguisson

Medium3 hours for 2 miles

June 27 Lubugon to Fonte Swim Hole

Medium3 hours for 2 miles

We take the usual trail to San Carlos Falls and Lonfit Swim Hole, then continue upriver to explore Vermont, the U shaped wall, and Lonfit Falls, all while enjoying the beautiful pristine Lonfit River. Bring: 3 quarts water, get wet shoes, swimsuit, gloves, sunscreen, insect repellent, lunch, and camera. Special conditions: Going up and down steep slopes with rope assistance, extensive walking in water, rocky footing, slippery trail.

We visit the Fafai Latte site, explore the reef top, pass below the imposing cliffs of Two Lovers Point, Walk the reef bench to a nice snorkeling place, if the waves are low, and view the shrine before ending at Tanguisson Beach. Bring: 2 quarts water, hiking shoes, swimsuit, snorkeling gear, gloves, insect repellent, sun screen, lunch, and camera. Special conditions: some walking in water and over rough rocks, little shade.

We’ll visit the ruins of the historic site of the U.S. Navy radio station and “Operation Magic”, hidden in the thick jungle. Then we’ll hike to the 1910 brick dam, climb to the excellent lookout, and explore the valley downstream to cool off in the waterfalls and pools. Bring: 2 quarts water, get wet shoes, gloves, swim suit, sun screen, insect repellent, lunch, and camera. Special conditions: Sword grass, possible muddy trail, mosquitoes, and some short steep slopes.

Lonfit River

Stomp Tips:1) Alcohol and hiking do not mix. 2) Do not bring beverages with caffeine on hikes.3) Bring plenty of water with you on hikes. 4) When hiking, lots of little snacks are better than one big meal.5) Always carry a well stocked personal first aid kit.6) Carry a couple of extra shoelaces in your first aid kit. They have many uses.7) Always bring a small flashlight in case you get lost, or delayed. Save your phone battery for calls.8) Do not hike alone and let someone know where you are going and your return time.

Evangelical Christian AcademyThe Evangelical Christian Academy

(ECA) is located along Route 4 of Cha-lan Pago and has been operating for 30 years. ECA’s enrollment includes grades kindergar-ten up to 12th. The school is a member of the Association of Christian Schools Internation-al. The Academy specializes in an individu-alized or customized approach to education. Each student is tested and a curriculum is designed specifically for them.

The Pewsbyterian Church

Faith Presbyterian Reformed ChurchThe Faith Presbyterian Reformed Church

is located near the Father Duenas Memorial High School in Tai. The church was dedicat-ed in 2003 with the guidance of Pastor Neil Culbertson.

Father Duenas Memorial High SchoolBetter known as FD, Father Duenas Me-

morial High School is Guam’s only all-male Catholic high school. In 1948, Guam Bishop Apollinaris Baumgartner opened this Catho-lic minor seminary and high school at Tai which was named in honor of Father Jesus B. Duenas. It is near this site that Father Duenas was murdered by Japanese soldiers near the end of World War II.

Infant of Prague Nursery & KindergartenInfant of Prague is located between Fa-

ther Duenas Memorial School and the Sis-ters of Mercy Convent in Tai. In 1951, the Nursery was built by the Sisters of Mercy of Guam and led by Sr. Mary Redempta Thomas.

Ordot-Chalan Pago Elementary SchoolOrdot-Chalan Pago Elementary is locat-

ed down the street from San Juan Bautista Catholic Church and St. Thomas Aquinas High School on Judge Sablan Street. The school was built in 1997 and is known as the “Home of the Ants,” the school’s mascot.

Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey ChurchThis Chalan Pago Catholic church was

dedicated on December 25, 1959. It was con-structed with the assistance of Naval Chap-lain Father Richard Thomas Peeters and the Navy Seabees. The village fiesta is celebrat-ed on the third week of January.

San Juan Bautista

San Juan Bautista ChurchOrdot’s Catholic church was a mission

chapel of Sinajana until 1974. The Capuchin Order of Guam members, Frs. Kieran Hick-ey, Robert Phelps and Randolph Nowak and DePaul Guerrero helped improve the pres-ent structure of the church. Currently the church is under the order of the Archdiocese of Guam.

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High SchoolSt. Thomas Aquinas High School is lo-

cated next to the San Juan Bautista Catho-lic Church in Ordot. Chartered in 2008, St. Thomas Aquinas is an Archdiocesan Catho-lic co-educational college preparatory high school. The school is named after Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of chastity, learn-ing, students, theologians, Catholic acad-emies, schools and universities.

Sanctuary, Inc.Sanctuary is a non-profit organization es-

tablished more than thirty years ago to help the island’s troubled youth. Since its found-ing, Sanctuary has expanded its mission, facility and programs, providing invalu-able assistance for youth and their families throughout the Island community.

Island Community ChurchThe Island Community Church is located

on Chalan Peskadot in Tai, across Route 10 from Father Duenas Memorial High School. The church was founded in May 2004.

This is a reprint from Guampedia.com, an online resource about Guam history and the CHamoru people, used here with permission.

Temple Christian School

See more of what Guam has to offer at:

GUAM.STRIPES.COM


A s a swimmer, I’ve al-ways felt at home in the ocean. But Phuket,

of visitors and too many boat businesses had led to the buildup of marine debris, damaged coral, and a disrup-tion in the balance of wildlife and natural habitats. A pause on human visitors has brought out rare sea turtles to nest in record numbers on empty beaches, and the manatee-like creatures called dugongs have been spotted in typically boat-riddled shallows. That means Phuket will be its most beau-tiful self whenever we can re-turn.

When the time comes, of course I’ll hit up some of my local favorites -- but I’ll also indulge in the singularly lux-urious spots that have given Phuket its prime position at the top of many bucket lists. Here’s how to nail the best of both worlds.

Even as a native Thailand-er, I find the food served from southern kitchens akin to the old ghost pepper challenge-it flexes your spicy taste recep-tors until they’re numb and tingly. Besides being unapolo-getically hot, it’s also rich and decadent: think pork kua kling, a spicy dish spiked with kaffir lime leaves and curry paste, or the stir-fried bitter beans with shrimp paste called sataw pad kapi.

I tend to order both at Raya, my favorite restaurant on the island. It’s set inside a cen-tury-old house in Phuket Old Town -- an unassuming spot that you could easily pass by and never notice, with a geo-metric tiled floor and black-and-white photos on its walls. It’s not air-conditioned, so on a hot day, I’ll head to the nearby Tu Kab Khao instead. Located

in a colonial building with coffered ceilings and Murano chandeliers, it focuses on pret-tied-up versions of family reci-pes such as stir-fried pork leg with salted krill and stir-fried pumpkin with dried shrimp and shrimp paste.

Charter a boat for a day from Phuket, as it’s possible to explore the many islands of the Andaman Sea. Head a few hours northwest to find the Similan Islands, an archipela-go of 11 islets that are ringed by crystal-clear waters in-habited by neon coral, turtles and reef sharks. To the east are Thailand’s famous Phi Phi Islands and the less-visited Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, which offer secluded beaches and pristine coves.

On Phuket itself, there’s much more to do than whil-ing the day away under the sun. Old Phuket Town, with its brightly colored Portuguese-inspired buildings, has long been dismissed as overly run-down. But the area has been experiencing a renaissance: Historic buildings have been restored and turned into cafes, restaurants, and shops. Enor-mous, colorful murals now coat previously crumbling fa-cades. Most nights of the week, the streets are lined with ven-dors who simmer traditional dishes, be it pots of rice and pork rib soup or bowls of stir-fried noodles with eggs.

Just a short cab ride away is Chalong Bay Rum Distill-ery, where small-batch rum is made from organic Thai sug-arcane. Go in the afternoon for a two-hour cocktail work-shop; you’ll learn about the artisanal process

the salty breeze, you can hear the rustling of tropical forests right off the coast. Vendors sell just-cracked coconuts sloshing over with fresh juice. Point in any land-bound direction, and within a few miles you’ll find the world’s best beach resorts, gracious hospitality, and restaurants that vary from street food stalls to a Michelin-starred dining room. It’s the best of all worlds, somehow squeezed onto a picturesque island that’s just a puddle-hop flight from my home in Bang-kok.

Even an “up and down” one-hour flight feels impossibly far away at this time. While some of Thailand’s provinces haven’t reported a single case of COVID-19, Phuket has be-come the country’s biggest hot spot. The island, which once received about a million tour-ists each month, is now de-serted. And the government is forecasting that tourism won’t reignite until a vaccine emerg-es, which could take well more than a year.

But Phuket remains my mental refuge. Bangkok, like many other locked-down cities with its compact living spaces, isn’t meant for a quarantined lifestyle. When I open my win-dows in my downtown apart-ment, I’m greeted by construc-tion noises and rooftops of neighboring buildings rather than blue water and the sound of chirping birds. Life, in other words, is not a beach.

Until I can get back safely to Phuket, I’ll relish one sil-ver lining about its current quietude. In recent years the island was suffering from overtourism; huge numbers

a place I’ve visited more than a dozen times since childhood, is where I find stillness. The ocean laps calmly, and when you close your eyes to feel

BY RANDY THANTHONG-KNIGHT, BLOOMBERG

Thailand’s Phuketbeckons whentravel resumes

Tourists take a selfie at Patong Beach in 2018 in Phuket, Thailand. The island is quiet now, as are most hot tourist destinations worldwide. Photo by Taylor Weidman, Bloomberg

Stripes Guam is A Stars and Stripes Community Publication. This newspaper is authorized for publication by the Department of Defense for members of the military services overseas. However, the contents of Stripes Guam are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense or the U.S. Pacific Command. As a DOD newspaper, Stripes Guam may be distributed through official channels and use appropriated funds for distribution to remote and isolated locations where overseas DOD personnel are located. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement of those products by the Department of Defense or Stars and Stripes. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.

Catriona Her big baby eyes tell you that all she wants is to be cradled in your arms! Catriona is a chihuahua mix, so she’s pocket sized, and ready to be adored by a loving human.


Stripes Sports TriviaSAY MY NAME! Where do I start? The fact that I’m a 5-time NBA champ is almost as interesting as my life off the court. After being selected near the end of the 2nd round of the 1986 NBA draft, I played for 5 teams and have lived quite the life. One that includes piercings, tattoos, acting, Madonna, wrestling, dresses and world politics. Who am I?

Dennis RodmanAnswer

ACROSS1 Garden party?5 Unfair treatment,

with "the"10 Lily plant14 Soft drink choice15 Cold-weather

drink16 Contend with17 Skipper's spot18 2006 animated

film with a bear named Boog

20 Recluse22 Like a job with

no future23 Wander (about)24 Dissect, in a

way25 Kind of heel29 Thompson of

"Sense and Sensibility"

32 Historic time33 Perth natives,

e.g. 2 Take-charge 30 "Coyote Ugly" 50 Close call37 Ladder step type actress 52 Wipes out, mob-39 Conductor's 3 Loyalty 31 Uneasy state style

wand 4 Bear or hare, 34 Learning style 53 Staircase part40 Mythological ship e.g. 35 Auth. unknown 54 Copter's 41 Gas pedal 5 Sean Connery, 36 Vague amount forerunner44 Suffix with for one 38 French police- 55 Swamp thing

"ideal" 6 Be optimistic man 56 Catch a glimpse45 Bingo's cousin 7 Big club 42 Off one's rocker 57 Tori who sang 46 Produce 8 "Mister Roberts" 43 Monthly "A Sorta 48 Use a divining star expense, for Fairytale"

rod 9 Shocking some 58 Motown Four51 Apprehend weapon 47 Least cooked 60 Grazing locale52 Like some 10 The scholarly 49 Broom Hilda, e.g.

vegetables world55 Quiet place 11 Jack's love in 59 Grimm specialty "Titanic"61 One of the 12 In the know

Muppets about62 Mattress option 13 Patch up63 Despicable sort 19 Painter's prop64 Unappetizing 21 Noodle

food concoction?65 Gin flavor 24 Thick stew66 Intoxicating 25 "Will be", in a 67 Get rid of Doris Day song

26 Highway haulerDOWN 27 IV part

1 Stomach woe 28 Peter, e.g.

Biweekly Crossword - Week of 6/8/20

Crossword by Margie E. Burke

Copyright 2020 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Answers to Previous Crossword:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44

45 46 47

48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55 56 57 58

59 60 61

62 63 64

65 66 67

T H I S C A M P S H A Z EH O N K O L I V E A R I DA N T I P O D C A S T I N GT E R N O U R F O R A G E

A D J U D I C A T EU N S E A T F A R D A T EN O T E D A F T E R P I XD I A P E R S T R A M P L EE S T D E C A Y V I L E RR E E D D O N D E S E R T

A B A T E M E N T SS P I R A L M E N R A F TL A S T R E S O R T E U R OO G L E R A N G E A C E RT E E D T W E E D T E E N

are shaded by beautiful para-sols and flanked by enormous gray boulders.

If nature is what you need, try a treetop villa at Keemala instead. The hillside resort is surrounded by lush rainforest and looks pulled out of a fanta-sy film set; some of the rooms are fashioned after birds nests, and from their plunge pools you can commune with chirp-ing cicadas and crickets.

For the ultimate in

seclusion, if that’s what re-mains on order in a post-lockdown world, there’s Como Point Yamu on Phuket’s quiet east side. Its turquoise-hued, glass-walled villas face the bay, which means any photo you take pointing outwards will be blue-on-blue-on-blue. Included in its amenities are a boat that takes you to a private beach club on nearby Naka Yai Island -- perfect for kayaking and paddle boarding -- and a 100-meter-long infinity pool facing the vast sea and its many limestone islands.

As I daydream about Phuket, I’m planning on sup-porting Soi Dog Foundation, which rescues dogs from the meat trade and helps find them homes abroad. With interna-tional flights grounded, the or-ganization will need more help than ever to provide food and medical support for the ani-mals in its care.

while roaming a sun-drenched plantation.

From the thatched-roof open-air dining room, you’ll also learn to make a few drinks, including a Thai twist on the caipirinha that’s flavored with red chile. (They call it the spi-cyrinha.)

When it comes to hotels in Phuket, there’s no sense in go-ing off the beaten path. The is-land is home to some of the best resorts in the world, including the very first feather in Aman’s glorious cap. Opened in 1988, Amanpuri has 44 villas with private pools and 40 pavilions spread out on a former coco-nut plantation, each adorned with traditional Thai arts in-cluding decorative bowls and Buddhist ornaments. Not only is it a coveted spot to rest your head at night, but the resort of-fers access to a private beach with ultra-fine sand and clear water, where the lounge chairs

On Phuket itself, there’s much more to do than whiling

the day away underthe sun.

Do you have an idea

for comics?

Email it to

[email protected]

om

Biweekly Sudoku - Week of 6/8/20

SUDOKU Edited by Margie E. Burke

Copyright 2020 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Difficulty: Medium HOW TO SOLVE:

Answers to Previous Sudoku:

Each row must contain the numbers 1 to 9; each column must

contain the numbers 1 to 9; and each set of 3 by 3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

2 89 6

7 65 8 3

3 4 77 2 1

5 92 9 6 13 1 2 8 7

8 5 3 7 4 2 1 6 96 7 2 3 1 9 5 8 49 1 4 5 8 6 3 7 22 3 8 4 7 1 6 9 57 4 6 9 3 5 8 2 11 9 5 6 2 8 4 3 74 8 9 2 5 3 7 1 63 2 7 1 6 4 9 5 85 6 1 8 9 7 2 4 3


COMICs CORNER

FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020Volume 7, No. 9 ©SS 2020

USS Theodore Roosevelt officially restarts patrol 2 months after coronavirus outbreak Page 2

Goodbye to GuamNavy Airman Matthew Malvas mans the rails as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt departs Apra Harbor, Guam .

PYOUNG K. YI/U.S. Navy

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S •PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM Friday, June 12, 2020

BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS

Stars and Stripes

The USS Theodore Roosevelt redeployed June 4 after a corona-virus outbreak on board that had sidelined the aircraft carrier at Naval Base Guam since March.

Sailors manned the rails “as a gesture of respect and admira-tion for the people of Guam for their support and hospitality over the last two months” as the ship left the island, the carrier’s com-mander, Capt. Carlos Sardiello, said in a Facebook post .

“We owe them all a debt of gratitude that words cannot express,” he said.

The carrier was patrolling the Western Pacific when it diverted to Guam on March 26 after sev-eral of its sailors tested positive for the coronavirus. Over the fol-lowing weeks, more than 1,150 of the Roosevelt’s 4,800 crewmem-bers became infected, according to the Navy.

One Roosevelt sailor died from the virus, according to the Navy.

The aircrew returned to sea two weeks ago for carrier flight qualifications before the ship went back to Guam to retrieve the remaining sailors who were medically cleared to re-embark, Sardiello wrote in the post.

“To this date, since returning TR to sea two weeks ago, we con-tinue to sail and operate with no

return of the virus onboard,” he said. “The Rough Riders and our families’ tenacity and resiliency in the face of uncertainty has been put to the test and met the challenge.”

Sailors still battling the coronavirus were left behind, where “they will continue to be cared for ashore until all are recovered, while we remain on mission,” Sardiello said.

“Now it is time to continue to protect our ability to do our mission and protect our sailors’ health,” he added. “We have returned Theodore Roosevelt to sea as a symbol of hope and inspiration, and an instrument of national power.”

Sardiello took over for Capt. Brett Crozier, the carrier’s former commander, when then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly removed Crozier from command in April.

The removal came after a let-ter Crozier had written to Navy higher-ups pleading for help for his crew was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle and picked up by worldwide media.

“The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating,” Crozier wrote March 30. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.”

Modly received backlash from sailors and lawmakers

for removing Crozier. Video of thousands of Roosevelt sailors chanting Crozier’s name as he walked off the carrier for the last time flooded social media.

Modly resigned about a week after removing Crozier when a recording of his speech to the Roosevelt’s crew criticizing the former skipper and calling him “stupid” was leaked to the public.

A report on the outbreak’s handling was turned in to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday last week. Crozier’s re-moval prompted an inquiry into the situation, which led Gilday to order a follow-on investigation.

Gilday’s office has not com-mented on the report but told media May 27 that Gilday will need time to review and endorse its contents. [email protected]: @CaitlinDoornbos

CHRISTOPHER BLACHLY/U.S. Navy

A sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt searches for surface contacts in the Philippine Sea, on June 3.

WILL BENNETT/U.S. Navy

The Theodore Roosevelt flies a replica of Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry’s Don’t Give Up the Ship flag in the Philippine Sea .

MILITARY

USS Roosevelt redeploys after virus outbreak

BY MATTHEW M. BURKE AND AYA ICHIHASHI

Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The Japanese government acknowledged last week that the relocation within Okinawa of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Camp Schwab in the rural north has been impeded by further construction delays and cost overruns.

The project, which had been set for completion in 2014 by bilateral agreement, has been pushed to 2030, a spokesman for the Okinawa Defense Bureau told Stars and Stripes on Friday. The overall cost of the new run-way into Oura Bay that will one day facilitate the move has sky-rocketed from a 2014 estimate of $3.3 billion to $8.7 billion.

The Defense Bureau, which represents Japan’s Defense Min-istry on the island, submitted the updated figures to the prefec-tural government April 21 along

with a request to change the already approved and ongoing project, the spokesman said. The prefecture has up to 223 days to

respond.“We estimate the construction

will be finished nine years and three months from the time the

Okinawa governor approves the request,” the spokesman said.

Government spokespeople in Japan customarily speak on con-dition of anonymity as a condi-tion of their employment.

Should Gov. Denny Tamaki, who has been adamantly op-posed to the project, deny the request, the case will be headed back to the courts, the spokes-man said. Estimates for cost and completion could also go up even further.

The relocation is being funded by the government of Japan.

“By law, when a request to modify the construction has been submitted to the prefecture, we must examine the request precisely and determine if the request is reasonable to approve or not,” Tamaki said in a state-ment in April.

Marine officials on Okinawa told Stars and Stripes by email Friday afternoon that the subject matter expert for the relocation was not available to comment.

Construction of the Schwab runway has been on hold since April 17 when a civilian security guard tested positive for corona-virus. A date to resume the work has not been set.

The project dates to 1995 when two Marines and a Navy corps-man kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old girl. During the mass protests that followed, Ginowan residents called for relocation of Futenma’s air operations.

Schwab was chosen in 1997 and a plan was unveiled in 2006. Since then, costs and completion dates have ballooned.

Last year, then-III Marine Ex-peditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Eric Smith extended the deadline for completion to 2025 or 2026 “or later.”

[email protected]: @[email protected]: @AyaIchihashi

Okinawa’s Marine airfield move delayed, over budget

Stars and Stripes

Landfill work for the construction of a Marine Corps runway at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, is seen in January 2020.

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • F3HIJKLM PAGE 3Friday, June 12, 2020

BY JAMES BOLINGER

Stars and Stripes

The world’s largest aircraft maker, reeling from evaporating demand for its planes during the coronavirus pandemic, nonethe-less scored a morale-boosting lift last week.

Boeing delivered the first of a planned fleet of 11 modified F/A-18E Super Hornets to the Navy’s Blue Angels demonstra-tion team June 3 , according to the company.

The aircraft will undergo flight testing and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, according to a press release on the company website.

“The Super Hornet is an iconic representation of excellence in naval aviation,” said Pat Walsh, a retired admiral and the vice president of U.S. Navy & Ma-rine Corps services for Boeing, according to the release. Walsh flew with the Blue Angels from 1985 to 1987 as the left wingman and slot pilot.

The Blue Angels now fly the F/A-18 Hornet. The Super Hornet that the team is moving to has major modifications, including an oil tank for the smoke-genera-tion system, fuel systems that enable the aircraft to fly inverted for extended periods of time, civilian-compatible navigation equipment, cameras and adjust-ments for the aircraft’s center of gravity.

Boeing plans to deliver the re-

maining Super Hornets this year.The Super Hornet can fly at

speeds up to Mach 1.6 (about 1,200 mph at sea level) and weighs 16 tons empty ; each of its twin engines generates 17,000 pounds of thrust, according to a Boeing fact sheet. During their performances the Blue Angels fly at speeds ranging from 120 mph to 700 mph (just below Mach 1).

The Blue Angels and their Air Force counterparts, the Thun-derbirds, are recruiting tools for their respective services. The teams paired up in late April for a series of flyovers at cities across the United States hard-hit by the coronavirus. The flyovers were meant as a tribute to essen-tial workers, first responders and health care workers in the front lines of the pandemic.

The Navy acquired its first Super Hornets in 2001, according to Boeing.

The company has contracts to refit and extend the lives of Super Hornets already in service. In March 2019, it received a defense contract worth $4 billion to build 78 more for the fleet.

“As Boeing continues to sup-port the operational fleet of Navy Super Hornets,” Walsh said in the release , “ we are excited to see this platform enter a critical phase of its journey to joining the team.” [email protected]: @bolingerj2004

Blue Angels receive modified Super Hornets

Boeing

The first F/A-18 Super Hornet for the Navy’s Blue Angels demonstration team was delivered for testing and evaluation June 3 .

MILITARY

BY HANA KUSUMOTO

Stars and Stripes

TOKYO — A group of fireworks aficionados in northern Japan is planning synchronized, nation-wide fireworks displays this summer to show ap-preciation and support for fireworks makers and to lift people’s spirits amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The nonprofit organization, whose name trans-lates to “the association that loves Japanese fireworks,” is from Daisen city, Akita prefecture. Daisen is the home of the Omagari fireworks festi-val, one of the largest fireworks festivals in Japan.

As of June 1, 81 firework companies from 29 prefectures had signed onto the nationwide event, according to the group’s crowdfunding website. The group asked firework makers that take part in the Omagari fireworks to participate.

The firework makers will either set off fireworks in their prefecture or send them to Omagari for the display there or do both, the organization’s secretary, Tomohiro Mogamiya, said in a phone interview .

“We have been cheered up by fireworks,” the group’s website says. “It’s our turn to cheer up fire-works manufacturers and the fireworks industry by shooting off fireworks.”

The group is soliciting donations to pay for the event through the crowdfunding site Fan Akita. It is accepting donations through July 10.

A date for the nationwide event has not yet been set. The group originally planned not to publicize the nationwide fireworks displays to avoid crowds

gathering. However, that plan presented potential problems,

such as scared pets and inconvenience for the hear-ing impaired. The group may change its approach but is still working out the details, Mogamiya said.

The organization is made up of individuals and groups, including firework makers, and aims to deepen understanding of the Japanese tradition and art of fireworks, according to the group’s website.

Many firework makers have lost business op-portunities this year as many fireworks displays and festivals are being canceled to prevent large gatherings that could lead to further spread of the coronavirus. The Japanese government is still discouraging large gatherings.

Also, the manufacturers are allowed to store only a certain number of fireworks, so if they do not use them, they can’t make new ones, Mogamiya said.

“We wanted to create an opportunity [for fire-work makers] to display fireworks,” Mogamiya said.

The group also hopes to cheer up health care providers and those who are sticking with an incon-venient lifestyle that comes with restricting the virus’ spread.

“It’s probably the first time for people to experi-ence summer without fireworks,” Mogamiya said. “We hope everyone will cheer up by watching the fireworks.” [email protected]: @HanaKusumoto

Japanese fireworks group plans nationwide displays to lift spirits

Pixabay

A nonprofit group from northern Japan is planning nationwide fireworks displays this summer aimed at lifting spirits during the coronavirus pandemic.

BY HANA KUSUMOTO

Stars and Stripes

TOKYO — Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea in Chiba prefec-ture will remain closed despite the lifting of a state of emer-gency to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The parks will reopen when “external and internal conditions

have been readied,” accord-ing to a statement on the parks’ websites. Park management will consider the government’s re-quest to ease out of their closures in phases.

Tokyo Disneyland and Disney-Sea have both been closed since Feb. 29.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios

Japan in Osaka announced that it will resume operations on June 19. It also closed Feb. 29.

“This comes as Japan lifts its state of emergency and a call for the closure of large-scale facili-ties,” the park’s website stated.

Admission to Universal Studios Japan will be limited to residents of Osaka and five

surrounding prefectures, but also season pass holders who live outside that area.

Annual pass holders from Osaka may register for park ad-mission through June 18, before the general opening. The park will also offer special admission for residents of Osaka prefecture who are not regular pass holders

from June 15-18.Visitors will be asked to wear

face masks in the park, cooper-ate with temperature screenings at the entrance, disinfect their hands often while in the park and maintain social distancing, the website said.

[email protected]: @HanaKusumoto

Tokyo Disneyland to stay closed; Universal Japan will reopen June 19


BY KIM GAMEL AND YOO KYONG CHANG

Stars and Stripes

SEOUL, South Korea — The United States and South Korea agreed to a $200 million stopgap measure allowing more than 4,000 local base employees to return to work after months of unpaid leave, despite the allies’ failure to reach a broader defense cost-sharing deal.

The Pentagon said June 3 that it had accepted Seoul’s proposal to fund the labor costs for all South Korean employees of U.S. Forces Korea through the end of this year amid stalled talks on reaching a new contract known as the Special Measures Agreement.

“This decision effectively ends the partial furlough,” USFK commander Gen. Robert Abrams said in a separate state-ment. “We expect our entire workforce to return back to USFK within the next few weeks.”

The South Korean government, which has long suggested that the two sides settle the labor issue first, welcomed the deci-sion. “South Korea and the U.S. will make efforts to seal a defense cost-sharing deal as soon as possible,” the foreign ministry said.

The previous Special Measures Agree-ment expired Dec. 31 as the longtime allies deadlocked over U.S. demands that South Korea sharply increase the amount it pays to offset the costs for stationing some 28,500 American troops in the country.

USFK used programmed funds to keep South Korean employees at work for the first three months of the year but said those ran out on March 31, forcing the unprecedented furlough of half its local workforce.

Pak Song Chin, 54, who worked at the motor pool on Camp Humphreys, said he and many other furloughed workers found themselves ineligible for government loans and have been trying to make a living with part-time jobs.

“We have been going through a pretty tough time,” he said in a telephone inter-view. “We’re ready to get back to work.”

Cho Mi Kyong, a 45-year-old dining facility worker, agreed, saying the furlough has caused much emotional distress and financial hardship.

“Many of us were living hand to mouth even before we were furloughed,” she said. “Now we’re happy to hear this news today.”

The Pentagon had provided additional funds to maintain about 4,500 employees deemed essential for “life, health, safety and minimum readiness,” as well as criti-cal logistics contracts.

However, the furlough raised concerns about the military’s ability to maintain fighting capabilities and the delivery of services, which already had been ham-pered by restrictions to prevent the corona-virus’ spread.

“We all fully understood the impacts the partial furlough had on readiness and our ability to provide a robust combined de-fense posture, as well as the essential role

our Korean National employees provide to the (South Korean)-U.S. alliance,” Abrams said, acknowledging it’s a temporary measure.

“Today’s announcement presents a short-term solution for labor cost sharing, yet it still highlights the need for an overall Special Measures Agreement for the long term,” he said.

South Korea has supported U.S. troops under the Special Measures Agreement since 1991, with most of the funds used to pay for more than 9,000 local employ-ees, logistical support and construction projects.

The two countries also failed to meet the deadline in 2018 but agreed retroactively to a one-year compromise in which South Korea increased its contribution by 8.2% to nearly $1 billion.

President Donald Trump has frequently called South Korea “a very wealthy nation” and insisted it can afford to pay more in line with his “America First” policy. The negotiations with South Korea are seen as a test for upcoming alliance talks with Japan and NATO.

In April, South Korean Foreign Minis-ter Kang Kyung-wha said Seoul had put forward its best offer, which was a 13% increase. She also confirmed that Trump had rejected that amount, which was much lower than the nearly fivefold increase that was reportedly the U.S. starting point.

While polls show that overall support remains strong for the alliance, anti-American protests have erupted over the

cost-sharing talks, with activists accusing the Trump administration of trying to extort money and using American troops as “mercenaries.”

In its announcement, the Pentagon said the United States “has unilaterally shoul-dered the burden for all costs associated with U.S. forces in Korea,” including labor costs, logistics contracts, construction project design and oversight costs.

“Today’s decision will provide over $200 million in [South Korean] funding for USFK’s entire [Korean national] work force through the end of 2020,” it said, call-ing the move “a more equitable sharing” of the labor burden.”

The move also demonstrates the U.S. “commitment to readiness, to our Korean employees, and to the Alliance — the linch-pin of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” it added.

The Pentagon called on South Korea “to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible.

“The United States has shown consider-able flexibility in their approach to the SMA negotiations, and requests that [South Korea] does the same,” it said, warning that “critical defense infrastructure proj-ects will remain suspended” without a new special measures agreement.

“USFK’s mid- and long-term force readi-ness remains at risk,” the Pentagon [email protected]: @[email protected]

US, S. Korea reach deal to fund local base workers

BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The coronavirus is changing the way the Air Force handles service members’ moves to new duty stations, according to air-men at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.

Yokota is dealing with a backlog of permanent change of station, or PCS, moves that built up following a stop movement order announced by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in April and extended indefinitely.

The order includes waivers for such things as mission-essen-tial operations, so some service members are already on the move and officials are gear-ing up for more travel when it expires.

Yokota, which expects to transfer 600 service members and their families to other duty stations from now until Decem-ber, has changed its process to streamline moves and maintain social distancing.

Airmen from agencies deal-ing with issues such as hous-ing, flights, household goods shipment and finance gather in Yokota’s Airmen and Family Readiness Center three days a week.

Personnel with PCS orders pass through the center every 15 minutes, said Senior Airman Jac-queline Caraway, of San Antonio, Texas, a member of Yokota’s force support squadron, which is

helping run the process.“We created a one-stop shop

for members to process more efficiently and limit the contact they have with others,” she said.

In a normal PCS season, air-

men would visit offices all over the base to out-process, she said.

The support squadron’s personnel flight superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Ines Watkins, 40, of Panama, said a separate

task force is helping inbound personnel, who need to quaran-tine for 14 days on arrival.

“We have mitigated all the stress they have with PCSing in these unprecedented times,” she

said.The coronavirus has taught

the Air Force to improve the way it handles PCS moves, Watkins added.

“This is something we could do in the future,” she said. “It’s saving a lot of time that people can spend with their families.”

Yokota has been dealing with a surge in moves in recent weeks to catch up with people held up during March and April, accord-ing to the installation’s transport officer, Scott Cole, 50, of Osceola, Neb.

A decision to schedule moves two months later than normal means airmen and their families will still be changing duty sta-tions in September and October, months that are normally quiet, he said.

The support squadron superin-tendent, Chief Master Sgt. Jason Caros, 42, of Franklinville, N.Y., said the process is complicated by summer typhoon season in Japan, during which many tran-sient airmen arrive at Yokota.

Staff Sgt. Marko Zarraras, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, who was out-processing at the center , said things are running more smoothly than his last move.

Zarraras, a member of the De-fense Courier Service, is heading to Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

“You don’t have multiple appointments,” he said. “They should keep doing it this way.”[email protected]: @SethRobson1

MILITARY

USAF streamlines PCS processing at Yokota

‘ We created a one-stop shop for members to process more efficiently and limit the contact they have with others. ’

Senior Airman Jacqueline Caraway

THERON GODBOLD/Stars and Stripes

Staffers from the personal property office at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo help an airman set up the transfer of his household goods June 5 .


BY THERON GODBOLD Stars and Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Mysterious cans of Chef Bo-yardee Beefaroni recently began popping up outside residences and offices at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.

The unexpected 16-ounce bun-dles of macaroni, ground beef and tomato sauce come with yel-low sticky notes attached bearing handwritten messages like: You’ve been Beefaroni’d #Beef-aroniBandits #BeefaroniBan-ditsStrikeAgain #StayTuned.

This campaign of canned fri-volity is the work of five service members, spouses and civilians who spoke to Stars and Stripes by phone, but refused to reveal their identities. Their aim, they said during a group call , is to raise morale and have some fun during the ongoing restrictions aimed at reducing the coronavi-rus’ spread.

“It was spur of the moment and we didn’t expect it to take off,” said one of the Bandits, who dress in dark clothing and wear paper bags over their heads. “We started with our friends; we thought it was funny.”

The idea sprang from a Reddit post in which the author de-scribed pranking his best friend for a year by placing cans of Beefaroni in his mailbox and on

his doorstep. The Redditor described the

lengths to which he went to throw his friend off the trail. He concluded the prank by dress-ing as Chef Boyardee and telling his friend, “Your subscription to Chef Boyardee Beefaroni has ended. Would you like to renew?”

The story made its way to Facebook, where the Beefaroni Bandits found their inspiration.

Quite a few cans of Beefaroni have been donated to Yokota’s food pantry recently, volunteer Cristy McDaniel said . She said that such items are popular at the food bank, which is always accepting canned goods that are up to six months past expiration.

“I think it breaks the mo-notony,” McDaniel said of the Beefaroni Bandits. “With [the

coronavirus restrictions], it brings a little bit of comedy to the situation.”

Yokota has been under a public health emergency declared by 374th Airlift Wing commander Col. Otis Jones on April 6. The restrictions, which limit travel by military and civilian person-nel to home and work and trips for essential services only, are scheduled to expire June 30.

The bandits said that they hope to reveal their identities at

an event that benefits Yokota’s food pantry once the emergency is lifted and life returns closer to normal.

The group, which has a Facebook page with about 80 members, expects to continue its campaign into the foreseeable future. Nearly 30 people have asked to be Beefaroni’d.

“We are not here to mess with people’s property or vandalize anything. We are all adults; we just like acting like children

sometimes,” one of the bandits said. “Stay tuned, because we are very far from done.”

The Chef Boyardee Co. has a previous military connec-tion. Founded in 1928 by Italian immigrant Hector Boiardi and his brothers, it provided canned rations to American troops dur-ing World War II. Boiardi sold the company not long after; it’s owned today by Conagra [email protected]: @GodboldTheron

‘Bandits’ spread smiles at Yokota one can at a time

BEEFARONI BANDITS

A Beefaroni Bandits member poses with cans of Beefaroni left outside the Stars and Stripes office at Yokota Air Base, Japan .

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY

Stars and Stripes

The Army will place enlisted female infantry and armor soldiers into its last nine all-male brigade combat teams after changing rules that required multiple women in unit leadership.

The service will integrate women into the BCTs over the rest of the year, Maj. Melissa Comiskey, chief of command poli-cy for the Army’s personnel office, said in a statement. Two other BCTs integrated women into their companies earlier this year, she said.

The moves come after the Army changed “leaders first” rules enacted three years ago that required infantry and armor companies to have two female of-ficers, or noncommissioned officers of the same job specialty, in each company that accepted junior enlisted women straight from initial-entry training.

A few female officers and NCOs chose to change their specialties and attend infantry or armor training, becoming the first leaders assigned to companies.

But the “inventory of infantry and armor women leaders is not as high as we have junior soldiers,” Comiskey said in the statement. “And their training pipeline is

longer.”The Service Women’s Action Network,

an advocacy group for female service members, criticized the policy from the outset, saying it limited where women could serve, put the onus of integration on female leaders and implied that male leaders could not lead or coach female soldiers.

The rule was relaxed last year to re-quire one female infantry or armor leader in each company, along with another woman of any job specialty, such as a sup-ply sergeant or signal NCO.

Now only one female officer or NCO will be required to be in companies that accept junior enlisted women, according to the statement.

Currently 601 women are in infantry career fields, attending training or in the accession pipeline. The armor career field has 568 women, including officers.

The director of the Army National Guard has also been given authority to lift the “leaders first” policy for battalions that have successfully integrated junior enlisted women into at least one of their [email protected]: @montgomerynance

Army to integrate women into its last all-male teams

TIMOTHY HAMLIN/U.S. Army

Army Sgt. Yulema Cortez, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, operates an M2 .50-caliber machine gun . The Army will place women into its last nine all-male brigade combat teams.

MILITARY

‘ We are not here to mess with people’s property or vandalize anything. We are all adults; we just like acting like children sometimes. ’

One of the Beefaroni Bandits


BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones began a summer rotation to the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo last month.

Photographs of one of the planes were posted on Yokota’s official website soon after it touched down.

“The rotation of the Global Hawks to Yokota provides a stable location from which the platform can operate when inclement weather in Guam, including typhoon activities, has the potential to hinder readiness,” the Air Force said in a caption accompanying the image.

Airmen from the 319th Opera-tions Group arrived at Yokota from Guam in phases ahead of the aircraft, 5th Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Helen An-

nicelli said in an email .Guam became a hot spot for

military coronavirus cases after the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier diverted there in March. More than 1,150 sailors, one of whom died, tested positive for the illness.

The airmen who arrived in Tokyo from the island completed the same 14-day restriction of movement required of all mili-tary personnel arriving in Japan in recent months, Annicelli said.

“Yokota Air Base continues to demonstrate it is one of the best locations to safely receive and privately house military members in a controlled envi-ronment,” she said. “While we cannot discuss the specific secu-rity measures, both the medical and security plans in place are designed to ensure the full integ-rity of ROM procedures.”

Sailors from Navy bases in Japan have been isolated at Yokota ahead of their deploy-

ments. Some of the sailors and staff supporting them in isolation tested positive for coronavirus last month, according to the Air Force.

In addition to supporting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements, the Global Hawk has provided imagery during humanitarian-

assistance and disaster-relief operations, such as Operation Tomodachi, the U.S. military response to the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

The Northrop Grumman-built drones, which can cost $100 mil-lion depending on configuration, are thought to be capable of oper-

ating at an altitude of 60,000 feet, high above civilian air traffic, which normally does not surpass 40,000 feet. They can stay aloft for 34 hours and have a range of 14,000 miles.

[email protected]

Twitter: @SethRobson1

BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

Sailors at Sasebo Naval Base toasted each other in a make-shift, outdoor beer garden late last month, marking a return to social drinking for troops in Japan after months of coronavi-rus restrictions.

Off-base bars and clubs in Japan have been off-limits and base watering holes have been closed since mid-April, when U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider de-clared a public health emergency for all U.S. military installations there.

On May 29, however, Sasebo sailors were able to make merry in a beer garden next to the base’s shuttered enlisted Galax-ies Club.

One of the first sailors to imbibe was Petty Officer 1st Class Leonexon Rodriguez, 38, of Brooklyn, N.Y., a logistics specialist on the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay.

“The last time I went to the pub was before we went under-way,” he said by phone from the beer garden. “We left at the beginning of January and got back in April.”

Since then, with bars and restaurants closed or off-limits, Rodriguez has stuck to a routine of going between his home and workplace, he said.

The sailors enjoyed the chance

to drink beer in a social setting, he said.

“I see lot of the guys,” he said. “We are yelling to each other because of the music.”

The amphibious assault ship USS America, the Green Bay and the minesweepers USS Warrior, USS Chief, USS Patriot and USS

Pioneer are all in port, according to Scott Poluhowich, the Morale, Welfare and Recreation director at Sasebo.

“Our ships are coming back and these guys are looking for a chance to get off the ships,” he said.

Many of the sailors are sleep-

ing on the ships because the onshore accommodation they’d normally stay in is being used to quarantine other sailors before they head to out sea, he said.

“They’re looking for a chance to get off the ships, but the clubs are closed, and the restaurants are only doing takeaways,” he

said.A tour in Naples, Italy, and

several visits to Germany gave Poluhowich some good ideas about what a beer garden should look like.

The Sasebo beer garden, in a parking lot, included tables that allow sailors to spread out with beer on tap and “DJ Yoshi” play-ing requests from the crowd, he said.

The sailors could fill up on brisket burgers and Italian sausage sandwiches while they drank from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Poluhowich said.

“We have the tables marked off and we will be watching to make sure they are 6 feet apart,” he said.

The naval base has reported only one coronavirus case in its military community. Nagasaki prefecture, where the base is located, had reported 17 cases by Friday, according to Nippon.com.

But base officials have taken a cautious approach, and personnel are still prohibited from doing much off-base.

The beer garden will be open weekends until regular facilities get the green light, Poluhowich said.

“We are trying to take advan-tage of the next couple of weeks before rainy season kicks in,” he [email protected]: @SethRobson1

Global Hawks begin summer rotation in Tokyo

JUAN TORRES/U.S. Air Force

An RQ-4 Global Hawk from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, arrived at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, on May 30.

SHIRLEY TATTO/U.S. Navy

Sailors at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, demonstrate social distancing at a beer garden that opened outside the base enlisted club Friday .

Sasebo sailors toast each other at new outdoor beer garden

MILITARY


BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS

Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Donning masks and sitting on lawn chairs and picnic blankets six feet apart, about 150 churchgoers gathered under an outdoor pavilion near Yokosuka Naval Base’s ballpark recently for the first in-person Christian worship services in 12 weeks.

Across Japan, U.S. mili-tary chapels ceased in-person religious services in March to prevent the coronavirus’s spread. U.S. military chaplains have been working since to meet the religious needs of the service members and civilians stationed here amid a pandemic.

Yokosuka’s Chapel of Hope suspended in-person services March 16. On March 27, the base issued a shelter-in-place order that continues to keep service members, civilian workers, contractors and families iso-lated from those outside their household.

That changed May 31, when five of Yokosuka’s 11 religious communities held in-person services modified to prevent the coronavirus’s spread. Each of the programs — four Protestant

services and a Catholic Holy Communion offering — was well-attended, the base’s senior chaplain, Capt. Philip King, said in an email to Stars and Stripes .

“They came out in bigger numbers than we expected, and did their best to observe the mitigation guidelines, despite the palpable exhilaration of sharing in worship together again as a community,” King said.

There were no handshakes, hugs or fellowship. Services were held outdoors — on soccer fields and under picnic pavilions — families sat six feet away from one another. There was no sing-ing either, as it could have spread the nose and mouth droplets that carry the virus into the air.

Some of the larger faith groups are instead still holding wor-ship opportunities online. For instance, while Catholics offered Holy Communion, Mass was still celebrated virtually.

It’s unclear when a return to more traditional religious servic-es will be possible, but the chapel at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa took a step toward normalcy when services were offered in-doors. Pews were marked to en-sure proper social distancing and Bibles were removed to prevent the virus’s spread, according to the chapel’s Facebook page.

The pandemic has “forced [chaplains] to adapt and embrace technology,” in part by stream-ing regular religious services live online, said U.S. Forces Japan Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Dale Marlowe in a May 21 interview with Stars and Stripes.

Military chapels have also gotten creative with establishing safe opportunities to worship. For example, Naval Air Facil-ity Atsugi chaplains have been producing online resiliency and workout videos to keep spirits

high, and the Misawa Air Base chapel held a “park and praise” drive-in style Christian music concert.

“Though we’re physically dis-tant how do we connect socially?” Marlowe said. “It’s not good for people to be alone. That does take a general toll on people. We’re relational people.”

Chaplains have also been using video chats, the telephone and limited physically distant in-per-son exchanges to counsel those experiencing stress, grief and anxiety associated with corona-virus isolation, Marlowe said.

“There has been more of a need of people wanting to talk to chaplains through this time,” he said.

Still, some who came to the live services in Yokosuka said that there’s no true substitute for worshipping together as a congregation.

“This has been a godsend, especially with the chaos in the world,” said Navy spouse Lori Ann Chavez-Garcia, choking back tears. “This is an essential service. I consider it as essential as food and water.”

King likened the break from in-person services to the spiri-tual practice of fasting.

“Fasting can be arduous, and during this time of fear and uncertainty with the pandemic, going without a life-sustaining act like public worship has been especially difficult,” he said.

King said that while the online services provide opportunities for private devotions, returning to public worship, even in a miti-gated form, “has been an oasis in a desert.”

[email protected]: @CaitlinDoornbos

US bases in Japan resuming in-person worship services

CAITLIN DOORNBOS/Stars and Stripes

Navy spouse Lori Ann Chavez-Garcia prays with other churchgoers during an outdoor service at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan .

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© Stars and Stripes, 2020

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

A special operations airman was awarded a Bronze Star for his work on a battlefield surgical team during the fight against Is-lamic State , as the terrorists lost the last of their territory.

Over the course of a six-month deployment in early 2019, Staff Sgt. Johnathan Randall provided surgical care for 644 combat casualties, assisted in 16 damage control surgeries, 46 resuscitations and 70 advanced procedures “at the most forward point of combat operations,” the military said last month.

One moment that stood out was during a counterattack in an un-disclosed location, where he and his special operations surgical team stabilized and evacuated 51 blast and gunshot wound casual-ties at a forward staging point, while under constant threat of small arms and mortar fire.

Randall was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievements May 20 in a small ceremony at Hurlburt Field in Florida. He described it as “humbling.”

The surgical technician is as-signed to the 720th Operational Support Squadron and part of a team that falls under the 24th Special Operations Wing.

The deployment from January to June of last year was Randall’s first. It came as the U.S.-backed forces in Syria continued heavy fighting to root out ISIS from the

last areas under their control. Iraqi forces supported by the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Re-solve were also still battling the group, as it mounted an insur-gency in that country.

“We enable our allies to stay in the fight,” Randall said. “They know they have that American team that’s going to take care of them, we’re moving with them and we would be right there... We built a bond.”

They performed surgeries in buildings and vehicles on the battlefield, the award citation said. Randall and the other team members, who couldn’t attend the ceremony due to coronavirus prevention measures, did “amaz-ing work” in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, said Lt. Col. James Webb, Special Opera-tions Surgical Team director of operations.

“Damage control resuscitation and surgery are challenging even in the most ideal situations, but to perform at such a high level in the most extreme environments, hours forward of the closest hospitals, is a testament to the mental and physical fortitude of him and his team,” Webb said in the statement.

Randall, who joined the Air Force in 2012 and quickly made joining a special operations surgical team his goal, said it was “surreal” to be so effective as part of a small team of six people.

“It’s the dream job,” he [email protected] Twitter: @chadgarland

Airman awarded Bronze Star for service in Syria

ROSE GUDEX/U.S. Air Force

Staff Sgt. Johnathan Randall, Special Operations Surgical Team member assigned to the 720th Operational Support Squadron, received the Bronze Star Medal for his actions while deployed in 2019.

MILITARY

see pages 8-10 · 2020-06-12 · add cake flour (150g) and baking powder (a small spoonful), or...

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