Legacy of U.S. military history in the Solomon Islands part 2

Saturday I helped carry an American “pigtail” out of a very hilly area, beyond Honiara, which was the main battlefield between the U.S. and Japan. My guide/friend Jeremy and I joked about the fact that an American was doing the deed of taking out this implement of war that my country’s soldier had carried up the hills. Just one was heavy and yet he was probably 16 having to carry a whole pack of them on his back up those massive hills that require being on all-fours for bits of the climb up.

Jeremy holding the "pigtail"

The Pigtail is a well-designed single piece of steel that has a corkscrew at the bottom and then 3-4 loops going up that you can string barbed wire through by taking it from the top around each of the “pigtails” in repeat until you have the makings of a destructive fence of barbed wire when you line up a bunch of them. They were all over the hills in this area as well as lots of other bits of destructive or wasteful objects of the war that we left behind. The chief of the area, from whom Jeremy has permission to walk around on his community’s land, has a whole collection of found objects – grenades, teeth with fillings, vials of medicines, watches, shrapnel, dogtags, pieces of weapons, etc. in a collection on his property. There is still a lot in the hills, considering I was walking here so many years later and could easily find an item on the hillside.

It is interesting to be in a country where the U.S.A., my country, fought a war over 50 years ago. The locals ended up siding with and supporting the Americans, they weren’t our enemies, but still we marched around fighting battles on their lands. Then I started thinking about all the places I could go in this world where there would still be evidence of the wars my country has waged and is still fighting, many places where the locals were the main victims. Many.

I hope I can be a part of leaving other, more positive footprints in some of those places. And I hope we can someday learn that there are better ways, non-violent ways to solve problems in this world. I am a Peace Fellow, after all.