Our WWII Ocean Adventure

This past Friday we got to experience WWII history up close and personal. The Marshall Islands are known for incredible diving and snorkeling of stunning coral reefs and WWII wrecks. We have become friends with another Ribelle couple (Ribelle is what American’s/white people are called here – the name was given when the missionaries first starting coming here and introducing the Marshallese to clothing. Ribelle actually means person of clothing). So this couple invited us to go with them to a deserted island about a 30 minute boat ride from Majuro. They found a nice Marshallese man who agreed to take us on his boat to the island. All it cost us was a tank of gas and bag of rice. So we loaded up the rice and the other couple loaded up the gas (we actually brought a few extra tanks – you know… just in case).

We met the two Marshallese men and their boat at a dock and jumped on board. One man stayed at the back of the boat to bail the water…. Can you imagine?

Since I had a baby with me I got the seat of honor, which meant the seat that took on the least amount of water out in the open seas. They even put an umbrella over me to try to shield me from getting wet. As we got close to the island we could see what we had set out to discover! A WWII fighter plane that had been shot down off the coast of Majuro. The boat dropped us off at the island and we unloaded onto the pristine beaches of Jelter Island. We were the only people on the entire island! The local men got some coconuts for us and showed us how to open them and eat them. We spent a long time throwing them on rocks to break them open. A machete sure could have come in handy.

The Marshallese men took Chris and Chase and the other guys out on the boat to go spear fishing. If you have read the book Surviving Paradise you know all about this. It was pretty amazing to hear Chris tell us about it. He wasn’t able to catch one fish with the spear, but the two Marshallese got about twenty each. They speared the fish and then hooked it through the eyeball on a wire around their waste. Chris called them floating shark bait, but it all worked out. They also brought back two clams the size of bowling balls. The fish would be dinner for the men.

Then the men went snorkeling around the WWII plane. It even had the machine gun still attached. There are many legends and stories that the Marshallese tell about this plane. The one they told us on this day is that the pilot was shot down, walked backward in the sea so no one would recognize him as an American and then lived underground in the sand for months. When the Marshallese found out about him they were scared of the Japanese so turned him in so the Japanese could behead him. Regardless of the stories it was pretty amazing to see. The plane is upright like it was almost meant to land there with the propellers sticking out of the ocean. I was able to see it from the boat on the way back to Majuro. The current was too strong at that point so we couldn’t swim, but I got to see it just the same. Chris got some great pictures with the underwater camera.

On the island we got to experience true beauty. When the men were out of sight in the boat, I was able to take off my skirt and just wear running shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt. I felt so scandalous! The other girls had on bathing suits and when we saw the boat come into view we all ran as fast as we could to cover our knees again.

Rickson was a champ on the boat and slept on the trip out and back. He loved the beach. Chase was a champ on the boat for the two hours they went spear fishing. He had to hang out on the boat while the men fished. He said he had a great time and really enjoyed his snorkeling once he was back to the island.

Once again, another unforgettable day!