Posted on 12/22/2024 2:36:12 PM PST by rod5591
Okinawa – Over 2,500 people staged a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday to protest sexual assaults on local girls by U.S. servicemen stationed in the prefecture of Okinawa.
They adopted a resolution demanding that the Japanese and U.S. governments apologize and compensate the victims, provide information promptly when such incidents occur, and revise the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement, which governs U.S. troops stationed in Japan.
"Sexual violence that tramples on the dignity of women and children should never occur," said Junko Iraha, chief of a local citizens' group and a member of the rally's organizing committee.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said, "I feel keenly that we need to be stricter and speak louder about the situation in which many residents of the prefecture are forced to co-exist with U.S. military bases amid anxiety."
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student who spoke as a representative of young people, asked, "Do we have to be deprived of our youth because we were born in Okinawa and there are bases?"
The rally was broadcast live to other venues in Okinawa including Ishigaki and Miyakojima, and also distributed online. Participants wore yellow clothes and ribbons in honor of the mimosa flower, which symbolizes International Women's Day.
It came to light in June this year that an Okinawa prosecutors' office had indicted Brennon Washington, who belongs to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in the prefecture, on charges of a sexual assault on a girl.
Authorities did not make the indictment public immediately. A series of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa have since been revealed, sparking anger among residents of the prefecture.
(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.co.jp ...
Participants wore yellow clothes and ribbons in honor of the mimosa flower, which symbolizes International Women’s Day.
The Japanese communists do this every so often, when they aren’t interfering with airport construction.
Don’t care what they wore. They are right to feel this way. I was there during the first incident and we were locked to base visited by the commandant of the Marine Corps and Sgt Maj of the Marine Corps
I remember this sort of thing in the 80s. Guess not much has changed.
I’d like to know the racial background of the rapists of Okinawa.
Public hanging of any legitimately convicted perps might prove helpful.
I would appreciate your input as a first hand observer. Was/is crime by American troops in Okinawa a big enough problem to upset the Okinawans?
The Germans whined and complained about the bases in Germany and then they whined and complained when their local economy cratered after the bases were closed. Maybe Okinawa needs to ponder that.
There used to be open prostitution all across Koza
city fifty five years ago. They all had numbers pinned to them.
The AFRTS radio often gave out numbers. “Here are your numbers for today. 18, 22, 31, 108, 75.” If your number came up it meant she had VD and YOU needed a shot PRONTO!
One week a typhoon came through Guam. Few women on Guam, and they sent all the aircraft and crew to Okinawa. They hit town fast!
After the typhoon passed they sent their aircraft and crew back to Guam.
Two weeks later we are sent TDY to Guam. As I went to turn in my medical records I noticed the medical facilities had long lines of sad faced Airmen at the VD clinic.
Same for Thailand a year later. “Here are your numbers for today....”
Absolutely. It was a Corpsman and Marines who raped a little girl. They have every right to be upset by that
Reminds me of an old joke from back then. When the bases in Germany were closed one of the local girls wondered what would happen to all the local children born of GI dads.
It was told her...”It is an American Plot. In twenty years all we will have to do is send uniforms to them!”
People don't want to talk about it, and I can't find any pictures of Brennon Richard Edward Washington, so I suspect he fits the profile that others have assured me is the usual suspect in Okinawa rapes.
(Black)
I have spoken to people who worked in the Military Police in Okinawa, and it is always black men. Of course nobody wants to point this out, but everyone in Okinawa knows this.
Troops in Japan Banned from Late-Night Drinking After String of Alleged Sexual Assaults on Okinawa
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Instead, Okinawa officials in Washington, D.C., told Military.com that troops would no longer be able to drink between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. off base.
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In July, Marine Corps bases in the country beefed up sobriety checks and included 100% breathalyzer tests for drivers and pedestrians after 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m.
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Most recently, a 20-year-old unidentified U.S. Marine, was accused of sexually assaulting and harming a woman in June, according to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. First Lt. Owen Hitchcock, a spokesman for III Marine Expeditionary Force, told Military.com in an emailed statement last month that the service is cooperating with local authorities.
....
Another case went public in July. Senior Airman Brennon Washington, 25, who was stationed at Kadena Air Base, pleaded not guilty to allegations of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December, local Japanese media outlets reported.
In May, Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 21, was accused of trying to choke as well as sexually assault a woman in the western part of Okinawa, Military.com previously reported.
The Internet seems to have been scrubbed of all photos of Mr. Washington.
” Maybe Okinawa needs to ponder that.”
Yeah, what’s a few rapes? Right?
My personal travels to Tokyo in the 1980’s revealed Prostitution was openly available.Girls posted their contact info around public places.
Forced assault is unforgivable whenever or wherever it occurs. Unfortunately forced assault and Prostitution are linked behaviors!
Can’t find a pic of Brennon Washington, so it’s impossible make an educated guess. /s
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