| P-MAN XV Update #18 - Interviews and report writing. 08 April Today was kind of a slow day. After two days of 100+ foot diving, our bodies do need a bit of a break. That doesn't mean we didn't do anything. It just wasn't very strenuous. Pat spent most of the day drafting the site survey report for the Shiun find. Color glossy photos with circles and arrows and explanations. Both a classified version for government entities, and an unclass version releasable to the public. That is IF the Palauan government wants to release it. After all, it is theif wreck site. While Pat was writing, Dan was going over side-scan sonar data. That left Casey, Flip and Joe to do some interviews. We first went to the Bureau of Arts and Culture to meet up with Sylvia. She's going to get us an updated list of senior citizens in all the states. Then we're going to go to each state and make some home visits. This with a state government representative. We did house interviews on the big island years ago and it was a successful venture. We went where we wanted to, on our own schedule without a 'handler'. Oh, how the times they have changed. However, Sylvia wanted some time to get the lists together and no one was available to go with us to Airai or Aimeliik states (the southernmost states on the big island of Babeldaob). So, we went to the Seniors' Center again and had a couple of chats with folks. A nice talk, but no actionable intel. We did run into a local artist who is helping the old folks with their crafts and art. He talked about the war, peace, God, UFOs and much more. Actually, we had interviewed his father a number of years ago. Both the son and the father related the story about how the father and his brother were fishing during the war and an American fighter plane came and strafed them. The brother died in his arms, but the father was not bitter towards Americans because they brought freedom to all Palauans. The son we met today also displayed no animosity towards Americans for killing his uncle.
We've walked by his office every day that we've ever been here for the past 20 years. Although Pat bumped into him once before, long ago, this was the first official meeting for us. Of course we asked what he knew of stories from the war years and he said he would find folks for us to interview. His recollections are a bit sparse as he was born during the war. His father was Japanese and was in one of the first migration waves to Palau. He came here in 1920. A very nice visit with this former public servant of 31 years. Then out for a few supplies and a trip to the barbershop for me and Casey. Casey is an active duty Marine and you can probably guess that after two weeks, his hair was ungodly long. For a Marine. Mine was a bit bushy as well so off we went. I said I was going first as his head in its current state was what I wanted the barber to model my hair after. Once mine was back to a respectable length for me, Casey got his whacked off completely. Now I'm ready to go home. We spent some more time on the site survey report and then it was done and we went to dinner. Now we're back at the house after dinner, trying to figure out what photos to add to the report. I think I only took one today. So here are a few travelogue photos for your enjoyment:
Tomorrow will be spent traveling the big island looking for old folks to interview. - Flip Colmer |
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