There is a new lecture series at one of the restaurants on base. The subject is the history and culture of Micronesia. The first one was an overview of the history and culture of Guam. Today we got lectures on the liberation of Saipan and Tinian. For once I saw a presentation on Tinian that did NOT feature a picture of a mushroom shaped cloud over Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

My attitude towards Pacific WWII history has changed since I met Wakana. The Japanese in WWII were always pretty much faceless and homogenous to me. But Wakana lost relatives in that war. Three people from her family "disappeared" in the Pacific islands. The written genealogy of her family was destroyed in the bombing of Tokyo. Now when I see war pictures of Japanese dead I actually have a reaction to the pictures I did not have before. Those have become people for me, not just a faceless enemy from a long time ago.