KESENNUMA CITY, MIYAGI PREFECTURE, Japan -- KESENNUMA CITY, MIYAGI PREFECTURE, Japan -- Brig. Gen. William Bowers, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations Pacific, other U.S. Marine staff members, numerous Japanese dignitaries and officials, and bereaved family members, participated side-by-side in the March 11 Kesennuma City memorial event to honor the lives lost during the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago on March 11, 2011 at 2:46 p.m.
Bowers and others were invited to attend the memorial to represent the Marine Corps in memory of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support on Oshima Island during Operation Tomodachi after the quake.
On that day a decade ago, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred off the Tohoku coast, along the northeastern portion of Honshu, Japan. Within 60 minutes, tsunami waves up to 40 meters high began ravaging hundreds of miles of coastal areas, flooding in some places reached more than five-miles inland. According to the Japanese Red Cross Society, in the worst affected areas, an estimated 129,500 houses were destroyed, and more than 250,000 were severely damaged by the tsunami, earthquakes and the ensuing fires. Catastrophic meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex caused radiological contamination and nuclear material emission, which were carried by the wind for thousands of miles and complicated relief efforts. Officials concluded that the disasters claimed the lives of nearly 20,000 people and injured thousands more.
“The U.S. military quickly came to this region to help us in the disaster and we saw them rescuing and helping our people in this region. We felt the closeness of the Americans in this part of Japan, as well as the strength of your abilities,” said Shigeru Sugawara, mayor of Kesennuma City, as he met with Bowers. “I hope we continue our friendship with the U.S. We are grateful for your help in our time of need.”
In the COVID-safe ceremony, hundreds of guests were seated motionless, heads bowed, hands folded as guest speakers shared first-hand testaments of the tragic day 10-years ago. U.S. service members with crisp uniforms sat with Japanese citizens who could not help but express emotions, some with tears streaming down their faces, mourning their lost loved ones a decade later.
On the evening of March 11, 2011 then Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto formally asked U.S. Ambassador John Roos for relief assistance from U.S. Forces in Japan. The Department of Defense became heavily involved in the subsequent humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operation in support of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, known as Operation Tomodachi. The Japanese word “tomodachi” translates into English as friend. Operation Tomodachi would become the largest Japan-U.S. bilateral operation since the inception of the alliance dating back to post-World War II. Nearly 25,000 U.S. service members assisted with aid efforts across the affected areas of Japan for months.
“We are committed to continuing to strengthen this alliance that is so important for peace and stability not only in the Indo-Pacific region, but throughout the world,” said Bowers. “One of the advantages to having the III Marine Expeditionary Force forward deployed in the Pacific is that they have crisis response capability that can be ready to support JSDF and local first responder forces in a crisis. In the future, we must continue to work with the JSDF and the people of Japan to prepare for these types of natural disasters and other contingencies that could upset peace and hurt the Japanese people.”
Marines and sailors of the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit on the USS Harpers Ferry were nearing Indonesia for a disaster exercise and others were on the USS Essex on a port call in Malaysia when they were recalled to join relief efforts with the Japan Self-Defense Force. The 331stMEU and Amphibious Squadron-11 (PHIBRON) distributed more than 164,000 pounds of food and thousands of gallons of water to displaced Japanese citizens, moved hundreds of tons of debris out of ports and roadways, set up emergency shower facilities, and delivered fuel for emergency generators.
Bowers and visiting MCIPAC staff had opportunity to witness several sites which were ravaged by the disaster before attending the memorial, including the former Koyou Fisheries High School, which was destroyed in the tsunami, but has now been turned into a museum to honor the memory of those lost. Bowers and staff observed a car wedged into a third-story classroom, and saw the rooftop of the four-story building where teachers and students piled desks to climb up onto a water tank to escape the rising waters.
The MCIPAC delegation traveled to the site of the Marine Corps’ amphibious landing on the island 10 years prior to deliver relief supplies, and also had opportunity to lay flowers at a memorial dedicated to the 33 individuals from Oshima Island that lost their lives in the tsunami. Afterward, they visited another memorial recently installed by the islanders in honor of Operation Tomodachi and their continuing relationship with the Marine Corps.
“We are so grateful for your help,” said Reiko Kikuta, disaster survivor and fish shop owner who along with her husband Takeshi, lost their store, home and all their belongings in the tsunami. Their 8-year-old son Wataru worked with Marines to clear the wreckage. “I hope our friendship continues forever,” she continued speaking to Bowers as local residents nodded in agreement.
That memorial also read, “You are an Inspiration Showing Perseverance and Strength,” which can be read from both the Marine’s and Oshima islander’s perspectives. While the islanders showed gratitude for the assistance, the Marines in the disaster also observed the strength of the survivors and their tenacity to overcome tremendous odds. In addition, said Bowers, the Marine Corps bases in Japan depend very much on their 4,500 Japanese civilian employees, especially the Japanese on-base first responders.
“Just two weeks ago, Japanese emergency services rescued seven Marines in Okinawa who were in kayaks and were swept out to sea,” said Bowers to Sugawara. “We are a mutually supporting team, we will continue to help each other.”
Bowers was the latest of a series of visits by general officers and representatives from the Marine Corps since the disaster, as the strong relationship has continued over the last decade. Previous MCIPAC and III MEF commanding generals visited annually from 2012 through 2014, the III MEF band visited the city’s port festival in 2012 and the island in 2013, and there were three youth cultural exchanges which allowed Oshima youth to travel to Okinawa between 2011 and 2013.