Misawa Airman: Japan disaster a 'wake-up call'

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jess Lockoski
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  He has lived in Japan since he was 19 years old and arrived here with only a single stripe on his sleeve. He is now 38 and continues to build eternal ties to a country he refers to as home. One year ago, he played an important role in Japan's tsunami relief and recovery efforts.

Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Burch, superintendent of systems engineering division, Misawa Security Operations Center, recalled the first day he took part in a nation-wide recovery phenomenon following a 9.0 earthquake-induced tsunami that battered Japan's northeast coast, March 11, 2011.

Like many service members, their dependents and Department of Defense employees, Burch learned about the destruction, mounting death toll and thousands of Japanese citizens who remained missing.

As the base became an international support hub for Operation Tomodachi, the impulse and willingness to help in any way possible turned into personal quests for many, especially for him.

"I fell in love with Japan immediately," said Burch, "I never wanted to leave. Half of my life later, I'm still here; this is home to me."

The sergeant didn't expect that a small group, including him and fellow MSOC volunteers, would rapidly form into an organization later known as Misawa Helps, with coordination from the base's American Red Cross station.

"My commander asked me if I could help organize something because he'd known I had been stationed in Japan for most of my adult life," said Burch. "I've been in Japan since 1992, and specifically I have spent 15 total years at Misawa."

Airmen, Sailors, and Soldiers from base could already be seen along Misawa's nearby coastal communities, working independently or in small groups at the city port or in neighboring Hachinohe City. However, there was no formal volunteer group established. Cities nearby were hesitant at first to take in large-scale help amidst initial recovery efforts.

Burch's wife Atsuko, a Hachinohe City native, suggested he go to her former coastal city. Days after the tsunami, he and 16 other MSOC service members showed up at an area in Hachinohe where fishermen gather. The group was reluctant to leave without providing support.

"There were many other individuals from base who went there on their own that day, yet we all shared the same agenda," Burch said.

Equipped with hard hats, gloves, shovels and their own food and water, they began to clean. Burch said he had never seen such destruction.

"It was cold and snowy, and boats were sitting on their sides in the middle of the road," he said. "Japanese citizens were in their long rubber boots, gloves and masks and methodically pulled away debris as much as they could.

"The smell was horrendous - that of diesel fuel from the washed up boats and of stagnant seawater," he added. "There was muck up to our ankles if not higher, and a lot of the local business store fronts near the fishing port had shattered windows and broken-in doors. Cars and boats looked like toys just tossed and turned on the streets or onto fences, places they shouldn't be."

By that afternoon, another Airman from Burch's group contacted Misawa's Red Cross, who had been gathering a list of eager volunteers. Through base logistics, the group of 17 grew to nearly 120 people by day's end. Along with sharing clean-up efforts and tragedy, came newfound bonds between the volunteers and local citizens.

"Those friendships, they are still going on today," said Burch. "We still keep in contact with folks we met throughout that time.

"Bilateral relationships with local Japan Self-Defense Air Force airmen have also grown stronger since then," he said. "For Japanese Defense Forces to see us out there on a volunteer basis alongside them, I feel, brought us closer together."

Instantaneously, Misawa Helps volunteers grew in numbers. As the group found other locations where people needed assistance, they realized that further south toward Iwate Prefecture, more help was necessary.

"From that point on, we were sending at least three buses of volunteers each day for 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, Monday through Saturday," Burch said. "And that lasted for 60 days straight."

According to a Misawa Red Cross coordinator, roughly 2,670 people many of whom volunteered on multiple occasions, dedicated roughly 40,570 hours of help during Misawa Helps relief efforts. Some missions were over-night clean ups that took Burch and others as far away as Miyago, Japan where the disaster caused more prevalent damage.

It was in the harder hit areas where Burch felt his heartstrings being pulled the most.

As a father of two children, whom are of half Japanese origin, Burch said his mission to a village in Noda of the Iwate Prefecture was unforgettable and emotional.

"We were cleaning up a children's school or daycare," he said. "At one point, I picked up a clock and saw how its time stopped when the tsunami had ripped through. I had realized then for a lot of these people - that was when their lives had ended ... so the magnitude of the devastation just kind of intensified the situation.

"It was life changing - something that was a life-altering event," he added. "I'd see a lot of children's boots and shoes buried in the mud and sludge. As if it wasn't something to be trashed, I'd pick them up and wouldn't want to throw them away. I'd clean them off the best I could and set them to the side. Every day there was something I saw significant to me."

Some of Misawa Helps' 93 missions also included sorting and delivery donations to Japanese orphanages and hosting good-will barbeque meals to feed cleanup crews and residents.

Although the organization's volunteer missions have ended, Burch said he and members of the base still plan on hosting cook outs as a way to continue to show support to Japanese communities.

One year later, the base residents continue to privately raise funds for donations and look for opportunities to help where they can. That display of affection is one of the many reasons why Burch said he feels joyful about the Misawa AB community.

"I feel pride," Burch said. "I have been here so long, but it's the military and this community that puts service before self."

Burch paid tribute on the disaster's anniversary by going back to several locations in Hachinohe City on March 11. He and his wife toured the same fishing port cafeteria, now remodeled, where he helped clean up. He also reunited with the port's supervisor, Takeno-san.

At a nearby warf, he reflected alongside Japanese citizens with a moment of silence and prayer at 2:46 p.m., the time when the big earthquake shook.

"It was an emotional day but it sort of closed the loop for me by reuniting with Mr. Takeno and his staff," he said.

To Burch, Japan is where he calls home. He plans on retiring from Misawa in 2015, living here as a civilian, continuing to contribute to a community he can't bear to leave.