COVID-19
USO’s online programs prove popular with troops during coronavirus lockdowns
“I think we are busier now than before the pandemic,” Yokota USO manager Mardie Marqueze-Velasquez said Wednesday. “We can’t reach them physically, but we have great teams across the globe of volunteers and staff.”
Santa doesn’t always ride a sleigh: Bikers, veterans donate hundreds of toys for Japanese children
More than 30 bikers dressed as Santa Claus gathered at a highway rest stop southwest of Tokyo over the weekend with decorated motorcycles and bags full of presents.
Former Marine’s Okinawa food bank is filling gap created by the coronavirus
Chris and Yuko Nesbitt, who run Help Oki, a food bank and thrift shop in Okinawa City, has passed out five times as much food, clothing and other assistance during the pandemic as they did before.
Fashion inspired by a global pandemic: Photo project helps Yokota family fend off stay-at-home boredom
As the populations of entire nations languish in coronavirus lockdowns, under stay-at-home orders or in self-isolation, one military family found a creative outlet for coping with being cooped up for days on end.
Marine Corps opens door to morale leave on government flights from Okinawa
The Marine Corps joined the rest of uniformed services this week and began offering government-funded morale flights between Okinawa and Seattle so Marines and their families may visit loved ones in the U.S.
Coronavirus cluster grows at Okinawa Marine base as more workers test positive for omicron
The coronavirus cluster at Camp HQansen grew Wednesday by another 17 cases for a total of 217, according to a statement from the Public Health Department.
Admonished by Japan, US military re-imposes pre-travel COVID testing for its personnel
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed “deep regret” that a unit of Marines was not tested for COVID-19 before it arrived on Okinawa aboard a U.S. government flight.