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2013 July 31 - August 13 TOP3 [US FORCES]

US military helicopter crash fuels Okinawans’ anger

Amid growing protests against the additional deployment of Osprey aircraft to the U.S. Futenma air base in Okinawa, a U.S. military helicopter crash stoked the anger of local residents.

A HH 60 helicopter belonging to the U.S. Kadena base on August 5 crashed at the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Hansen during a training exercise. The crash site is only two kilometers away from residential areas.

Toma Atsushi, mayor of Ginoza Village which hosts Camp Hansen, on August 6 visited the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense to demand a thorough investigation into the crash and implementation of measures to prevent a recurrence. Later on the same day, the village assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to protest against the accident.

On the same day, Okinawa City Mayors’ Association President and Naha Mayor Onaga Takeshi and Okinawa Association for Heads of Towns and Villages President and Haebaru Town Mayor Shiroma Toshiyasu jointly held a news conference to express their protests against the helicopter crash. Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu submitted a written request to the U.S. Forces in Okinawa demanding a halt to the operation of HH 60s.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on August 6 at a news conference held at the Diet building said, “(The crash site is) just two kilometers away from residential areas which include child-care centers and elementary schools. The helicopter crash again illustrated that the U.S. military is causing unreasonable danger to Okinawan people.”

Pointing out that U.S. military aircraft have caused 540 accidents including 45 crashes in Okinawa (as of the end of 2012) since Okinawa’s return to Japan in 1972, Ichida said that the risk of accidents cannot be eliminated as long as military bases are there, and urged Tokyo and Washington to consider removing U.S. bases from the prefecture.

The U.S. Marine Corps Headquarters in Okinawa on August 5 announced that they decided to temporarily postpone their plan to deploy additional Ospreys to the Futenma air base.