Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Wow, amazing pictures. I'm loving this stuff.

I didn't realize we had ground troops in Japan. I guess the bombing campaign didn't work out.

We have thousands of Marines stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Overall, the country (gov't and people) are very friendly to the troops. The people you see there are on a small island south of the mainland Japan. I think it's that they don't like all the loud thunderous BOOMS that are a result of us being there.

Yeah, generally local civilian populations don't like having gunnery test ranges in their back yards... I was in Puerto Rico just before the Naval range off Vieques finally got shut down, it was much the same response. Its not that the Japanese hate American troops, they're probably just sick of hearing artillery fire over their morning tea and paper.

Explains my question on your part 1 of this story, Japan can get fucking cold.

question is though, why are US marines in japan?

Because North Korea was even colder and Vietnam was too hot, but Japan was juuuuust right.

We were originally in Japan post WWII, but have since established several large bases there (the island of Okinawa) because of it's strategic advantage. The entire 3rd Marine division is in Okinawa (there's only three, 1st in CA and the 2nd in NC)
They might also not like us because of the location - find Oita, Japan on a map. Then find Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Absolutely fascinated by this series. It's great to see such intimate and informative images. Keep 'em coming.

Wonderful pictures. It's nice to see your face. I had the impression you were no longer an active marine, is that wrong (can I assume, if not, that you are in the reserves)?

Can we have a similar series on what corrections officers do?

I could be talking horse crap (correct me if i am) but is there not some agreement in the region which restricts Japans military as after WW2 a lot of neighbors did not look fondly on having an expansionist neighbor (Germany had something similar i believe). So you have post WW2 peace keepers (parallels to iraq today) then the regional strategic advantage what with the nearness of NK, China, etc, the Taiwan/China situation, Japan wanting security without having an aggression capable military...

If i am smoking something, I'm sure I'll get told.

From what I remember, there was a 5-5-3 agreement between the England, the U.S. and Japan. That means for every five tons of naval equipment we have, they are allowed three. I'm not really sure if that's still in effect today, though.
And oxdottir, I am out, but in the inactive reserves.

Being UK, I'm even less aware of how much action the US is calling on their service men to make (although I have a little idea re UK, as Ive a Step Cousin who's currently in Afghanistan somewhere. Where being a security secret.) but does that mean you have Zero chance of being recalled into the current theater, or just very slim or?

I think my brother put it right when he said:
"please note that asterisk

* we reserve the right to own your ass for the next 4 years should we feel the need to recall you for other bullshit wars that are waged without premise or legally justified. we hold no responsibility to care for or otherwise pay for damages you sustain while providing services for the United States of America."

Only I have three years, not four.
Chances are very little that I will get recalled, and even if I do, I'm most likely to fill in a job on base somewhere that was vacated when a unit deployed.

I think you've just about got it right Thylan, and MGR, about the restrictions on Japan. Also, up until very recently, they were forbidden from engaging in military actions outside of their own country- in fact, their army is actually called the 'Self Defense Forces' to make it clear to one and all that there will be no Pearl Harbor.2.

Only recently, in 2004, did they deploy abroad as a military force, and this was at the request of the US. They joined in the occupation of Iraq as one of the 'Coalition of the Willing' (nice little token for the Bush Administration to have as many industrialized first world nations on there as possible), it made big news at the time, as this was the first real military action the Japanese army participated in since WW2. But if I recall correctly it was mainly a token force that was sent, and mostly they guarded bases in Kuwait.

And here's hoping you don't get re-upped MGR, or if you do, that there's a nice cushy base job waiting for you in some warm sunny lower 48 state close to home.

There was quite a bit of hub-bub in the media about a local girl who was raped by a U.S. soldier in Okinawa back in the mid nineties. I remember that incident firing up the Japanese lobbyists for the removal of the base then.

of course the soldier was unpunished, I guess

That's just an ignorant thing to say, looris. The military justice system is swift and harsh. They got their asses handed to them.

Actually, you wouldn't belive how many time this doesn't happen, I was suspecting that.

When I have time I'll write more about it and I'd like very much to know what you think (but for now I'm too busy for that).

The Japs using an isolated incident, to justify selfish desire....I'm sure no Japanese soldier ever raped anyone.... Chinese???


Poo poo on anyone bringing up similar incidents, on this post-a diversion at best, and a low-blow, out of context jab, ad nauseum. How did we get from the "everyday as a gunrock," to ISOLATED SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS B/T CIVS AND U.S. SOLDIERS??? Answer: Some folks who live in denial of the paradigm they find themselves in, use a universally acceptable example of man's inhumanity to man, (rape, in this case), in order to justify their idyllic, fantasies.

No different than Code Pink, and their tunnel-reality, bitter, spoiled-brat tactics.

Gunrock, yer head still shaped like a jar?? Don't ever soften up mate, get harder!!!

For what it's worth, the soldiers in the Okinawa incident did get convicted... 7 years each in a Japanese Prison, which although they certainly did not get a pass, it seems like a light sentence, considering the average sentence in the U.S. is about 9 years (but the average time served is only about 5 and half years... much much too lenient in my opinion... as rape is just about the worst thing one can do to a woman, and considering the girl in Okinawa was 12... well, let's just hope the Japanese prison they ended up in was a considerably rougher place than the average American jail.