Word: islanders
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...sets over the coconut palms and tin roof homes on the remote tropical island of Yap, Tony Untalan anxiously adjusts the radio on his windowsill. He is trying to catch the news from Afghanistan, where one of his two sons in the U.S. military is stationed. But the reception in his village is poor and on this evening, he can't hear anything through the static...
...part of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), an island nation in the western Pacific Ocean that was formerly part of a U.N. trust territory administered by the U.S. after World War II. Under an agreement signed in 1986, the islands were granted independence but citizens were given the right to live and work in the U.S. and serve in its military. Initially, few enlisted. But these days, U.S. military recruiters visit local high schools annually and students sign up in droves. For FSM youths, military service means money, adventure and opportunity, a way off tiny islands with few jobs...
...stone discs weighing several thousand pounds are still used as a form of currency, but New York Yankees caps are sold in shops, Budweiser is the beer of choice and Obama stickers abound. "These islands have fallen in love with the United States of America," says Tony Babauta, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Areas, which oversees relations with FSM. "The American people rely on them to defend our freedom, and at times there is an ultimate sacrifice." (Read: "A Tiny Pacific Island Faces Climate Change...
...Some local leaders agree. "There are better options for our youths, but this is the quickest option, the fastest way to get out of Yap," says Larry Raigetal, who directs the island's Department of Youth and Civic Services and has two nephews and three cousins in the U.S. military, including one who was shot in the stomach in Iraq. "Yap doesn't have to fight this war," he adds. (See pictures of 100 years of the U.S. Army Reserve...
Since he arrived on Christmas Eve, President Obama has kept a low profile. He played golf on a military course, and watched the waves at a popular bodysurfing beach called Pyramid Rock. The President's children were treated to shave-ice treats on Saturday at Island Snow - the same store the President visited with his daughters last Christmas. (See the Obamas' 2008 Hawaii vacation...