RIMPAC l996! 30,O00 troops in Hawaii on liberty, added to a quarter million PCS. RIMPAC is a "war game" that makes the Hawaiian people only too aware of what has happened to their land.
For many people, this week has been an especially bitter reminder.
This past week hundreds of police and members of the National Guard were mobilized to bust up a community at Makua Beach, forcibly removing Hawaiians from their land and bulldozing their houses, while at the same time the U.S. military's ability to bomb and burn an entire valley only a few feet away was literally guaranteed for the next 65 years. And for the price of only $1!! Is it any wonder many people in Hawaii are completely outraged every time they hear "war games!" These so-called "war games" have defoliated, annihilated and mined entire islands and valleys. People have been shoved off of the land to make way for bombs and target practice. And when they try to find a place where they can live in peace they are threatened, criminalized, and demonized. That's what's happened this week.
What is happening at Makua Beach this week is just a glimpse of what the history of Hawaii during the last century has been all about. And it should also give you some idea of just why the U.S.-and particularly the U.S. military-is so hated by many of the people of Hawaii.
For those of you who don't know-Makua is at the farthest point West on the island of Oahu. It is literally at the end of the road. On one side of the road lies Makua Valley-a once fertile valley that belonged to the Hawaiian people, But from 1923 until 1943 the Hawaiian people were forcibly removed in waves-until in 1943 the U.S. military just took it over for target practice. And they've been bombing and burning it ever since!
On the other side of the road from Makua Valley is a long stretch of beautiful beach. For decades people who had no other place to live, or who chose to try to reclaim a "Hawaiian lifestyle," have lived there. Only a few months ago it was a community of almost 300 people, the majority Hawaiian. Living in simply built shelters, carrying in water to tend their gardens, many of these people found what they had not been able to find elsewhere in Hawaii. They found a place where they could live cheaply, and with a community that cared about them. For many of the Hawaiian people it was an especially precious place-a place where they could re-establish their relationship to the land that had been forcibly taken from them. But two months ago fully armed SWAT teams moved in to evict the entire community, claiming that they were "squatters" on the land! Some of the residents righteously refused to move. This week the Governor of the State of Hawaii called out the SWAT Teams, the sheriff's dept., and the National Guard to forcibly remove the people and destroy their homes. Today the history of Hawaii is repeating itself in Makua-as it has been continuously for more than 100 years. Hawaiians are being kicked off of their land-while the U.S. military is free to annihilate it!
But this time, like many times before, the residents did not go without putting up a fight. Some of the Makua residents most determined not to move are Vietnam vets who were sent to fight-for the supposed "American dream" in Vietnam, only to find themselves a target of the U.S.'s relentless war on the poor when they returned. These are people who are wise to the lies and crimes of the system. They are also Hawaiian, and are determined that they will never again be suckered into fighting for the country that bombs their land-but instead will fight for the right to live freely on the land that was stolen from them.
Grunts like you who come to these islands with your "fingers on the trigger" must know what you are part of. Next time you take part in so-called "war games," next time you enter your bases, next time you sit on your ship and see the oil slicks on the water, think about the people you've displaced. Think about the land you're destroying. Think about the environment you're polluting. Think about the Hawaiian people. And do something about it! For the Hawaiian people the U.S. war machine means many things.
Makua Beach and Makua Valley. You're on one side or the other. You're on the side of the thousands of people who can't afford a place to live. Or you're on the side of the U.S. military which pays $l.00 for the right to bomb and burn an entire valley for 65 years. Your heart is with the people being evicted from Makua Beach, and who have lived in the shadow of your war zone every day. Or your heart is on the Makua Valley side, which is being bombed and burned over and over again as part of preparing to do the same to another land.
Hawaiians are often told by ignorant GIs that they should appreciate the military for all that they have done-after all what would have happened if they weren't there when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That's easy! Japan wouldn't have bombed Hawaii if the U.S. wasn't here! Don't be ignorant. The U.S. wants you to be ignorant of the history, of the peoples, and of the culture of all of the places you're sent to. If you aren't, it would be damn difficult to do the things you're ordered to do! So learn about the history. Find out what is happening at Makua-on both sides of the road.
We challenge you to create a kind of atmosphere among GIs that will make it impossible for the military to order the troops to bomb and burn the land with impunity. We challenge you to tell other GIs about the history of the Hawaiian people and to find ways to speak out against the destruction of their land and their culture. We challenge you to go up against all of the racist shit that comes down all around you.
Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist, Hawaii Outpost can be contacted by writing P.O. Box 521, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96809, or by leaving a message at (808) 576-2955.