Okinawan lockdown to stay in place until at least March 3rd, and a rumour
This comes straight from the horses mouth (that horse being Lt General Richard C. Zilmer in Okinawa) that all SOFA status personnel on Okinawa will continue to be under lockdown until March 3rd at the earliest. The full story from Stars & Stripes is below:
Lt. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer has decided to continue a “period of reflection” that has all SOFA-status personnel on the island restricted to the bases and off-base homes.
The restriction, which also applies to Marines at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Camp Fuji in mainland Japan, will be reassessed March 3, he announced in a statement released Monday.
Zilmer, the Okinawa Area coordinator and senior U.S. general on the island, said the restriction will remain in place guntil further notice while service leaders continue to review procedures and orders that govern the discipline and conduct of all U.S. servicemembers serving in Okinawa.h
“I need leaders at all echelons in all the services to continue to reinforce what the vast majority do well as forward serving ambassadors of America,” Zilmer said.
“For the indefinite future, SOFA-status personnel will continue to be limited to their place of duty or employment, worship, education, or medical or dental treatment,” the release stated. “SOFA-status personnel are authorized to transit between U.S. military installations or their off- base residence via privately owned vehicle, military supported transportation, or commercial taxi.
“I highly encourage our servicemembers, civilians and family members to continue to utilize the plethora of activities and services aboard all camps and installations on Okinawa,” Zilmer said.
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Don’t know about anyone else, but that sounds like it might be extended after March 3rd too. Hopefully not too long after - my non-military dive buddies don’t like getting into the water when it’s chilly!
But now onto a new rumour about our original rape back on February 11th (was it only 2 weeks ago? Seems like it’s been dragging on for ages now). I hasten to add that this is coming from an unconfirmed source (what I mean by that is not one of the news wires, it’s come from Japanese friends of my friend). Anyway, for here it is for what it’s worth:
Seems old girl worked out of one of the red lights and that the old SSgt Hadnott met her there has used her services a few times and happened to recognize her on the street. Stopped, picked her up and thought he could get a free round for being such a good customer. When he refused to pay after the fact, she cried rape. She was found eating soba squatting yanki-style, not fleeing from the car in tears.
As I said, this is just hearsay, but there are plenty of other stories being thrown around (some true, some probably not), so I thought I’d add this one to the mix. Let me know what you think
or Discuss this Article
I’ve heard these rumors about her having a history of enjo-kosai and have read it on a few Japanese blogs, but the posts always contain identical text (or nearly) which seems to point to a single person spreading this across the Japanese blogosphere. If you are ever able to track down a reliable source please post it up.
Thanks for that comment Jason. If you could post a link to an entry in a Japanese blog, it would be great appreciated. And for those of you that don’t know what enjou kosei is, click here for an explanation
Well of course it’s nothing more than rumors and speculation. A few examples follow.
#1 and #2 in the comments on this Office Matsunaga blog post:
http://officematsunaga.livedoor.biz/archives/50533401.html
notice that #3 and #5 are calling them out on it though. Keep in mind that there hasn’t been (and won’t be) any confirmation of this in the mainstream J-media due to Japanese privacy laws protecting juveniles.
Also, this next blog post asks what would motivate a 14-year-old girl to let a strange man drive her home… when even kindergarten kids know not to go along with strangers:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/intbil/51886413.html
Again in the comments we find speculation about whether she was involved in “supported dating”.
Anyway, whether she was/is involved in this is really just a distraction from the case. of whether this guy raped her or not.
Well he didn’t rape her. As I have stated a few times, the deputy prosecutor told the press a while back that “he did not have sex with her” but that they were still going to push for the rape charge. Of course, this would shoot down the rumour posted in my original post, but it’s just more things to think about.
Thanks for the links. I know they are not confirmed and probably more hearsay, but I like to keep track of sources.
Right now it is true, it is still an alleged rape. Soon the Japanese police will have to release him if they don’t charge him, coming up on the 20-day window that they can hold him…
I thought it was 23 days, with two 5-day extensions (that have been applied for and accepted)