Marine Corps Ball - HOORAH!

Last night, Leora and I went to our first Marine Corps Ball.  We've been to a few Chaplain Corps balls, and I went to the Dental Corps Ball once.  But there is nothing quite as motivating as being in a room of 600 super-motivated (alcohol is possibly involved) Marines, in their dress uniforms.  

We walk in the door, and people start wishing us "Happy Birthday!"  There is pomp and circumstance.  The colors (flags) are marched into the rooms.  Sword salutes.  A proclamation by the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps.  A cake is marched in.  The oldest Marine and the youngest Marine eat from it (very "l'dor vador").

Pictures are below, but I want to share with you the invocation I delivered as the Battalion Chaplain (the Marines clapped and cheered, at the end).

Two hundred thirty-seven years ago tonight, they gathered in Tun Tavern; and we were there.

They were called and they stormed the shores of Tripoli; and we were there.

They broke down the gates of Mexico city - into the Halls of Montezuma; and we were there.

They outlasted and won the day at Guadalcanal; and we were there.

They raised the flag at Iwo Jima; and we were there.

They overcame incredible odds at Saipan, Peleilu, Guam, Tarawa, and Okinawa; and we were there.

In the rivers and deltas of Vietnam; and we were there.

In the deserts and mountains of Iraq and Afghanistam; and we were there.

We were there.

We are there.

Almighty God, we invoke your presence here with us.

Eternal God, who connects the generations one to another, bless the Marines of the 9th Engineer Support Battalion; together with their brothers and sisters - the Marines and Officers who make up the United States Marine Corps.

As we strive to serve our great country with HONOR, COURAGE, and COMMITMENT, we ask that you lift us up on EAGLE's wings; Protect us as we serve around the GLOBE; and be our ANCHOR when we begin to drift.

Adonai Ish Milchama - our ever vigilant protector - 

Bless the CO, the officers and leaders of this battalion with your wisdom.

Support those who support all - the equipment operators and maintainers, the water dogs and the gen-techs.

Drive our bulk fuelers to greatness.

Motivate our combat engineers to further excellence.

Protect our EOD Marines, even as they continue their deployments into harm's way.

Lord who creates and destroys.

Be with the Marines of 9th ESB, as we build it, bridge it, or blow it up!

TODAY, WE CELEBRATE THE 237^TH BRITHDAY OF THE WORLDS MOST ELITE FIGHTING FORCE,  WE PRAY THAT WE MAY CONTINUE TO EMBODY THE NOBLE SPIRIT OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS – SEMPER FIDELIS – ALWAYS FAITHFUL.

And together, we say Amen.

Like those killer stripes at the bottom of my sleeve?  That's because on top of everything else, I got promoted this week.  On a side note, Leora looks awesome.

Ladies, meet RP3 Worth.
Me and My Religious Program Specialist (Petty Officer 3d Class) - the guy who shoots for me and protects me.

March on the colors!

This is the Marine pageantry that I'm talking about.

March on the cake!

Happy Birthday to you.  Happy Birthday to you.  Happy Birthday, dear Marine Corps.  Happy Birthday to you!
(and yes, there was one drunk platoon-sized singing of "Happy Birthday")

Formation around the cake!
(oldest and youngest Marines take their place for the tasting)

Adjutant reading the order to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday

Happy Birthday!

coming soon...

Yoni is busy working on his invocation for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball (yes, you read that right) we're attending tomorrow night. As he has no time to post now, he promises to report on the Ball on Sunday. Shabbat Shalom!

sandy

What a strange time to be away from New York.

As I have mentioned here before, every year from May to November Okinawa is in a heightened state of weather preparedness. We are constantly made aware of the weather condition, and the likelihood that a storm will pass within 72 hours. Storms are tracked and posted about (often ad nauseum) on Facebook. We bring in the chairs and the BBQ from the porch and put them back out sometimes multiple times each week. Some of the storms that we prepare for come, and some don’t, but either way, extreme weather is part of the spring/summer/fall state of mind here.

How unexpected, then, that the weather event most of us will remember in 10 years took place, not here, but at home.

I’m not sure I can really describe how it feels to be a dislocated New Yorker during this time of intense struggle for the city. Let’s just say that I’m sad – sad for the people who lost their homes, their property, their neighborhoods, their lives. And I’m sad not to be there. I’m also incredibly thankful that my family and friends are safe, and that my neighborhood emerged mostly unscathed while others did not.

Living out here, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s easy to feel far from home. After all, as my niece Dafna says sometimes, “Doda lives in Japan. It’s very far away.” But at times like this, when all you want to do is hug your people and help clean up your city, well, it’s especially easy to feel disconnected. Yoni and I are thinking about all of you at home who are dealing with the aftermath of Sandy. Wish we could be there. Libi bama’arav, va’anochi besof mizrach.  

What A Way to Start the Day

“Chaps, enjoying your motivated nature walk?!”

Mile Six of a nine mile march through the Central Training Area on Camp Hansen.  We’re marching along in heavy boots, sweating through our uniforms, and carrying packs that weigh as much as some of the smaller Marines.

All you can do is smile, grunt, and trudge forward, because if you look around you will see it is – in fact – “freakin beautiful” out there (I was told today that the word “beautiful” does not translate to Marines without the qualifier “freakin” or its more explicit lexical cousin). 

We set out on the hump at 0530 (hump is the noun that refers to hiking with large quantities of gear strapped to one’s back).  Orion was looking down on me (I know this because its one of the few constellations that I can identify).

One mile. Too easy.  What are the Marines always complaining about?

Two miles.  The bottoms of my feet hurt.  Insert another expletive.  This is going to be a long trip.

Three miles.  A discussion of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – referred to by one officer as “Ferris Bueller’s Big Day” - ensues amongst the officers in the rear.  This officer is hit in the head by another officer.  General consensus: good movie, though the contempt for elders and those in authoritative positions is not condoned by this Corps.

Four miles.  The sun is coming up.  The birds are chirping.  We enter the CTA, and we look out on the rolling hills that lead toward the mountain.  The ocean sparkles in the background.  It is freakin beautiful.

Five miles.  “Can I ask you a question, and I don’t mean it to be racist or anything like that?”  “Sure, any question is a good question.”  “Why does it seem that Jewish people always vote Democrat.”  Uh oh. 

Six miles.  Curse those freakin rolling hills.  I miss flat land.  My freakin feet are freakin killing me.  The freakin nerves in my freakin shoulders are freakin being pinched.  We have freakin 7 ton trucks, MRAPs, and Humvees.  We’ve got helicopters, planes, and whatever you want to call the Osprey.  Landing craft and amphibious vehicles.  What are we freakin doing humping this far?!

Seven miles.  “Sure the blue jolly rancher will make your mouth turn blue, but the watermelon jolly rancher is by far the best.”  Gunny is saying something wildly inappropriate that he heard on Rush. 

Eight miles.   I see the end!  I see the end!  Why are we not turning?

Nine miles.  What a beautiful way to start the day.

They called it a “conditioning hike”.  We are working our way up to a 15 mile hike in the not-so-distant future.  Our company commander asked the Marines why we did such a thing?  Why not just take the 7 ton truck, or the Humvee, or a Honcho (taxi).

He gave the usual Marine Corps answers: It builds endurance.  It motivates us as a team.  The Marine Corps heritage is built on humping it from place to place.

But if I were giving an answer: to be motivated by nature.  Have a freakin beautiful Navy/Marine Corps Day.

looking back

Yoni’s father, Jay Warren, served two tours as a Marine during the war in Vietnam. During that time, Okinawa (then a relatively new acquisition for the Americans) was used as a staging ground and training area for troops headed into battle. As such, Jay spent several months on Okinawa during (I believe) 1968-69 and 1972-73.

Before their trip out here, I spent some time thinking about the kinds of things Jay and Tova might like to do (much like I did for my parents). I knew there would be museums, and shopping, and probably a trip to the aquarium. But I don’t think I really understood how much time Jay had spent here, and so I didn’t factor touring his old stomping-grounds into my plans. Luckily, Jay spoke up, plans were revised, and we spent an afternoon visiting Camps Schwab and Hansen.

Those of you who pay very close attention and have excellent memories might know that Yoni’s office is on Camp Hansen, which is a 45-60 minute drive from our apartment on Camp Foster. Camp Schwab is an additional 35 minutes north past Hansen. All of which is to say – there wasn’t too much for Jay to remember in our neighborhood (although, according to Yoni, apparently one light switch outside the Jewish Chapel had really stuck in his memory). This is especially true considering the fact that Jay and other young Marines were not allowed to have cars, as well as the fact that, in those days, there was no inter-camp bus system. But the further north we got, the more Jay remembered. Most of the businesses had changed, but apparently some of the structures are the same.

Once we got onto Schwab, things became a lot more familiar for Jay. He was able to direct me to the area of the Camp where his barracks had been, and the buildings were still standing – repurposed, but standing nonetheless. He pointed out a beach where they did “rubber boat training,” a building that was used as the Mess Hall, and even where he thought the Exchange had been (a tiny room compared to today’s). The same was true when we arrived at Hansen.

There was something incredibly poignant and cool about seeing Schwab and Hansen through Jay’s eyes. I know that American troops are stationed in Okinawa because of our history with this island, but while it’s easy to remember that history when you’re at a museum, it can be hard (at least for me) to remember it when you’re shopping at the Exchange or eating at Subway.  Seeing the island through Jay’s eyes, even just for a few hours, helped me to remember that we are not the first people to be stuck out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And while Okinawa is no longer a jumping off point for Marines headed to Vietnam, it is a home base for many members of the military deployed to Afghanistan. The bars change owners, the barracks get rebuilt, the island gets developed – but some things don’t change. I hope that, at some point in the not-so-distant future, there will be a time when Okinawa is not a staging ground for any war. In the meantime, we’ll be here, carrying the torch.  

we're on vacation

Yoni and I, along with Jay and Tova, are off island for the weekend. We escaped to Ie island, a small island off the northern coast of Okinawa. As such, there will be no formal blog post...instead, I'm including this picture of the view from our balcony. We'll be back next week, I promise!

The Osprey

It seems that the Japanese people are not excited about the arrival of the MV-22 (Osprey).  To be fair, some really don’t care.  But overall, the Japanese – inclusive of the Okinawans – do not want the Osprey.

The Osprey is one of the newest additions to the Air Combat Element.  It is a hybrid helicopter/fixed-wing plane.  It takes off vertically, and then converts to take material over a larger distance in faster time than the standard helicopter.  More importantly, it will replace the CH-46 Sea Knights that have been in Okinawa for over 40 years now.

I’m not writing in defense of Marine Corps aviation or the Osprey.  There are much more eloquent voices on the subject. I do not have a comment on safety or protocols for these planes.  But I would really like to take a flight in one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv6FL2n7_7U

What is truly impressive is the protest.  Last week, prior to the start of the typhoon, it was reported that some 20,000 had taken to the streets to block the entrances of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3_40_Q50Ks

It should be noted that the Ospreys were coming from mainland Japan, and had no intention of driving through the gates of Futenma.  But I get the symbolic gesture.

I have a friend – another chaplain – who got locked onto the base for days simply because of the protests that continued again after the typhoon.  For awhile, my car was locked on base and I couldn’t find out if it was wrecked in the typhoon.  (Don’t worry, the Marshmellow is OK – but not every car faired well.)

Big signs line the park at the entrance of Futenma declaring: “We don’t need no MV-22s” and “Osprey not safe”.  Vans painted blue with bright yellow lettering reinforce the message; “Keep Osprey out of Oki”.

Chants are shouted in English and Japanese.  I drove behind a van with a loud speaker attached to the roof, as it declared that the Osprey would kill children… and that is what was said in English.  I’m not sure the Japanese version was as calm.

Marines, in the meantime, are more or less on lockdown and are told to be on their best behavior in town.  Any spark could soil relations with Japan for a very long time.

We are not allowed to walk, bike, skateboard or roller blade past “International Friendship Park” (the square in front of Futenma). 

Roll up your windows.  Lock your doors.

Turn on your flashers.

Follow the directions of the Okinawan police.

Then follow the directions of the first line of Base guards.

Then follow the direction of the gate guards.

Please don’t hit anybody.

The protests are now entering their second week.  Many of the protesters are sponsored by organization and have no end in sight.  I hope that this is just something that will take time, but that we will be able to move forward.