Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Walley, yes I remember mike I think he was the tall one if I remember him. and if I recall you were a horse rider, I don't know why I remember that but is that right. there were several crazy parties at the heights, more people lived there than at the barracks. Uhl went back to Jackson mich. was a fireman, then a fire marshall, haven't talked to him for 3-4 years but he might be retired by mow, as for coffee I don't know where he went. I'm living in kansas, retired, fishing,golfing,drinking, still partying more than I should, but, life is good, take care Bernie

US Marine Corps seems to have come to the plant of Fukushima. They are specialists of nuclear weapon of 150 marines. We have big expectations by them. Details are not announced.

I forgot to write an important word.

" Arigatou gozaimasu "

Kaoru-san,
Here is some information on the Marine Corps Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF):
http://abcnews.go.com/International/nuclear-emergency-response-marines...
I suspect this is the beginning of a larger effort.
I served in the Marine Corps from 1960 through 1980 and have wonderful memories of Japan during part of that time.

I am awed by the men who are manning the Nuke Reactors. I once read that we can be judged by our enemies, if so then I am proud that the Japanese were once our enemies and very glad they are now our friends.
It would appear that these people can’t be beaten - killed maybe - but never beaten.

More details about the US Marines now helping in Japan -

The ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan has prompted the U.S. military to send a marine unit specializing in nuclear emergency response to be on hand if needed.

Trained in personnel decontamination and monitoring of radiation levels, the team would not be involved in the efforts to stabilize the reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Approximately 155 Marines from the Marines' Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) received their deployment orders for Japan earlier today and are scheduled to arrive on Friday.

The team is being sent as what a Defense Department official calls "an initial response force" because they are only a portion of the much larger CBIRF unit.

Based at the Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland, CBIRF is a Marine unit specially trained to counter the effects of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incident. Usually, that entails being available to assist local, state and federal agencies with domestic emergency responses to CBRNE incidents.

The unit's deployment to Japan "will provide the U.S. on-scene commander a rapid response capability and, if requested, [allow the commander to] assist Japanese authorities by providing advice and expertise in the areas of agent detection and identification, casualty search, rescue, personnel decontamination and emergency medical care," a defense official said.

The deployment of the initial response force is not of an emergency nature, but more as a precautionary move in case they are needed, another defense official said.

The U.S. military has barred its personnel in Japan from entering a 50-mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, though exceptions are made for certain relief missions.

The new Marine unit will not be allowed within that 50-mile exclusion area and, if needed, will provide personnel decontamination and monitoring support from Yokota Air Base outside of Tokyo, a defense official said.

Dick Koppe, the rich kid who drove the Honda sports car was the horseman. He taught riding to Japanese kids. I rode a little bit while growing up, and he tried to get me to help him with his classes, but I was usually too hung over to sit a horse.

Steffi,

Gomennasai for my late reply. I have been traveling. I am still planning on visiting Yokohama in May and will pay a visit to your father's grave while I am there. Do you know the general location of where he is resting?

Tracy

Hi Tracy - nice to hear from you again. My father's plot is in the following general direction: you go in the main gate, and follow the path that leads straight ahead, then towards the right, near the end of the road. There is some kind of little tool shed nearby. That's about as clear a direction as I was able to get from my son Jeff, who visited the Foreigner's cemetery in 2009. My father, whose first name was Karl, was born around 1884 and died in 1942. I think the grave is marked with a medium-sized gray rough-hewn granite stone, and the stone continues around the rectangular perimeter of the grave as was the custom in those days.

Thank you so much for your efforts - I very much appreciate your thinking of doing this for us - you are a kind and thoughtful person.

I should mention that my Mom was born 100 years ago tomorrow, and my husband's Mom's 100th birthday was yesterday. We spent yesterday having a "party" in their honor with both our sons. They were both great women, and we're happy that in the last years of their lives they had met and become friends, which was really nice.

Thanks again, Tracy, and we hope that you have a lovely trip, and keep us posted on your experiences.

There awaits..
At the end of my driveway...
.. The Last Snowball ..

Another earthquake (and aftershocks)! Please keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers!! We don't understand why such things happen and cause humankind such pain and suffering, but I know God is in control and has a purpose in and for everything.

I do not understand the purpose in suffering.

There is pain and suffering in the world because we have free will. The Bible says that "God sends rain on the just and the unjust," and if it was any other way there would not be free will.

I wonder if it would be better to give up free will and end suffering. I do not see the meaningfulness in suffering.

It is not that meaningful to translate your suffering into the conscious.
Suffering is the rock in the river that your being must flow around.
Does that help ?

Thank you Peter, it helps.

Steffi,
It seems you have an interesting family history. Please forgive my asking but I am curious to know if your father passed away in Japan in 1942 or was buried there after the war?

I am back at home on the river for several weeks before leaving for Japan in early May.

Tracy

My father developed a fast-developing form of leukemia while we were living in Tokyo and died there in 1942. He was immediately buried in the Foreigner's Cemetery in Yokohama. It happened that after the war, which we spent in Karuizawa, we moved to Yokohama and lived down the block from the Cemetery. My Mom had gotten a job working for the American Red Cross, which was partly housed in Berrick Hall. My father had been a violinist, and taught in Tokyo, where there were already a number of well-known European musicians who eventually emigrated to the US.

Thanks for your interest.

The following is unfortunately the latest report of damage from the Daiichi nuclear reactors - - -

Japan ups nuke crisis severity to match Chernobyl

By YURI KAGEYAMA and RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press. 9 mins ago

TOKYO – Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.

The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 ― the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, there was no sign of any significant change at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

The new ranking signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, according to the Vienna-based IAEA.

"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

NISA officials said one of the factors behind the decision was that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 incident.

The revision was based on cross-checking and assessments of data on leaks of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137, said NISA spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.

"We have refrained from making announcements until we have reliable data," Nishiyama said.

What a shame. This is horrable.
Kaoru..how are you doing ?
I wonder if any debris from the tsunami will wash up on Wahington state or the US coast ?