An Aggie's Life...: Oki Tunnel Rats

We FINALLY got around to taking the tunnel rats tour to see some of the old WWII caves here on the island. SO glad we did! We had seen the Cities of the Underworld episode ("Tunnels of Hell" on the History channel that aired back in Nov 2008) with our tour guide, Chris, showing off the caves. The Japanese used the natural underground cave system on Okinawa to hide from the Americans and as areas to stage attacks on the Americans.

This was the first cave we went into:

Once you got into the caves - it was d.a.r.k. We were glad we brought high powered flashlights and extra batteries! We had to wear our hats backwards (we're so gangsta) so in case we hit our head there would be a little bit of cushion, but you could still "see" where you were going:

A memorial outside of this cave - this cave had a Japanese man that had worked side by side with Americans before coming back to Okinawa (before the war broke out). He didn't buy the propaganda that the Japanese government was telling the Okinawans of how despicable the Americans were. He chose to walk out and talk to the troops - then he went back in and had over 1,000 Japanese civilians follow him out of the cave unharmed. In other caves there wasn't anyone who had ever met an American before and they chose to commit suicide in some form (cyanide capsules, shooting themselves, etc) instead of being taken hostage by the Americans.

Peace! I was thankful for those gloves!

This cave had all sorts of little spaces to crawl through ... I'm not a big fan of small, enclosed spaces so there was only one area that I chose not to contort my body to get through (Michael did though - shocker). Chris told us that the only light the Japanese had in here came from tiny kerosene lamps and that they were in here for upwards of 60-90 days straight:

This area had all sorts of old Budweiser and Pepsi cans ... not sure why someone would go in here just to "hang out":

Leaving the cave:

After the first cave we went to Camp Kinser to see the artifacts that have been recovered on Oki by all sorts of people. There were old land mines, cyanide grenades, uniforms, pottery, Japanese flags with signatures on them, weapons, etc. They still find stuff today - although it is against the rules for SOFA status personnel to go caving/seach for memorabilia.

Michael playing with an old M1:

The 2nd cave had manmade tunnels dug. This was the entrance - look at those tree roots!

We had to wait for a group of Japanese school children to come out of the cave. They take in the kids, immerse them in darkness and then tell them about how it was for their ancestors during the war.

You can see some of the tree's root systems coming through the ceiling!

Manmade tunnels:

Michael up exploring:

I about died when I saw this thing. GIGANTIC, nasty, HIGHLY aggressive centipedes. They are not poisonous unless you are allergic. If they bite you, you will only get the anti-venom if you are allergic since there are so many side effects associated with the anti-venom! We were told to stay far away from these things! Chris told us stories of centipedes chasing Marines who thought it'd be funny to try and kill one ... no. thanks.

Look at the size of this thing on the wall! There was a gecko that I was looking at before I saw "It" - I think he was hiding from his predator!

One of the Japanese Generals was (supposedly) hiding out in this room for a good while during the war. There were cutouts in the walls (shelves?) as well as the backwall:

Michael trying to find more little places to crawl through:

Michael looking through a machine gun nest used to fire on the landing beaches:

Heading down into the DEEP 3rd cave:

This cave was HUGE!!

Once you got to where the guy in white is (Chris), you had to shimmy down rocks and across a stream to get back into the actual cave area. I was so glad I had my gloves on the way out - we were the last ones to leave, Michael went a different way and I had to hang on for dear life (literally) while I moved from rock to rock to climb out:

This was our favorite cave - the area where Michael is looking down is about a 30 foot drop - there was one area where it was approx 50 feet down. It wasn't a solid floor, but a conglomeration of rocks that had solidified.