Around the World in 128 Days - Saipan

 

Travel Day 47 - February 19, 2024 - 6,564 Steps

The brilliant blue water in different shades that surrounds Saipan inside the reef, with a small island in the distance.

And a video of the above view.

The traditional greeting on Saipan, pronounced "half a day".

Cell block of the jail built by the Japanese in 1930 and reportedly where Amelia Earhart was imprisoned, though there is absolutely no documentation to substantiate those rumors.

With Saipan trying to bring in more tourists to help the local economy, it's understandable why claims like this can come to the fore.

The guide on our bus said this was a Sherman tank. Everyone begged to differ with him when it sported a Japanese flag and didn't look anything like a Sherman tank.

Navy Prepositioning ship, one of two stationed at Saipan. Each ship has sufficient equipment, supplies and ammunition to support a Marine Expeditionary Brigade of about 17,000 personnel for 30 days. 

The remains of a tank disabled during the landings 80 years ago. The Prepositioning ship in the background brings to mind with a great deal of imagination what the scene might have looked like during the invasion.

Close of of one of the relics.

Another piece of equipment, this one more like a Sherman tank.

Appearing above the trees some 5 miles distant is Tinian Island.

Tinian was where the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber named after the wife of the plane's pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets took off from carrying a bomb nicknamed Little Boy which it dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima August 6, 1945,

Not a B-29, but it sparked the imagination

Inside a Japanese bomb storage bunker.

The two sets of steel blast doors can be seen.

Linda, the ever vigilant found this relic.

Japanese 20 mm anti-aircraft gun similar to what is at the Nimitz museum in Fredericksburg.

Another one in very sad shape.

She always has to look inside.

Wonder if any of the Japanese crew survived given the size of the gapping hole.

Looking out the opening the driver likely used in his last moments on earth.

Displays in the museum.

The cost in lives to take the island was the high price paid to quicken the end of the war.

Bird photo.

Linda returning to the bus. Why I'm posting it, I don't have a clue. And what was that look I got just before she sat down.

A casino built by a Chinese real estate developer with more money than sense. The people of Saipan didn't want it. There were serious problems with the quality of construction for some reason and the building is now condemned.

This photo is for Dianne where 19 year old Donald M. Robison, a Marine PFC whose actions on the first day of the invasion resulted  in his being awarded the Silver Star for bravery and who after the war became Diane's father. Taken from near the beach, it shows a tiny section of the long line of hills where the Japanese machine gun and artillery was placed and which now has modern buildings erected on it. 

For some reason Linda is having trouble with me requesting that she place my underwear on hangers in the future just like the ship's laundry does, rather than giving me a pile of undies and telling me to put them away. Getting her to do helpful things is at times like herding cats. Poor Bob.

A rousing send off from Saipan.

Dancers, the youngest only 5.

George and Lina had a night of 60's music.

Snippets of the song I sometimes play to wake up the wife.