Howdy from Wake Island

[BHawks 0]

Hey Folks. Its been awhile since I sat 'round the bonfire. Brought a case of Sierra, its over there... I'm at Wake Island, haven't jumped in seven months and its starting to get to me. I SCUBA out here, but we just go out swim around and that is about it.

Kinda miss the skydiving family, especially after being around the military and corporate business people. I work for a contracting company to the Air Force. It is all about contract deliverable products. Government inspections of our operation. The people here are always at each others throats, he did she did, he did not, etc. I do my job, my boss does his, our section, the Air Field had no answerable discrepancies on our most recent government report, ZERO. However people with several write ups want to try to tell us how to do our job and then get upset when we call their hand on it.

I sort of miss the days of working in the skydiving industry. After the day was done. We drank beer, watched each others awesomeness or follies on the TV, ate pizza and generally had a good time.

I've got 5 months left on my tour here. Thinking of blue skies and what in the heck do I want to do when my time is over here...

[skydiverbry 0]

Drink a lot of beer, put on all your jumping gear and dirt dive.
Oh, and actually pull your chute, that way you'll get practice repacking your cute and it'll kill more time too.






Bry

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Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[BHawks 0]

My rig is sitting in a box in storage... When I get back it will require a major inspection and repack. Blah.

[JohnRich 4]

Are there any remnants of the WWII battle still laying around there?

"Send... more... Japs..."

[oldwomanc6 60]

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Are there any remnants of the WWII battle still laying around there?

"Send... more... Japs..."

This kind of "explosive" comment is better off left in the S.C.

Actually, that is a good question, when mrowc6 and I were living on Okinawa, we were told not to wander around in the jungles, because there was still a lot of unexploded ordnance waiting to be "discovered" (read: stepped on and blown up).

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[JohnRich 4]

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This kind of "explosive" comment is better off left in the S.C.

That phrase is a famous radio signal sent out by the Marines defending Wake Island.
I was wondering if anyone would recognize it.

[BHawks 0]

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Are there any remnants of the WWII battle still laying around there?

"Send... more... Japs..."

Absolutely. Personally I have found a .30-06 casing, a .50 casing and a .50 slug and a blade to a propeller in the lagoon. There is also a wing of some large airplane in the lagoon. Recently a 16" or other large round was discovered and an EOD team have been dispatched to see if it safe or not. In the last few years several bits of human remains have been unearthed...there is speculation they are part of the 98 murdered by the Japanese in October 1943.

There is a lot of cool history out here.

[Squeak 17]

just had a look where it is, man that's in the middle of nothing.
Does it have an indigenous population?

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[BHawks 0]

No indigenous population here. The population is made up of contractors and USAF personnel. Yep, we are out in the middle of nowhere.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Quote

Are there any remnants of the WWII battle still laying around there?

"Send... more... Japs..."

Absolutely. Personally I have found a .30-06 casing, a .50 casing and a .50 slug and a blade to a propeller in the lagoon. There is also a wing of some large airplane in the lagoon. Recently a 16" or other large round was discovered and an EOD team have been dispatched to see if it safe or not. In the last few years several bits of human remains have been unearthed...there is speculation they are part of the 98 murdered by the Japanese in October 1943.

There is a lot of cool history out here.

Very cool. That propeller blade would make a heck of a souvenier. Even if they don't let you keep it, it would look good hanging in a shop somewhere. That's what I'd be doing with my spare time there.

Major Devereux never should have surrendured.

Is there good fishing or snorkeling?

[BHawks 0]

If you ever get a chance to read Devereux's book it is very good. It talks about the battle and his time in Japanese captivity, 44 months.

Had Cunningham not ordered Devereux to surrender there would have been a lot more blood spilled. Yes the Marines would have inflicted greater loss upon the enemy. They already had a huge score. VMF-211's four operational Wildcats gave the enemy quite a licking. The shore batteries and AA guns also devastated the enemy. On the enemy's second invasion the Marines also made the invading troops pay for the land they took. This place is holey ground for me. I've also been to Midway, Iwo Jima, stationed in Okinawa and was briefly on Corrigidor.

I just got back from a SCUBA dive a moment ago. I brought my Hawaiian sling spear with me. The visibility was crap and the only fish I saw worth doing about was a Barracuda something like 50 ft below me as I was already at 90 feet, well be better hunting next time. Also we have grouper and ulua when you can get a shot off.

[BobMoore 0]

You don't want to disturb holey grounds.

"For you see, an airplane is an airplane. A landing area is a landing area. But a dropzone... a dropzone is the people."