TOKYO, June 30 (Xinhua) — An elementary school in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, held a memorial service on Tuesday in memory of the lives lost when a U. S. Army plane crashed into the school 63 years ago, killing 18 people.
The crash-prone F-100 fighter jet took off from Kadena Air Base before crashing into the residential area of Ishikawa and entering Miyamori Elementary School in present-day Uruma on June 30, 1959.
The crash involving the U. S. Army planeA U. S. army known for its injuries and misadventures, with 47 of its pilots killed in crashes over the life of the plane, killed 18 people, added 11 children and injured two hundred others.
The American pilot was shot with protection and suffered no injuries, according to official records.
The incident sparked outrage at the time in Okinawa, which is still under U. S. rule.
During Thursday’s memorial service, a moment of silence was observed and some of the 140 schoolchildren laid flowers in front of a monument on which the names of those affected are engraved and rang the “peace bell” that was placed in the schoolyard as a memorial, local media reported.
After the funeral, the relatives of those who lost their lives and those who were schoolchildren at the time of the fatal turn of fate also paid tribute to the deceased.
However, during the memorial proceedings, local media reported that U. S. Army aircraft may be observed. Uu. UU flying near the school.
Local Okinawan citizens have been forced for decades to shoulder the burden of hosting most U. S. bases. The U. S. military in Japan and have been subject to a steady stream of injuries and mishaps involving U. S. Army aircraft. USA
They also had to submit to the criminal activities of Americans connected to the base, which included heinous cases of rape and murder.
The Okinawa Prefectural Government and local citizens, because of their fundamental housing difficulties, strongly opposed the central government’s continued push with the questionable relocation of the United States Marine Corps. Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to a coastal region also on the island.
The overall plans for the new base involve at least 157 hectares of land reclaimed from crystal clear waters in front of the Henoko region and the structure of a V-shaped runway.
The plans stem from a pact between the United States and Japan in 1996, with the coastal region of Henoko selected as a replacement for the Futenma base in 1999.
Local and central governments have long disagreed over the relocation of the base, and Okinawans called for the new base to be moved out of their prefecture or Japan.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan after postwar American rule, but many locals still feel busy with U. S. forces, due to the overwhelming number of U. S. bases and troops still there.