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Operation Tomodochi
Task Force Fuji
Japan-Sendai Airport
Wake up 0500. It's cold, like 2c-5c kind of cold. Cover my head back up for another 10 minutes before I hurry up and get dressed.
0530 I'm dressed and kicking cots of those still sleeping. Walk over to the corner of the Air port terminal at Sendai Airport and look at the MRE's (Meal Ready to Eat). What do we have... Chicken and Dumpling, not today, had it 3 days in a row now. Brisket? WTF is a brisket? Beef Ravioli, decent but not great but it will do. Couple bottles of water and I'm ready.
0600 formation and 0605 we load up in the trucks to convoy to clean up a school. Which just so happens to have been converted to a refugee camp for those who were fortunate to escape the wave of death the Earth decided to give to Japan. Earthquake didn't destroy any looking back. Only messed up some ceiling tiles and signs. Maybe cracked some walls. After all, Japan builds the worlds best Earthquake resistant buildings.
Time unknown, 0800? Who cares. Jump out of the truck to look around and the first thing I notice is the smell. Ocean, mud, fish, shit, and dead body's. Didn't want to smell that again. wanted to leave that smell in Iraq. Look around and the first thing I notice is a boat. Not just any boat. this thing has to be 30 feet long and is sitting in someones yard. Or what used to be someones yard. I look at the school and see some faces. A couple kids playing on the balcony of the school of the second floor are told to come inside by there parents. Not to surprised, they come back out in about an hour when they see what we are here for.
Few minutes later and we are told to school circle for a mission brief. Was a common sense brief. A monkey could have gone to work without being told what to do. What can I do though. I work for the Marines (Muscles Are Required Intelligence Not Essential) and its so true. Move trash into a pile and then throw big shit into the back of dump truck and have a front loader grab small stuff. Oh yea turn in any pictures and scrolls you find to the Japanese Army. Pictures? How the hell can a picture survive any of this. Man was I wrong. Most of the ones I found were nothing special. Then I came across one that I still remember because I couldn't stop looking at it and wondering. Was of a little girl, no more than 10 years old. She was dressed up in a Kimono walking across some sort of stage with the Japanese colors in as the back ground. All you could do was just stand there and wonder if she was still alive, or if she was one of the unfortunate ones. After I pull my self away from the picture I look for a Japanese Soldier and give him the picture. Look around and I see some marines clearing debris off of a roof about 40'x25'. An couple hours later we have it destroyed like it never existed. Trusses and all chopped up by axe and chainsaw.
Next area of junk and I see what looks like a dresser under a wall. By this times I don't care how big something is it's going to move with or without someones help. To pissed of at the weather, working conditions, and the world. With the wall flipped over and dresser standing upright I start going through the drawers. Top Drawer, clothes, second clothes, third cloths, fourth odds and ends. Fifth drawer and I stop. A leather bound album. Open it up and I see a little baby girl about 3 months. As I turn the pages I watch her grow up. Kindergarten, Elementary school, High School, then College. She was beautiful and looked to belong to a wealthy family. Turn the page and whats this? A wedding, to a handsome guy. Not surprised. A couple pages later they have a son. Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade... blank pages... Jesus Christ. Don't cry, you cant cry. Never really occurred to me that whole family's were killed. Gain composer and hand it to another Japanese soldier along with another dozen or so pictures Marines had handed to me through out the day.
Some time around 1200 time to eat. Oh joy MRE's! After six Years they all tend to taste the same unless you get a really good one, and there are only about three to four of those out of about 30 or so choices.
Get back to work thirty minutes later and destroy more big shit into little and load it up. Some one next to me cleaning up around a car points and says is that a dead body. I look over and see a pair of pants with a belt and shirt and part of an arm and hand. I say something to the effect of "Yep that's a dead body alright, stay there I'll get the Japanese. Keep everyone away." I grab a soldier from the Japanese army, he hops on the radio. Three Japanese in Yellow coats and white hard hats come over and then they hope on the radio and cordon the area off. Mean while a couple Junior Marines ask me how I deal with the body and smell and in there faces I see an expression of what looks like fear and disgust. I tell them it's nothing, and to be glad you couldn't see the face or that it wasn't a little girl that they saw.
1630 we finish up for the day and load back up in the trucks and head back for the Air Port Terminal where we live at for the time being. Where every clock is stopped at 1559. We get back at about 1900 wait around and eat for another hour to get the word for tomorrow and then we get ready for bed to repeat the same process all over to either finish that school or go to another one.
The news can not come close to what its like because you can't smell it, you can't sense it, and you can't feel it. You have to be there, and although I was glad to do something to help. It will be years before they recover these city's, towns and villages.
The best thing I think I did while I was there at another school that was a little cleaner was kick a ball around with some kids who were about six to eight years old. I could go on with other things I had done but I figured I would share with you the best I could my worst day. Sorry for the wall of text. There is no way to make it shorter and still convey it all.