Trip of a lifetime in the Northern Mariana Islands, circa
1970ish – Pagan, Tinian, and Saipan
Back in the early 1970’s, two of my fellow flight attendants and
I took a vacation together that included a stop in Guam where my father was
living at the time. He offered us a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a small island
in the Mariana archipelago named Pagan. Unfortunately, my camera jammed on this
part of the trip and thus all the pictures are from the interwebs.
Pagan is beautiful with both white and black beaches, palm trees
– everything you find on a gorgeous Pacific island. We were able to play a bit
at the black sand beach – shoes required! - and in the warm water.
I have no idea who is enjoying my beach!
There were a small group of islanders, maybe 50, living there at the time. However, they were evacuated in 1981 when one of the volcanoes blew. To the best of my knowledge, they have not
been allowed to return due to
various political machinations, the worst idea being to use Pagan as a bombing
target for the US military. Pagan would be far better served as an
eco-destination for people wishing to see the natural world and its unique
flora and fauna.
The three of us boarded a small prop plane for the flight to
Pagan. We were graciously greeted by the chief of the clan and invited to join
him and his family for lunch. Prior to lunch, we took a short tour of the area
and were shown coconut crabs in the wild. I’ve never seen such an animal before
or since! Huge, scary……and delicious. I don’t remember exactly what we had for
lunch, but it did include crab meat which was sweet and tender.
BTW, this is SMALL coconut crab!
Back to the aircraft which now had a flat tire. The islanders
lifted the wings using their backs to allow one to pump up the tire with a bicycle
pump! One must make do with what is on hand for sure.
On our return trip to Guam, an islander joined us along with his
fruit bats tied to the inside of the airplane. I guess this is about the same
as chickens and pigs on busses in some parts of the world.
Just change the tree branches and flowers and substitute metal
bars on the ceiling of the plane and this is what the bats looked like, just bunches of them hanging
there – and they were live! Thankfully, we didn’t have any fruit bat
with our coconut crab – at least I don’t think so.
Another day, Dad arranged for us to take a trip to Tinian, the
launching site for the Enola Gay and the atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki
and Hiroshima. This is what the runway looked like when we were there. We drove
up and down the empty runway.
On to Saipan where it is believed by many that Emelia Earhart
and Fred Noonan were held prisoner by the Japanese and then executed prior to
the American’s arrival. Our
guide showed us an almost overgrown jail where they were held by the Japanese.
It was a very spooky place.
Then we visited Suicide Cliff where thousands of Saipan
residents and Japanese soldiers, fearing how they would be treated by the
American forces, jumped to their deaths. The fighting in Saipan was one the
Pacific’s worst battles and Hirohito told the islanders that the Americans
would kill them, and it would be better to honor Japan by jumping. There were
many Japanese who lived on Saipan since it had been ceded to Japan much
earlier.
It is so disconcerting to
look at the present-day beauty of a place and realize that unspeakable carnage
took place earlier. It does bring history to life in a way that a textbook is
unable to do. I felt sad for all the people involved in the battle - the American
and Japanese warriors and the terrified citizens of the island.
We left Guam after having a great glass-bottomed boat ride over
the gorgeous coral bed and a few libations in a small local bar, heading back
home to go to work.
This trip was so interesting because my father had the
connections to great guides who enjoyed sharing their special places with three
crazy American women – a brunette, a redhead, and a blond-at-the-time!
I’m so glad I get to share this adventure with you as it gave me
time to focus on a special trip in my life and to remember the joy of traveling
with great friends to places we knew only from history classes.
