My life on Okinawa

I have spent most of my life traveling around the world with my husband who is an Air Force pilot. I can be lonely at times. Having to pull up stakes, leave friends and family to make a new life in a foreign country. Our last station was a little Island off the coast of Japan called Okinawa. I remember seeing it for the first time from the air. It looked like a small green rock in the middle of the wide ocean.

The history of the island is one of turmoil. Following the end of World War II, the US maintained a military presence there in the form of several military bases including, a Navel base, Army base, Marine base and one of the larges US Air Bases in this region of the pacific called Kadena. This is where my husband was stationed after we first married.

I do not know much about the history of the island but I know that the beaches are wonderfully clean. Moon Beach near the navel base on Naha was one of my favorites. The little villages and shops host many Japanese arts and crafts. They do not like Americans much and it is understandable as there were many American atrocities after the war by US servicemen.

Generally, I made some friends among the locals. There houses are wonderfully clean with raised floors, you had to take your shoes off before entering. Many of the Japanese customs were difficult to learn. Their strict adherence to custom and honor are remarkable.

The coast of the island is surrounded by seawalls that prevent many parts of the island from being covered in water during the typhoon season. We were warned that there are many remnants of the war still around. UN-detonated ammunition, landmines. Two service men from the Marine base were killed while playing catch with a fragment grenade they had found in the jungle.

Many of the hills and jungles on the island have been made into memorials for the Japanese servicemen who lost there lives there. Large Marble tombs dot the island. The people on the island seem to love golf. There are almost as many golf courses as there are shops in the villages.

The surrounding water of the island are wonderfully clean and clear. There is an underwater museum you can go into for a small fee.