Japan from the journal of a student

University of Montana student Chris Dobson wrote in his personal journal a few days after the Japanese disaster:

"15MAR11. A tsunami has struck Japan. Record breaking 8.9 earthquake. I remember the sudden alert news on CNN sitting on the mess decks of the Reagan. Not four hours later, we were on our way to the scene."

Eight months have passed since Japan was struck by the massive earthquake and engulfed by a 30-foot tsunami. Damage was estimated to be over $300 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster on record. The physical damage can be rebuilt, but it's the human impact that takes more time.

In March, Dobson was traveling to the Persian Gulf on the USS Reagan to provide air carrier support for American troops on the ground in the Middle East. But, on March 11, the captain announced over the ship's intercom a change in assignment.

Upon arrival off the coast of Japan, Dobson's squadron, known as the Black Knights, began working with air support to move things like water, food, blankets, baby diapers and other aid items to those on the northeastern shore.

"The efforts started flawlessly when giving out humanitarian relief," Dobson wrote. "That is until the aftershocks started hitting and their reactors started to blow."

At this point, Dobson said all plans for sending personnel ashore were halted. Each time any crewmembers went below deck, they were scanned for radiation. Coats and other items were confiscated if scanners sensed any contamination. Men were taking off their wedding rings and other valuables before going above deck so that they wouldn't run the risk of anything becoming tainted.

Just before these events, Jun Saigo boarded a plane for Montana. Saigo is an exchange student from Japan studying English literature at UM. He arrived in the United States on March 6, only five days before the earthquake.

Although Saigo's immediate friends and family were not directly harmed, he said people all across Japan were impacted by the shortages of supplies and fear of radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors. But the earthquake didn't change the country. One place that sustained massive damages from the tsunami was Sendai, a city famous for its culinary dishes using cow tongue, Saigo said.

"Sendai's cultural value will remain, that sort of thing cannot be washed away," Saigo said. "But it was the biggest natural disaster in Japan, so many people died. Today, you don't hear anything about it anymore. Problems are still there, especially the nuclear problems."

The initial news coverage of disasters of this magnitude is massive in the days following, said Ian Marquand, president of Japan Friendship Club of Montana and UM journalism school alumnus.

"The images of Japan were so compelling," Marquand said. "We have never seen anything like this before. But as Americans we tend to turn to the concerns of our own country, especially with our own recent tornado and flooding disasters. Even though the suffering continues elsewhere, we tend to move on."

But organizations like the UM Japanese Student Association and the Japan Friendship Club of Montana have not forgotten that the country and people are still rebuilding. Both organizations are planning additional fundraising events and setting up scholarships for Japanese students interested in coming to Montana.

Dobson has not forgotten either. In his five years of Navy service, Dobson's work off the coast of Japan was one of his last assignments during his 2011 combat deployment. After a month of coordinating aid, Dobson and the USS Reagan continued on to their assignment in the Persian Gulf. As they pulled away from the coast, they passed a Japanese aircraft carrier and rendered "side honors," or a salute to the ship that is taking their place.

"I wonder what my grandpa would think, who was in WWII," Dobson said, "I faced a nation that in his day was called foe, but I now proudly call friend."

One of Dobson's final entries in his journal on Japan dwells on his thoughts when saluting that Japanese ship.

"05APR11. I thought this was pretty momentous, historic to see considering the events that followed 07DEC1941… that fateful day in history where the sheer winds of massive energized horrific power erupted from the payload of the Enola Gay."

In June, Dobson was honorably discharged so that he could pursue a college education in criminology and sociology.

hannah.ryan@umontana.edu