Majuro

Here's what he had to say.

Exceptional bad weather presently in Majuro Marshall Islands.

The trade winds, which for living memory here have blown from the northeast, are now reversed and it's been blown southwest, west, northwest for four months.

Unprecedented and caused by the Super El Nino, all the atolls are settled based on the prevailing wind and the change in direction of the prevailing wind is causing havoc.

Kelly Island is an isolated island with no lagoon.

About an hour flight from Majuro and there's no lagoon, only three-fourths of a mile wide and three-fourths of a mile long.

Very, very limited resources.

Welcome

In World War II, the division's 165th Infantry had been the renowned old 69th New York Infantry, also known as the Fighting 69th and Fighting Irish of World War I fame.

the first unit of this regiment was organized in seventeen seventy five as the war in europe grew in intensity the selective service act gave the president the power to federalize the national guard thus the twenty seventh division was activated by president roosevelt on twenty five september nineteen forty it was first sent to fort mcclellan alabama for intensive training and then in december nineteen forty one to california on twenty eighth february nineteen forty two the first elements of the division sailed from san francisco and landed at the town of hilo on the big island of hawaii during the next two months the division units were scattered throughout the island for local defense and training that was the start of the longest wartime overseas service of any national guard division in the united states army in the fall of nineteen forty two the division was directed to assemble on the island of oahu major-general ralph c smith took over command at that time then in midsummer nineteen forty three orders came to prepare the one hundred sixty fifth infantry regiment reinforced by a battalion of the one hundred fifth infantry and an artillery battalion for an assault to capture the coral atoll of macon in the gilbert islands chain Following a four-day battle there, in November 1943, the division furnished a battalion of the 106th Infantry for the unopposed occupation of Majuro in the Marshall Islands in January 1944.

The final prelude to Saipan for units of the 27th came the next month.

Two battalions of the 106th fought at Aniwatak Atoll in the Marshalls.

We want to make sure, where it really matters, that we continue to be part of setting the direction about that reform.

And in that vein, do you think it would be possible for a country like Australia to hold a country like the United States to account over some of the accusations that it's faced around the war with Iran, the strikes that it's taken, or the Majuro arrest, for example?

Well, I've been asked about that and I've responded.

But I again would say we have to work out as an international community what are the rules we really want to hold on to that matter to us.

What you need to do is to direct the financing into the right place and enable the governments to do this.

Now, we had eight Pacific Island governments in Majuro just two months ago calling for the Pacific Blue Shipping partnership, and an investment into giving us better quality next generation ships so we can avoid exactly these tragedies.

Now, this is where Australia and New Zealand and, uh, and America and Europe need to be putting their money, and if we don't put that money in it, we shouldn't be so surprised every time there's a major tragedy.

And I make the point again, your country and my country would not tolerate these standards for putting our people on our ships in the way we do it in the islands.

United still operates the famed Island Hopper flight, which Air Micronesia launched in 1968.

The flights UA 154 and 155, s- it stops on five islands, Majuro and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, followed by Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia before arriving in Guam or Hon- or Honolulu.

Of the routes it operates from Guam, the market with the highest capacity and ASM, or available seat miles, is from Guam to three cities in Japan, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, where the combined capacity surpasses the Guam-Honolulu 777 run.

The United hub on Guam also serves as a small transit hub.

So that worked out.

[laughs] The Majuro helped that.

[laughs]

But yeah, no, 100%, I think it's so normal to feel the way that you're feeling.