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A Tribute to the Missing
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What do you think of the collision of the USS Greeneville and the Ehime Maru? Join our discussion board.
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Navy faces the delicate task of deciding which of the grieving family members, Japanese dignitaries, Navy brass, curious members of the public and journalists from around the world will be allowed next week inside a Pearl Harbor courtroom that seats only 50.
Hundreds of people have deluged the Navy with requests to enter the court of inquiry, originally scheduled to convene tomorrow at Pearl Harbor’s Navy Trial Service Office but postponed till Monday so attorneys can prepare their cases.
Three admirals will preside over the highest administrative investigative tool in the Navy, trying to determine what caused the Feb. 9 collision of the USS Greeneville and the fishing vessel Ehime Maru south of O‘ahu.
The accident has put a tremendous strain on U.S.-Japanese relations. And, in many ways, the challenge at Pearl Harbor to address everyone’s interests at the court of inquiry represents the broader diplomacy going on in Tokyo, Washington and Honolulu since the crash.
No other courtroom hearing in the history of Pearl Harbor has had more attention, said Lt. Cmdr. Conrad Chun, Pacific Fleet spokesman. "The interest is very high."
The logistics alone are overwhelming. They involve coordinating power, phone lines, transportation and security escorts.
Japanese television station NHK has requested 27 courtroom seats — not including NHK translators. The Navy also has 11 requests for television satellite trucks to transmit from the grounds of Pearl Harbor.
"How do we fit 11 satellite-live trucks around one building?" Chun asked.
One idea is to erect tents outside the Navy Trial Service Office to handle the overflow from the courtroom and pipe in closed-circuit video of the proceedings.
But overriding all of the requests are larger concerns.
"It’s important that we do everything within our power to ensure the openness of the proceedings," Chun said. "The problem is, as you try to balance the supply and demand, it doesn’t balance."
Whatever happens, Chun said, the Navy is guided by a single principle: "Meeting everybody’s needs is our main concern. We are trying to do that to the best of our ability."
Sheila Smith, a specialist in U.S.-Japan security relations at the East-West Center, said the Navy should give seating preference to family members of the 26 survivors and the nine people missing from the Ehime Maru, followed by Japanese representatives and dignitaries.
A courtroom dominated by Japanese will show "that this whole process is transparent and the Navy is proceeding in the spirit of openness," Smith said. "The priority needs to be for those who have a direct interest in attending, and my first thought would be for the families."
Navy officials, journalists and the mere curious should be left outside in tents, Smith said.
"That would be a very clear statement from the U.S. government and the U.S. Navy that they intend to proceed as openly as possible," Smith said. "Because I just don’t know, otherwise, how you balance everyone’s wishes."
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