Maj. Paul Melchior, from Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station's Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12, is shown earlier this month on a typical street in the Niigata earthquake zone, in front of a family's two-story home that collapsed in the Oct. 23 temblor. (Yoshi Seki / Courtesy of Maj. Paul Melchior)
Americans at U.S. military installations throughout Japan expressed compassion for the Niigata Chuetsu earthquake victims by sharing their bounty, but possibly no one worked more diligently to alleviate victims’ hardships than a “mama-san” and three U.S. Marines from Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station’s Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12.
On Nov. 12, MALS-12 personnel Maj. Paul Melchior, Staff Sgt. MacDonald Moore, Pfc. Michael Kes and Machiko Hamamoto — referred to as “mama-san” by her traveling companions — packed into Melchior’s rented van and headed northeast for 12½ hours to reach the region racked by the Oct. 23 earthquake and hundreds of subsequent tremors.
“When we first got there, we were driving around, not quite sure where to go,” Melchior said. “Then we ended up at an emergency control center and standing right in front of Kawaguchi Town’s mayor. He really put out a welcome for us; well, I mean considering the circumstances.”
Hamamoto, speaking Japanese, explained to the mayor and others why she and three Marines traveled to the region from Iwakuni.
“She was a huge help,” Melchior said. “The mayor appeared to be in a state of disbelief that we had come, and he wondered what it was that urged us to drive all the way up there.
“So, we explained that as Marines it’s our duty to help when people can’t help themselves.”
The four slept on the floor in the Kawaguchi Town Hall, courtesy of the grateful mayor.
Melchior said his small group stayed for two nights and worked three days cooking and serving victims approximately 500 hamburgers and 400 hot dogs. Melchior and crew absorbed all the costs for travel and the food.
“I’d say we spent about a day cooking but the rest of the time we helped where we could by moving water and gear to where it was needed most,” he said.
“We are Marines, except mama-san, of course, and we are not fighting any wars around here right now, so we might as well be busy helping others,” Melchior said Friday.
The 6.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 40 people, injured thousands and caused severe damage to at least 20,000 houses, as well as Niigata roads and rail lines. Thousands of people remain homeless.
The earthquake caused about about $28.7 billion in damage, Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida has estimated.
Japan’s budget for the fiscal year ending in March has $704.7 million set aside for natural disasters and about $3.4 billion for contingencies. Government officials said that extra spending for reconstruction and disaster relief might be approved.
U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker provided Japan $50,000 for disaster assistance, and a U.S. Embassy release on Nov. 5 stated that the United States would provide an additional $100,000 to help the people of Niigata Prefecture.
Navy facility residents donated almost $40,000; officials stated that another $10,000 was expected soon from Atsugi Naval Air Facility, almost $1,000 from Diego Garcia and $4,500 from Sasebo Naval Base, according to a recent Stars and Stripes report. Other U.S. bases, including Yokota Air Base and Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, also have supplied aid.
The earthquake damage is obvious almost everywhere, the Iwakuni crew said. They reported seeing cracks in roads and manholes that had risen up from the street level. With most houses no longer livable, residents are sheltering in tents, Melchior said; some are living in their cars, afraid to sleep in the shaking tents.
“Even after the time that’s passed since the earthquake, the place continues to move with the shaking nearly every hour. There is still a lot the people need there,” he said.
Melchior is planning to drive back on Thanksgiving Day and stay through the weekend.
Hamamoto also is planning to return.
“I was impressed with the children eating the hamburgers, all with a smile,” Hamamoto was quoted as saying in a Japanese news report.
“I heard that they wanted to eat meat and chicken, so we want to come back here again with foods,” she added.
Melchior said they would welcome other volunteers, with a couple of conditions: Volunteers can’t be easily rattled by the still-shaking ground and they must realize space in the van is limited. Based on the first trip, only two or three others could be squeezed in for the Thanksgiving journey, he said.
Call Melchior at DSN 253-2908 for more information.
