On June 30, 1959 a U.S. military jet crashed on Miyamori Elementary School in Ishikawa City and was reported worldwide as one of the worst tragedies in the history of aviation. Seventeen people were killed, eleven of them children, and 121 people were gravely injured. Twenty-five houses were burned. The U.S. military made a definite promise to compensate for the accident but it took them nearly three years to finally give payment.
During this period there were numerous incidents where the human rights of the Okinawans were disregarded by the U.S. military. There were also many problems relating to the legal judgements regarding crimes and accidents. Many of the accused were found not guilty and even in cases where guilt was established, perpetrators were sent back to the U.S. where the execution of sentences was obscured. Okinawan residents were forced to swallow the injustices.
There was further damage to the environment from live-fire exercises, pollution from nuclear-powered submarines, contamination of water supplies, wells, and soil from effluent waste from the bases. These became daily occurrences.
Under the rule of the U.S. military, the American military received all priority and the human rights of the Okinawans were ignored. The economic prosperity of the 1960's in Okinawa brought by the military bases was paid for in the danger to the lives of the Okinawans and the disregard for their basic rights.
