Sail Morotai To Revive WW II General Mac Arthur Memories by Fardah

   Jakarta, June 23, 2012 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to attend the main ceremony at the international maritime event Sail Morotai on Morotai Island, North Maluku Province, on September 15, 2012.

        The date was picked not by accident, as it has historical significance.  On 15 September, 1944, Allied Forces from the USA and Australia, under the leadership of US Supreme Commander for the West Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur, landed on Morotai's southwest corner, where the Japanese had constructed an airstrip, but later abandoned it in favor of the island of Halmahera to the south.

        On Morotai Island, the Allied Powers later built seven air force bases to support the Liberation of the Philippines.

        According to World War II Magazine, Morotai was cleared of Japanese resistance on 14 Jan 1945 after a fierce battle. Only 40 Japanese successfully fled the area after the fall of their regimental command post. 
   Some 870 Japanese were killed and 10 captured, while 46 Americans were killed and 104 wounded. The island later played an important role in the Australian invasion of Borneo and the American operation to reclaim Leyte.

        At present, Morotai Island is a district with population of around 70,000 people, but it has been remembered in world history thanks to its important role in World War II, known as the Battle of Morotai.

         To mark the historical event, Sail Morotai on Morotai Island, North Maluku, will feature a reenactment of World War II next September, involving the Allies and Japanese forces in 1940s.

         Participants and visitors to the international maritime event will have a chance to "witness" World War II. The WWII reenactment will include skydiving, imitating Allies and Japanese parachute troops landing at Pittu Trip airstrip, built by the Allies at Daruba village, Morotai Island District.

          "Through the WWII reenactment, we would like visitors and participants of Sail Morotai to experience the 1945 War in Morotai," Chairman of the Sail Morotai Organizing Committee, Muhadjir Albar, said in the North Maluku provincial capital of Ternate early this year.

         The organizing committee has contacted the United States and other Allies, such as Australia and New Zealand, and their rival in WW II, Japan, to participate in the parachuting attraction, and they have responded positively, Albar said.

         Also, WW II veterans from those countries have been invited to Sail Morotai, with events being held at the historical battlefield.

        The Sail Morotai event seeks to promote investment and tourism potentials of North Maluku. The North Maluku provincial administration has allocated Rp78 billion for the event, while the central government contributed Rp500 billion.

        "We continue promoting the Sail Morotai event nationally and
internationally in the hope of attracting more than 10,000 visitors," he said.

        As part of the Sail Morotai overseas promotion, North Maluku Governor Thaib Armiyn, People's Welfare Agung Laksono,  and the people's welfare ministry's secretary, Prof Indroyono Soesilo, were in the United States last week.

        They presented a small bag of Morotai's soil to Major General
Emmet R Titshaw Jr at the Florida National Guard in Florida, the United States, on June 19, 2012.   
   The Florida National Guard has collected soil from various battlefields where Florida National Guard units had been deployed, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam. The Morotai soil is expected to add to the collection and be spread around Florida National Guard headquarters in St Augustine.

        The presentation of Morotai's soil was aimed at marking the
historical relations between Morotai, a small island in North
Maluku Province, and Florida, Governor Thaib Armiyn said, as
quoted in a press statement issued by the Indonesian consulate
general in Houston, Texas.

        Dating back to World War II, the Florida National Guard sent its 124th regiment to join the 31st Dixie Division to Morotai on September 14, 1944.

        On June 18, 2012, Minister Agung Laksono and Governor Thaib Armiyn visited the MacArthur Memorial and MacArthur Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, to discuss the plan to cooperate in building a museum in Morotai.   
   The World War II museum and Trikora museum will be built by Indonesia's education and culture ministry, in cooperation with the Norfolk (US)-based MacArthur Foundation, Prof Soesilo said, as quoted by Indonesian Consul General in Houston, Texas, Al Busyra Basnur.

        Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 26, 1880, Douglas MacArthur (who died in Washington DC on April 5, 1964) was the U.S. general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, administered postwar Japan during the Allied occupation that followed, and led United Nations forces during the first nine months of the Korean War.

        Thanks to General MacArthur's decision to attack Japanese soldiers in Morotai in 1944 , Morotai Island has become an icon of World War II.

        Still today, the island has many hulks of Allied tanks and warships dating back to World War II.

         "Japanese bunkers, ex-air force bases, and tanks, as well as warships, can still be found in Morotai and North Halmahera District, North Maluku Province," Muhadjir Albar said last year.

        In 1974, a lone Japanese soldier named Taruo Nakamura emerged from the jungles of Morotai, having hidden there for decades while unaware that the War was long over.

        The Sail Morotai event is expected to revive the memory of World War II and the island's role in the fight for freedom for the Philippines led by General MacArthur, best known for his words "I will return".

        Will WW II veterans return to Morotai next September? Old age might be their obstacle. ***3***

(f001/A/INE/B003)