Time flies. Ten years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami that left many dead and destroyed the homes and lives of even more.
I still remember that day when I was still in Singapore. We were about to leave for Japan in a few more days in preparation for my one-year course as an exchange student for the staff course of the JMSDF. Then we watched the news. And saw the devastation. The tsunami. The next day, the explosions at Fukushima. More devastation. Rescues. Grief. Hope.
As a military personnel, I followed orders. Japan had deemed it safe to continue with the staff course, and the military leadership in Singapore decided that they would have to trust Japan. By the time we arrived in Japan, a few days later than originally planned, life had improved significantly from the blackouts and such from the immediate days after the earthquake. It helped that we had family here to help us out.
Being on the staff course at such a time allowed me to see up close how the JMSDF was responding to such a major disaster, and the changing public sentiments about Japan's military. All of my JMSDF classmates had been involved in some way with disaster relief, and a couple were at the very front line of response. It was a precious learning experience that could only have been given at that unique point in time.
Ten years later, I am no longer in the military, and doing something very different. But the experience and knowledge from that point in time continue to form a fundamental part of me.
It was unique. The flight to Japan only had six passengers, us and another family of three. How to forget this experience?
And when I think of the lives lost, the futures that were taken away... 😭
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