Journal 8/30/1985
P5 Advertisement AMI Kwaj Special $65 oneway between Majuro and Kwajalein.
P16 Book V Chap. 14 The crowd in the restaurant section of the invaded airport remained amazingly compliant and reserved, especially given the circumstance that absolutely no explanation was offered regarding their forced detainment. There were 63 individuals all told, most of them simply filler — family members who had come down to see a daughter off, a couple of recently disqualified lawyers checking over the incomers in hopes of a client or two, seven elderly Japanese (members of a “bereaved family association”) who were coming to fulfill a life-long obligation to visit the islands where a son or husband died during WWII, a few local businessmen down to welcome an incoming salesman or to see one off, and the official airport personnel: Custom agent Claude Nathan, Immigration office March Samuel, Joaje from Agriculture, and the Air Micronesia counter crew. The two policemen who had been on duty at the airport substation were a vexing problem to discern, for it was not evident if they were part of the retained or retaining. They stood near the alcove with their chief close by, but he apparently ignored them. Were they part of the invasion’s fifth column? Or were they just confused victims, not sure because of their official attire to sit or stand, cover or glare, shiver or strut. The slight outburst from attorney Ben Abrams questioning what the hell was going on was doused with a dark look from Mello Anjak. In his freshly-pressed uniform, he looked a formidable representative of authority, and Abrams, as capable as one could get in a court of law, was not about to risk his legal standing doing something even remotely improper in the airport — that was a lesson well learned. A down-in-the-mouth Peace Corp Volunteer who was summering in Majuro had just returned from a week’s vacation in Ebeye on the flight, was the only one seemingly floating on a high in the circumstances: it was history, many, it was a piece of history. And can you beat this? Would you event want to try?
Oh, and yes, we forgot to mention Carlotta, or “Connie” as her father called her. She was a loner, a looker and a loner, only been in Majuro since the previous plane and was down for this plane to see if her overflown baggage had been shipped back. It best have been, she thought, otherwise she and her father were int deep feces. But why this is so goes back to a little conversation between Connie and her dad several weeks ago in the little Florida community of Longwood, just north of Orlando. Connie did not need a Soviet invasion at this particular time in history, she wanted political stability and strong walls on banks here in the Marshalls. And if little Ivan von Kotzebue turned La Midi the Conqueror wasn’t careful she’d tie him up in a pair of suntanned legs and squeeze until the little mother cried “Uncle Sam” and meant it. “Dam little cockroach,” she swore, “what is the delay?” Later….
P3 When Rita was ‘country’ When Beverly Chutaro came to Majuro from Ohio in 1968, there were no cars, no traffic jams, and Rita was a rural part of the island. People still ate the traditional diet of fish, breadfruit and taro, with a once a month ship bringing in damaged supplies from the States via Japan. “A fresh vegetable was cabbage,” she told a room full of ladies at the DAR restaurant that hosed this month’s Marshall Islands International Ladies Lunch. It took all day to get to Laura but catching a ride was easy because “everyone just piled in the back” of the few government pickups that managed to survive the crater-like potholes that came after rain.
P10 NCT highlights ‘changed circumstances’ At a time when a US government study is raising concern about widespread and previously unknown exposure of Americans to radioactive fallout from nuclear tests in Nevada, the Majuro-based Nuclear Claims Tribunal said that health problems resulting from the US nuclear testing program in the Marshalls are much more serious than acknowledged by the US during negotiations that produced the Compact’s compensation agreement in the early 1980s.
Journal 8/29/2008
P1 Fourth floor flight The fourth floor of the capital building was evacuated this week because of unsafe conditions. “Pieces of cement are falling all over the place,” Public Works Minister Kejjo Bien told the Journal Wednesday. The President’s Office and Council of Iron were moved to the ICC next door and are now setting up their offices.
P16 Eric, Cris leave vibrant legacy The Marshall Islands will say farewell next week to two Americans who have done more than most to bring Kwajalein and the Marshall Islands communities together — but who would be the first to mostly underplay their contributions. Dr. Eric and Cris Lindborg will leave the islands after close to 30 years at Kwajalein. From medical care and sports development to culture appreciation and women’s exchanges, the Lindborgs have left their mark and will be missed.
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