Copy of my email sent out today to Gen. James Amos, Admiral Jonathan Greenert and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.. ------------- Good day, Please be informed that the intended recipients of this email are the following individuals; James Amos Commandant of the Marine Corps Headquarters, US Marine Corps 3000 Marine Corps, Pentagon Washington, DC 20350-3000 Jonathan Greenert Chief of Naval Operations Office of the Chief of Naval Operations 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20350-2000 Honorable Ray Mabus Secretary of the Navy Office of the Secretary of the Navy 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20350-2000 Gentlemen, Good day. My name is J. Rick Perez and I am a Marine Corps veteran and proud American who is a member of a Guam based community grassroots organization called We Are Guahan. We Are Guahan is comprised of almost 3,000 citizens throughout the country who are curious about a pending military build-up on Guam. Some of us support the build-up, some of us oppose the build-up and some of us have more questions about the build-up. I am personally concerned about the environmental impacts and consequences, both known and unknown, of additional Marine Corps training and Navy undersea testing and training that is expected to take place throughout the Marianas Islands chain and throughout the Marianas Islands Testing and Training Study Area. I am writing to you to convey my displeasure with the reported behavior, as seen below, of some active duty personnel who were on Guam a couple of years back. Ms. Cara Flores-May shared a story about disrespect and dehumanizing behavior conducted by at least a couple of active duty Marine Corps personnel during a conversation overheard at a local cafe on Guam. Her testimony was made earlier this week on Guam at the SEIS community event series. This is how Ms. Cara Flores-May reported the incident on the We Are Guahan Facebook page public forum a couple of days ago: “....Attached into this letter is the remarks made by In response to Lee Webers article in the PDN, (see article here… tinyurl/npkwac8) I feel that it would be irresponsible not to remind people that Lee Weber isnt exactly an expert in respect -- especially when it comes to the Chamoru people and our accent. A few years back, Lee Weber took part in a conversation at Mermaid Tavern in which he and other participants strategized about how to gain community support of the buildup by reminding our manåmko of WWII so that they would remember how painful war times were. Psychologists and counselors would refer to this as retraumatization of the victim. Lee Weber sat with Colonel Pond, Marine PIO Aisha Bakkar, Paula Conhain, director of communications from Washington and one other woman who I couldnt identify. They strategized that they would work with village mayors to achieve this while isolating groups (like We Are Guåhan) who were gaining too much influence (Biba We Are Guåhan!) at the time. In this same conversation, participants made fun of a Chamoru gentleman because he had a Chamoru accent and missing teeth. They joked about his accent and UOG degree. I find it almost entertaining that Lee Weber is now writing a column about respect. Laughable if it werent so disgusting.” Here is the YouTube link of Ms. Mays comments gentlemen: https://youtube/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NsHQe-Ai9k4 Gentlemen, this is not appropriate behavior. This reported behavior does not make for good community relations, it is disrespectful with negative racial overtones and could have simply been avoided. I ask that you please produce a formal apology addressed to Ms. Cara Flores-May, to the Chamorro people of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands and to the University of Guam for the inappropriate behaviors reported above. Your attention in addressing this matter is appreciated. Best regards, J. Rick Perez copies: Members of the 32nd Guam Legislature We Are Guahan Washington Post MZ Bordallo, M.C.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 21:42:30 +0000
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