[GeoStL] Re: NGR - Maybe we can all chip in and get this?
- From: Eric & Dayna East <believer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 20:02:21 -0600
Jim,
The comments were made in fun & not as a slap in your face.
I don't understand why you always seem to get so up tight & try to censor
everyone else's
speech while all the while advancing your own agenda. I personally am not
offended by or
intimidated by your views, in fact, I welcome them & would never try to have
you censored.
However, your insinuation that the military was somehow in the wrong for
threatening to
"shoot" at the zodiac is just ludicrous. The captain of the green peace ship
should know
better than try to get that close to a Navy ship, especially when he had such a
precious cargo
on board! In my opinion he acted very irresponsibly! In all probability they
meant they would
use fire hoses to "shoot" at the zodiac, but even if they meant guns, so what!
Have you ever
hear of the USS Cole?!
I would like to correct you on something though. The green peace ship in
question was not the
Rainbow Warrior, it was the Sirius.
God bless!
Eric
Jim Bensman wrote:
> -
> > It's too small to kill very many dolphins. Now the carrier I was on, USS
> > Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-69, that was a BIG carrier. 1092 ft. long, 257
> > ft wide & 18 stories from top to bottom.
> > We had a run in with green peace off of the coast of Palma De Mallorca,
> > Spain. They were protesting our presence since we were nuke powered &
> > they thought it would be a good idea to have their teeny tiny cutter try
> > to cut us off, but when we didn't turn they DID! LOL Then they decided
> > to send out their little rafts & try to throw paint balls on our ship,
> > but we just blasted them with fire hoses as they approached us. I'm not
> > sure i've ever seen anything so funny! :-)
> >
> > Eric
> >
>
> I do not think Believer and a couple of other's comments belong on this
> list. Nor does this message. But I think it is important to add context to
> what Believer is laughing about. While I do not belong to Greenpeace, I am
> thankful there are people out there willing to risk their lives to call
> attention to some of the things our military has done. One of the main
> things Greenpeace goes after the military for is their toxic waste or as
> Reeves says, "spewing pollution." Lots of people needlessly die because of
> this.
>
> Here is a link to download a mp3 of a beautiful song about the true story of
> the death of a 6 year old on Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior (the ship Believer
> is talking about) and the navy threatening to shoot at her and other sick
> kids. She died from the toxic waste our military left in the Philippines.
>
> http://webpages.charter.net/jbensman1/death
>
> A friend of mine (Danny Dolinger) is performing it. (I recorded it on my
> PDA. It is amazing how good it sounds.)
>
> Here is the picture (mentioned in the song) Crizel drew:
>
> http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/toxfreeasia/updates/memoriam.html
>
> and some more information and her picture:
>
> http://www.facessolutions.net/news/pressreleases/DC_chapter_crizel_commemora
> tion_week.html
>
> Here is what the song is based on and it should give context to Believer and
> Reeve's comments:
>
> Death of Crizel Jane Valencia
> February 25, 2000
> Rainbow Warrior
>
> Manila, Philippines, Pier 15: At 1445 I, as ship's nurse, was summoned to
> the bridge to examine a child that had just arrived on board. She was one
> of a group of about twenty children visiting us that had grownup on or near
> the Clark Air Base or Subic Navy Base. Both bases were abandoned by the
> United States in 1992. Massive amounts of toxic materials were left at
> each site and each of the kids visiting us have illnesses that have been
> attributed to this toxic legacy. On examining Crizel my impression was
> that she was an extremely sick child. She was conscious and responsive to
> questions, but extremely lethargic. Her grips were very weak, but she did
> follow that and other requests appropriately. She was very thin and
> appeared small for her six years of age although I'm not familiar with
> normal size for age in Philippine children. There was significant bruising
> on the visible parts of her body and her head was devoid of any hair. Her
> radial pulse was weak but present at a rate of 70 beats per minute. Her
> respirations were unlabored at 16 per minute. There was noticeable red
> blood slowly oozing from her gums.
>
> In discussions with Crizel's mother, as translated by Greenpeace toxics
> campaigner, Von Hernandez, I learned that Crizel had leukemia, had been
> receiving chemotherapy and transfusions and was missing a scheduled
> every-other-day transfusion by coming to the Rainbow Warrior. She had
> bloody emesis once during the hour and a half drive to the ship and her
> lethargy was unusual in that she was typically a "bubbly" child. Her
> mother suspected that the emesis was coming from her stomach since it was
> "darker" than that apparent on her gums. I left room for the possibility
> that the blood had been swallowed from the gums then regurgitated. My
> feeling was that it would be best for Crizel to be taken directly to the
> hospital based on my cursory exam and indications that her condition had
> deteriorated this day. As we proceeded to the keyside Crizel became quite
> agitated, crying and beating on her mother's shoulder, clearly because she
> didn't want to leave the ship. This was to be the most energetic I saw her
> all afternoon.
>
> On the dock we were met by Rissa Agustin, a nurse and member of the base
> cleanup task force who had accompanied the children to the Rainbow Warrior.
> In English, she gave me a more detailed medical history. Crizel was
> actually born on Clark Air Base in a community that was situated upon a
> former motor pool, an area that was later found to be highly contaminated
> with heavy metals and other toxins. Twenty thousand people had been moved
> there after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo destroyed their homes.
> Crizel was diagnosed with leukemia in March of 1999. Recently her doctor
> deemed the disease endstage and halted her chemotherapy treatment.
> Transfusions of platelets had recently become whole blood transfusions and
> the schedule had just been changed from twice weekly to every other day.
> Rissa's impression was that the transfusions were palliative only. She
> also reported that Crizel's doctor had clearly stated that doing what
> Crizel wanted was now more important than any medical care, and had
> specifically encouraged the trip to the Rainbow Warrior. After a further
> brief consultation with Crizel's mother we all agreed that Crizel should
> stay. During this conversation Crizel vomitted a small amount of red blood
> tinged, mucoid emesis.
>
> Through the afternoon I discovered a bit more about Crizel and her desire
> to visit the Rainbow Warrior. She learned several months ago that she was
> going to have a chance to see the ship and had been looking forward to it
> ever since. Later, she sat down and drew a picture. It shows the ship
> sailing on a calm sea with blue sails unfurled. The sun is shining through
> puffy clouds, a rainbow arcs across the sky and a flock of birds are
> soaring by. Four smiling children holding smiling balloons are standing on
> the beach. Three are boys wearing shorts while the fourth is a girl
> sporting a green dress and a full head of hair. Underneath the girl is the
> name 'Crizel'. The picture is titled 'Rainbow Warrior' and is dated
> February 1, 2000. This picture ended up being used as the poster
> announcing the Philippine leg of the Rainbow Warrior's Toxic Free Asia
> Tour. It was Crizel who decided that going to the ship this day was more
> important than going to the hospital for her transfusion and she'd even
> insisted on getting a new pair of shoes for the occasion.
>
> On shore had been set up a large display about our reasons for being in the
> Philippines. Alongside the photos of polluted landscapes, past Greenpeace
> actions, and sick kids(including Crizel) from the former U.S.bases, were
> several crayon drawings that Crizel had made. They are full of hearts,
> balloons, flowers, birds, bright suns, and smiling children, although one
> shows a girl with no hair. I particularly marvel at the imagination of a
> child that can see herself standing on the back of a smiling, striped
> giraffe. Perhaps she would have grown up to be an artist--there's no doubt
> that she loved to make beautiful pictures.
>
> After deciding to keep Crizel aboard, we immediately took her on a quick
> tour of the ship. This seemed to tire her, so we retired to the mess where
> she took a brief nap and threw up again. At about 1530 we took her, her
> mother, several other kids, and a couple of adults for a ride on the large
> Avon inflatable. Leaving Rissa on the ship with the other kids, I took
> Crizel into the inflatable and kept her in my lap the whole time. With
> Captain Pete Willcox's steering assistance, the boat was mostly driven by
> the kids. Pete made especially sure that we passed within a few meters of
> the huge U.S. Navy troop transport ship, Fort McHenry. The name comes from
> the site of the War of 1812 battle which inpired the writing of America's
> national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. Across it's stern is written
> "HOME OF THE BRAVE" which is a phrase from that song. Later, we found out
> that the Navy had complained to port security who then came over to the
> Rainbow Warrior to warn us that we were coming too close to the warship and
> that the Ft. McHenry would shoot at us. We never learned whether they
> meant with bullets or water cannon. In my book wherever Crizel is is the
> home of the brave, not the residence of those who would threaten sick kids
> in an inflatable.
>
> Although she remained quiet throughout the boatride, Crizel said she was
> enjoying herself when asked. She vomitted a small amount once. When it was
> her turn to drive she sat up straight, grasped the wheel with both hands,
> and even did a pretty decent job with a nice light touch to her steering.
> Pictures taken from the Rainbow Warrior show her eyes wide open and a
> smile spread across her face.
>
> Since Rissa was aboard the Rainbow Warrior, I stayed in the inflatable for
> the three more boat rides we gave to different groups of kids. When I
> returned to the ship about 1650, Crizel was asleep in my bunk, her mother
> was in the cabin giving an interview and a volunteer was watching over
> Crizel. I was assured that everything was fine and no one needed anything.
> At 1705 I was summoned to my cabin and found both Rissa and Crizel's
> mother in tears and on their way out. Rissa stopped to tell me that Crizel
> was gone and that they were taking her home. One newspaper reported that
> medical personell aboard the ship had tried to resuscitate her, but it
> would surprise me if Rissa did that. Crizel's time had come and her
> suffering was finally over.
>
> I don't know if the skipped transfusion, exertion of the drive to the ship,
> and excitement of being aboard used up the last of Crizel's scanty reserves
> and hastened her death by a few days. Alternatively, it's possible that
> she would have departed sooner if she didn't have the Rainbow Warrior to
> look forward to. I choose to believe the latter. People now far away chose
> to leave a toxic stew where Crizel would later be born. Crizel didn't
> choose to be sick. She didn't choose to die young, but how she lived,
> until the very end, was what she wanted. She blessed all of us by inviting
> us into her world on her last day. I'm glad we accepted the invitation.
>
> The medical professional in me and the imperative to document everything
> got me to sit down at this computer. However, as I started typing I found
> that cold clinical facts wouldn't come by themselves. So, I guess this has
> become as much a eulogy as a medical report. I hope I've done justice to
> both aims. If I'm lucky, those reading this will understand how honored I
> feel to have known Crizel for the short time that I did.
>
> I'm told that the United States left the bases in a huff after the
> Philippine government decided not to renew their contracts. This is no
> excuse for leaving so much poison behind, but even if it was, the point has
> certainly been made. Kids are dying now. I'm a citizen of the United
> States. It has given me an education, a rewarding career, and decent food,
> shelter, clothing and health care for my entire life. I can't describe how
> angry and ashamed I am that these benefits came, in part, as a result of
> the harm we've done to Crizel and countless children like her. The only way
> I can finish this inadequate essay is to commit myself to doing everything
> I can to get America, a country with so much wealth while the Philippines
> has so little, to take responsibility for it's past and finally clean up
> the bases, and to never repeat this horror again. I hope others will also
> be moved to demand this of Congress, the President, and the Pentagon.
>
> Peace,
> Lawrence Butch Turk, R.N.
>
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