Marine Staff SGT. accused of rape

[Ken_gone_flying]

A 38 year old Staff SGT. is accused of raping a 14 year old Japanese girl on Okinawa. Japanese Prime Minister calling on U.S. to strengthen troop discipline to prevent such crimes.


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/12/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-US-Marine-Rape.php

 

[Herc_Dude]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8USGKTG2&show_article=1&catnum=0

Ok, as a Marine who might be heading to Oki, I'm kinda curious about the Land of the Rising Sun. How do "the people" look at us? Obviously stuff like this doesn't help, but I would like to hear it from the mouths of y'all. Please opine ...

 

[PropStop]

As a guy who's spent a good amount of time in Kadena and lives in Misawa... Well, they love us up here, but the Okinawans really don't like us, most especially the Marines. That's the sad reality of it.

Prepare yourself for lots of sensitivity training and days spent stuck on base. Just as in 1995 the Marines are going to be under a microscope (along with every other American there).

This Marine IS innocent until proven guilty but he's already admitted to doing things that are EXTREMELY inappropriate for ANY adult to do to a child, let alone a US military member.

Whatever you do, don't be mad at the locals for their feelings. Be mad at that Marine for tarnishing your image. When you do go out in town, do everything you can to make every person you interact with rethink any negative feelings they have towards the US military. Japan is a culture shock. Things are run differently here. It can be unbelievably frustrating to live here at times, because they Japanese are so...Japanese. They are different and YOU have to be the one to adjust to how THEY do things.

I don't want to sound like a broken record (or a damn AFN commercial) but YOU are an ambassador of the United States - act like it and make sure those in your charge act like it.

 

[JohnnyUtah]

Liberty buddies

I remember as a junior Marine we needed to have liberty buddies off base so crap like this never happened. I heard even some commands even made their SNCO's and Officers have a liberty buddy. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

[Ave8tor]

They are different and YOU have to be the one to adjust to how THEY do things.

Funny, sounds like the exact opposite of America, or specifically Southern California.

When I was enlisted, I had quite a few friends that had been to Japan. Some had said that it was the worst time of their lives, and others quite the opposite. Most of the ones that hated it were shitbirds anyway. But I didn't know to many that were married when they were over there. Talking to my wife of duty stations, I thought I might like to try Overseas before East Coast (thats how much like the East Coast). My wife seems to think otherwise. All she hears about Japan is how much people hate us over there.

 

[bb1125]

I agree 100% with propstop.I spent 6 years in Atsugi and a lot of time in Okinawa for training. The mainland loves us, but there are a great deal of people in Okinawa that hate us and just want us to leave.

That being said, I always had a great time when I went down there. The weather was beautiful(minus all the typoons). There's lots of stuff to do there and Okinawa is a lot more Americanized due to the high concentration of Americans there. Almost everyone there speaks English and there are even a lot of places that take American dollars out in town (makes life easier for us lazy Americans).

 

[HueyCobra8151]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but AFN commercials can teach you everything you need to know.

...ok this doesn't pertain to anything.

......or possibly not saluting? I'm still confused on this one.


Edit: Found it, this one is the best:

 

[Lawman]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but AFN commercials can teach you everything you need to know.

...ok this doesn't pertain to anything.

......or possibly not saluting? I'm still confused on this one.


Edit: Found it, this one is the best:

Wow, those have somehow gotten worse then the ones they always used as commercials for SEB in the 80's.

 

[Harrier Dude]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but AFN commercials can teach you everything you need to know.

...ok this doesn't pertain to anything.

......or possibly not saluting? I'm still confused on this one.


Edit: Found it, this one is the best:

Where's the one for the ultra-gucci snake-eater combat weathermen?!? That's by far the best AFN commercial. Ever.

I was stationed in Okinawa for a year and also did a UDP there. In fact, I just came back from 2 weeks TAD there. The locals are very nice, but they tend to be sensitive to American buffoonery. Your average blotter entry is a really big deal there. A Marine gets in a fight on base? No big deal. A Marine gets in a fight out in town? The CG will be notified. Big difference from here.

There are groups of locals that want us gone, but they are really not that much different than the kooks in Oceana that hate jet noise or the idiots near Miramar complaining about being overflown by 53s. In Okinawa many of these protestors are "professional" and are paid to be out there holding a sign/chanting/blocking traffic. Individually they generally don't much give a shit.

The liberty issues are another matter. The big problem is that there are a lot of personnel deployed to Okinawa rather than stationed there. Even some of those stationed there act like they're deployed. A lot of folks like to get really drunk and act like idiots when they're deployed. Kind of like spring break at Daytona. It is not something that most people that live there (whether it be Okinawa or Daytona) find very appealing.

Don't let any of this scare you away from Okinawa. I loved it there and would go back in a second.

 

[pal215]

AFN Commercials

They play a great AFN commercial here in the Atsugi BOQ about not shaking your baby. Makes us all laugh

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8USGKTG2&show_article=1&catnum=0

Ok, as a Marine who might be heading to Oki, I'm kinda curious about the Land of the Rising Sun. How do "the people" look at us? Obviously stuff like this doesn't help, but I would like to hear it from the mouths of y'all. Please opine ...

As a guy that spent 3 years in Japan (Atsugi), a lot of which was spent at Kadena, I can tell you that Marines are not liked in Japan and even more so on Okinawa than mainland Japan. A lot of the bars outside of base have signs up that say "No Marines". However, it isn't only because of the history of rape, Marines tend to get into a lot of bar fights and other liberty incidents over there. Sorry to have to break that news to you.

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

I don't want to sound like a broken record (or a damn AFN commercial) but YOU are an ambassador of the United States - act like it and make sure those in your charge act like it.

After being out of Japan for 2 and a half years I was just starting to forget about the AFN commercials. Thanks to you, they are all coming back to me now...

 

[Harrier Dude]

As a guy that spent 3 years in Japan (Atsugi), a lot of which was spent at Kadena, I can tell you that Marines are not liked in Japan and even more so on Okinawa than mainland Japan. A lot of the bars outside of base have signs up that say "No Marines". However, it isn't only because of the history of rape, Marines tend to get into a lot of bar fights and other liberty incidents over there. Sorry to have to break that news to you.

Gross exaggeration. Sorry to have to break that news to you.

 

[Herc_Dude]

Thanks for all the info guys.

Don't let any of this scare you away from Okinawa. I loved it there and would go back in a second.

Its funny, most Marines caveat their info with that comment as well.

 

[Flash]

Gross exaggeration. Sorry to have to break that news to you.

One of my memories from Oki was when we went snorkeling at a really popular spot on a civilian part of the island, I don't remember the name. As we were packing up to go in the very crowded parking lot filled with locals a few Marines, you could tell by the massive tattoos that each one was sporting of the EGA/a Bulldog/USMC etc, starting throwing full beer cans and chasing each other through the parking lot. Not only was I angered by the waste of beer but was just a little bit more than disappointed by their total lack of regard for the numerous civilians who were looking at them in disgust.

Just another day in Japan......