![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/uss-hopper-300x169.jpg\")
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From USPACOM.mil, some current updates:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.pacom.mil\/Media\/News\/Year\/2018\/<\/a><\/p>\n USS Rushmore recently concluded its participation in Operation Iron Fist, a cooperative exercise between US and Japanese military forces off the coast of southern California.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.pacom.mil\/Media\/News\/News-Article-View\/Article\/1436114\/uss-rushmore-concludes-exercise-iron-fist-2018\/<\/a><\/p>\n VP Pence spent some time at Yokota Air Base, Japan, addressing the troops, highlighting the range of US military capabilities in regard to common defense of our allies, as well as the issue of North Korea and its current leader, Kim Jong-un.<\/p>\n Regarding health care in Pago Pago, Samoa for American Samoan vets, the VA has only an outpatient clinic available, no emergency care, so they\u2019re going to Hawaii for VA care. It\u2019s a 17-hour trip on an island-hopping tourist plane, which can be hard on anyone with a serious health issue. https:\/\/www.hawaii.va.gov\/locations\/pago_pago_american_samoa.asp<\/a><\/p>\n This does need to be fixed. If there is a hospital with emergency services on these islands, these vets should not be required to make an arduous, painful and debilitating trip to get help.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.hawaiifreepress.com\/ArticlesMain\/tabid\/56\/ID\/20504\/Congress-to-Investigate-Lack-of-VA-Care-in-Pacific-Island-Territories.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n Out in the middle of nowhere<\/u>:<\/p>\n You may remember that Wake Island was an important launch point and base for USAAF pilots doing bombing runs in the Pacific. The Japanese attacked the island from a base on Kwajalein on Dec. 8, 1941.<\/p>\n A garrison of 449 U.S. Marines, several dozen navy personnel, and a handful of army radio operators also were stationed on Wake. That force had nearly 2,100 fewer troops than American strategists had deemed necessary to properly defend the atoll. The island\u2019s defenders were equipped with six 5-inch (127-mm) coastal artillery pieces, 12 3-inch (76-mm) antiaircraft guns, 12 F4F Wildcat fighter planes, and an assortment of machine guns and small arms. Forty-five Guamanian men, employed by\u00a0Pan American Airways as part of its transpacific Clipper service, rounded out the atoll\u2019s human population. \u2013 Source: https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Battle-of-Wake-Island<\/a><\/p>\n Prior to the attack, the Wake Island group had been a stopover for tourists and vacationers going\u00a0 to and from the Orient.<\/p>\n Right now, the population consists of about four U.S. military personnel and some contractors. Their big deal is the shanty they use as a bar and the karaoke that goes with it. They also have a Facebook page. Stuck out there in the middle of nowhere, they feel like they\u2019re in their own little country.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Article\/Article\/1431996\/wake-island-embodies-reality-of-america-as-pacific-power\/<\/a><\/p>\n So when USMC GEN Dunford paid a visit to Wake Island in January, it was part of his tour to visit US bases in the Pacific. Other people would probably just bypass it, but he stopped there. \u00a0I think they’d welcome visitors at any time, and that was a thoughtful thing for him to do. No, I don’t know exactly what construction is going on there, but the old guns that were installed are still there on the beachhead.<\/p>\n The island was an excellent spot to view the last eclipse.There\u2019s a schedule of future lunar and solar eclipses that can be viewed from the island. It\u2019s also a bird sanctuary for birds that make trans-Pacific migration with the Wake Islands atoll en route as a rest stop.<\/p>\n And finally, you may also remember Tinian. It was that little spit of an island in the Marianas that was used as the launch point for delivering The Bomb to tell Japan we meant business.<\/p>\n For Tinian’s affairs today, here\u2019s something from the Marianas Variety<\/em> about Tinian. They\u2019re looking for how to best present historic material to the public.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.mvariety.com\/cnmi\/cnmi-news\/local\/101299-air-force-seeks-public-input-for-tinian-interpretive-plan<\/a><\/p>\n Any suggestions (no snarkking, please) can be sent to the address in the article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From USPACOM.mil, some current updates:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.pacom.mil\/Media\/News\/Year\/2018\/ USS Rushmore recently concluded its participation in Operation Iron Fist, … February Updates from the South Pacific<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":653,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-support-the-troops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}