Word: micronesia
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...Ladies and gentlemen," the intercom Li crackles, "out of the left side of the cabin are the remains of the Japanese Imperial Fleet." Banking sharply into the sunset, the Air Micronesia 727 circles the Truk lagoon. Coral reefs color the water in pastels of orange, yellow and green, interspersed with the darker shapes of sunken hulls. "It was on Feb. 16, 1944, that we spotted 'em," the voice continues enthusiastically. "Our fighters dive-bombed all day, and next morning when they finished mopping up, more than 60 ships were on the bottom." Only after a second turn around...
...Micronesia-"Air Mike," as it is known locally-is the pony express of the Pacific. Three times each week the airline's two jets, both coated with Teflon to fight the corrosive effects of salty coral runways, hop among Micronesia's six island airports on Truk, Kwajalein, Yap, Ponape, Majuro and Palau. It is a measure of the region's isolation-the nights range up to 1,451 miles nonstop-that no plane travels without a mechanic and spare parts. Says Captain Lee Minors, 43, who prepped for atoll landings on the flight deck of the U.S.S...
There are no paved roads, despite 30 years of U.S. administration. Electricity comes in irregular spurts. There is no long distance telephone service. The people seldom pay their bills. Once proficient fishermen, the islanders of Ponape and, indeed, of the rest of Micronesia rarely put to sea any more, preferring to collect a range of federal social benefits. (Though its waters are among the world's richest tuna grounds, Micronesia imports more than $ 1 million worth of canned fish annually.) Says Ponape District Attorney Minor Pounds, a native Texan: "If we're going to have a Western society...
...Micronesia's most stalwart fighters against social erosion is Father Hugh F. Costigan. A former New York police department chaplain, Costigan directs the Ponape agriculture and trade school, an isolated 200-acre experimental farm reachable only by boat. Assisted by a volunteer staff of 40, the cigar-chomping Jesuit offers 155 Micronesians courses in construction, mechanics, horticulture and animal husbandry. When not in class, teachers work on such projects as manufacturing coconut soap and designing miniature diesel tractors and other small farming equipment. Says Costigan: "The most gratifying reward after 30 years in Micronesia is seeing my school kids...
American Samoa's rural villages are clean and dotted with palm-frond fales (houses), instead of the jumble of cinder block and clapboard houses commonly found in Micronesia. The magnificent Pago Pago harbor that initially attracted the U.S. Navy in 1900 is no longer pristine, but two busy canneries make the trade-off acceptable...