On the US Militarization of Guam
I Nasion Chamoru On the US Militarization of Guam
…for the International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, Ecuador 2007
Today, the indigenous Chamoru people of Guam are bracing our selves against a storm of manic U.S. military buildup. Beginning this year, 2007, the U.S. will flood Guam?its colony?with 35,000 additional U.S. military personnel, half a dozen nuclear submarines, a strike and intelligence surveillance hub, fighter jets, B-2 bombers, Global Hawk aircraft, 20,000 foreign laborers on military contracts, and, inevitably, toxins to add to the array of cancerous contamination that have already claimed the lives of Chamoru people at record rates.
Guam is one of the few remaining colonies of the world. It exists today in a political nether zone as an unincorporated territory of the U.S., administered by the U.S. Interior Department. Today, we approach 500 years of colonization. Colonized by Spain for more than 300 years and the U.S. for more than a century (save a bloody three-year stint by Japan in the last world war), Guam today is the lamb tied closest to the war the white house is provoking in the Asia-Pacific region.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that the world’s biggest anti-terrorism exercise will be held this year in Guam, underscoring yet again our thirty-mile island’s strategic value to Empire.
Exercise TopOff4 is part of a series of large-scale maneuvers established to strengthen U.S. ability to respond to “terrorist” attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. It is being celebrated as the super-sized version of last year’s Valiant Shield war games?also played in Guam waters?wherein the U.S. mobilized 22,000 U.S. military personnel, 280 aircraft, and 30 ships. Valiant Shield was already the largest joint military exercise since the Vietnam War. That weekend, water was cut off to a number of the villages on the Navy water line. The people of those villages went some thirty out of sixty days without running water.
At the center of this muscle flexing is the scheduled transfer of 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
Of the 10.3 billion dollars tied to the transfer, exactly zero dollars have been allocated to development of the local community outside the U.S. bases. Meeting after meeting with the U.S. Department of Defense officials have proved empty, as senior military officers repeat only that they lack the authority to commit to anything or answer our questions.
Recent testing has revealed high levels of agent-orange and purple exposure, radiation exposure, and illegal dumping of chemicals throughout the island as manifested in PCBs found in Apra Harbor and Cocos Lagoon. The Environmental Protection Agency continues to issue public warnings to avoid eating fish caught in the southern waters of Guam due to dangerous levels of radioactive poison in the area. A renowned physician and professor at the University of Guam has recently received death threats and other harassment for publicly exposing the documented connections between U.S. dumping of radioactive waste and the extraordinarily high rates of cancers, dementia, and neurological diseases among Chamorus.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has made clear its intention to proceed with the development of a global reconnaissance hub at Andersen Air Force Base on the northern end of Guam in direct violation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its own national environmental laws. It also plans to proceed with the construction of a landfill over seven natural rivers in the south of Guam, which will harm if not eliminate endangered species in the area.
Guam is called the land of the rosaries. She is a land littered with cemeteries. But her people have wrestled a truth to the ground: that what we love we can save.
For more information, please feel free to contact Debbie Quinata at dquinata@gmail.com, Lisa Natividad at lisanati@yahoo.com, or Julian Aguon at julianaguon@gmail.com.
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Served at Andersen AFB from 1961 through June 1963. Have many diseases related to AO and other herbicides. Would like to have more info. about the spraying and storing of these herbicides on Guam along with radioactive contamination that infiltrated the Island.
Hello George. I’m sorry to hear this has happened to you. There are so many causes where people such as yourself were unsuspectingly exposed to such dangerous toxins–where it was (publicly) assumed that such exposure was harmless…. It’s truly frightening.
By the looks of things, information about the use of AO in Guam is pretty scarce, but bluewaternavy.org has a page dedicated to Reports on Guam Contamination. Among some recent news, there’s a map listing over a hundred dump sites. I hope this can be of use to you.
Ahni.
GEORGE,I SERVED AT AAFB JAN 1962 THUR JULY 1963,I ALSO HAVE A DISEASE RELATED TO AO,I HAVE MULPITLE MYLEMOA,BONE CANCER,WOULD BE INSTERED IN TALKING WITH YOU.
Jim,I likewise would like to talk with you about Guam. How can we get ahold of each other?George V. Markovich
If you both agree, I could send you each other’s email.
Would really like to hear from you guys! Ahni, I have been keeping up with the bluewaternavy.org and am aware that two veterans were granted claims who have been exposed to AO and other herbicides on Guam. Unbelievable about the dumpsides on AAFB.
PLEASR GIVE GEORGE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS,THANKS JIM
George.. Yeah, the number of dumpsites surprised me too. Good to hear there’s been some resolution.
Jim.. I will send George your email in a few minutes. Take Care.
DID YOU SEND GEORGE MARKOVICH MY E-MAIL ADDRESS?THANKS,JIM VICKERS
I was on Guam in 1973 and have diabetes. VA continues to deny my claim for disability. They so far have not accepted any information from EPA or the GAO, that I have located to enforce my claim.
Has anyone anyother information that can assist me in my case.
I was on Guam in 1972 for a few months before being sent to Vietnam. While I was on Guam I was stationed at the Naval Air Station. I am also filing a claim for disability in connection with exposure to AO. I sure it”s possible I was exposed in both countries. I’m not positive but I believe that AO could have been sprayed around the air field at the Naval Air Station before I got there. Anyone out there with info on spraying there.
There has been three cases approved by the DAV for Guam, but yet they still refuse the evidence. If all roads leads to AAFB for AO they should grant disability. The DAV has turned thier heads, as well as the DOD for us and other military members stationed on Guam. The VA is now changing the wording about exposer outside of Viet Nam and its water ways. I have EPA, GOA documents to back up my claim, but yet it gets denied. Blue Water Navy is a good site for information. The Military only keeps there records for two years.
PLEASE CONTACT ME I HAVE ALL KINDS OF INFORMATION ON GUAM
I WAS ON GUAM IN 1964 1966 I ALSO HAVE CLAIM PENDING OVER 5 YRS
Please pass my email address to Doug Kelly. I have had a case pending for a very long time. I was on AAFB in 1973. I have Diabetes and also Prostate Cancer.
DEAR RAY I HAVE DOW CHEMICAL REPORT ASTAR REPORT EPS REPORTS PICTURES OF BARELLS OF AGENT ORANGE NEWS PAPER CLIPINGS MY CLAIM JUST WENT TO REVEW BOARD LAST WEEK
Would you please give my e-mail address to Doug Kelley,We would love to have any info pertaining to A O at AAFB.
Thank you.
JIM VICKERS
JIM VICKERS,
I NEVER DID GET YOUR E-MAIL AND WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH YOU. WE BOTH SERVED ON GUAM ABOUT THE SAME DATES AND TIMES. E-MAIL george.markovich@med.va.gov
I was stationed in Guan in the Late 57 and early 58
and I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and Have been waiting about 16 moinths on my Claim.
Good Luck and God Bless you for Serving.
I would encourage all who served on Guam and other islands where AO was sprayed to contact your Federal Representatives and ask that they co-sponser upcoming legislation. The Agent Orange Equity Act. HR 6562. There are only about 5 or 6 states that have had representatives co-sponser this legislation so far. Their office can pull this HR up and tell you exactly who co-sponsered so far. This is a must for those who served outside of Vietnam where AO was sprayed. Once this is passed the VA will no longer be able to deny our claims.
Hi all, I was stationed on AAFB from 1978 to 1980. I have Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Follicular Cancer I was in stage 3 back in 2006 when I was diagnosed. I have had a weird rash that comes and goes since I got home from the service. I have a nervous condition which they claim is restless leg but not typical restless leg. I also have asthma that is not asthma but I respond to asthma medications. I suffer from pain in my bones and have had this since I was in the military. I get awful pains in my abdomen. I have had many test with no results to get me answers. I have even had my appendix removed twice!! There is no doubt in my mind that this is all from Agent Orange. I am on a quest to prove it. Though right now I am at a VA hospital in NJ waiting to go to New York for neurosurgery surgery to remove a tumor on my lumbar spine. VA hospital care dehumanizes you. But that is another story! There was a claim that someone won for compensation. He had diabetes and said it was from AO on Anderson. This is the web site with this info. I hope it works. Any and all info from anyone is always welcome here. Good luck to you. Please say a prayer for me. I need all I can get right now!
http://www.va.gov/vetapp05/files4/0527748.txt
Everyone, My late husband ran the El Greco & Fiddlers Green clubs on Guam from 11-30-1979 to 6-01-1981 Anyone remember him please contact me. Have been fighting for my DIC since he died from Lung Cancer 11-01-2002. I need help & may have some info to help you too. Ahni, please give out my address!!!! Thanks to all for any help. My husband was at NAS Agana as SH1 James Paul Long, sometimes known as JP. Also can check out Navy Vets sight for more info about where & when he was stationed.
Janeen..I ran across your post while doing my own search. My father managed the Fiddler’s Green on Guam in 1952-53. At that time it was located in a quonset hut at the south end of the NAS runway. It was later rebuilt as a concrete structure and relocated elsewhere. I don’t suppose you would know which Fiddler’s Green your husband managed? I’ve been looking for a photo of the original quonset Fiddler’s Green for years. Thanks if you can help!
dhavens94606 at yahoo dot com.