Repeated U.S. military accidents have killed and injured Okinawan civilians for decades

Evidence

Okinawans have long taken note of what they call “incidents and accidents” involving U.S. troops. In 1951, for instance, an Air Force fighter dropped a fuel tank on an Okinawan house, burning it to the ground and killing six residents. Eight years later, an Air Force jet crashed into an elementary school, killing seventeen students and teachers and injuring more than one hundred. Between 1959 and 1964, at least four Okinawans were shot and killed as the result of what military officials said were hunting accidents or stray bullets from training. Between 1962 and 1968, there were at least four more crashes and accidents involving military aircraft, leaving at least eight dead and twelve injured. At least fourteen people died after being hit by U.S. military vehicles, including a four-year-old killed by a crane. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 847

Categorization

• XREF: Direct evidence for the book’s core thesis that bases impose civilian harms; the 1959 elementary school crash is a vivid recurring example.