辺野古への新基地建設の反対を訴え、プラカードを掲げる女性＝７日、名護市辺野古の米軍キャンプ・シュワブゲート前
２人の娘の夫が元米兵で、１人は現在軍属という６０代の女性が名護市辺野古の米軍キャンプ・シュワブゲート前での抗議行動に那覇市から通い続けている。女性の母親は戦後も苦しみ悩んだ沖縄戦での経験があり「戦争につながる基地には反対」との思いがあるからだ。「基地建設を止める。絶対にあきらめない」と言葉には強い信念がこもる。
女性の母は祖母と戦火の中逃げ惑った。その後祖母は、肺炎で亡くなった。しかし、母は祖母が亡くなっても涙が出なかったことだけは３０年間誰にも話せなかったという。「母は自分がおかしな人間だと思ってずっと苦しんでいた」。母の心を苦しめ続けた戦争。二度と繰り返してはならないとの思いが募り、基地反対につながった。
女性はかつて幼い娘たちを連れて基地包囲行動などに足を運んだが、娘２人が米兵と結婚した。女性は強く反対したが「個人と組織は違う」と最終的には許した。
しかし２人の娘も子どもが生まれて考えが変わった。「家族の誰かが戦争に行く仕事は嫌」。思いが通じて娘の夫は２人とも退役。１人は県内の基地で軍属として資材搬入などの仕事をしている。
基地内で働く娘の夫が抗議中にゲート前を通ることもある。「『お母さんいたでしょ』と言われる」と苦笑いする。「複雑な事情はあるけど子や孫のために新しい基地は造らせない。私たちの世代が逃げたら若い人に示しがつかないでしょ」と朗らかな笑顔を見せた。（田吹遥子）
「それでも基地止める」 娘２人の夫は元米兵 戦争二度と、母へ誓い
2017年2月8日 琉球新報
The
woman holding up a sign opposing the construction of the new Henoko
base on February 7 in front of the U.S. military base Camp Schwab in
Nago, Henoko.
Woman opposes the bases despite having two former U.S. soldiers as sons-in-laws
February 8, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo
Yoko Tabuki
One woman in her 60s has been making her way from Naha to attend protests in front of the U.S military base Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago. Her two daughters are married to former U.S. soldiers, one of which is currently employed as a civilian on one of the bases. The woman continues to participate in protests despite her family’s situation because of her mother, who had suffered through the Battle of Okinawa and suffered from it even after the war had ended. The woman is against the bases because she feels that they will lead to war. Her strong belief is clear in her words: “I will stop the construction of the base. I will not give up.”
The woman’s mother and grandmother frantically ran to escape the fires during the war. The woman’s grandmother later passed away from pneumonia. Traumatized by war, the woman’s mother was unable to tell anyone for 30 years that she did not shed a single tear even when her own mother had passed away. The woman said, “(Because of this,) my mother had suffered for the remainder of her life because she thought there was something wrong with herself.” It was war that had tortured her mother to the end of her days. Because of this, the woman’s resolve to never let war happen again eventually led to opposing the bases.
When her daughters were young, the woman would take them with her to participate in protests, like encircling the bases. However, her two daughters eventually married U.S. soldiers. The woman initially strongly opposed it, but ultimately allowed it since “individuals are not the same as organizations.”
However, the woman’s view changed after her grandchildren were born. “I don’t want any of my family members having to take part in war,” she said. Her two sons-in-laws accepted her wish and left the military. One currently works on the base in Okinawa as a civilian who transports materials.
Sometimes, her son-in-law who works on the base passes by in front of the gate when she is protesting. She shows him a forced smile when he later says, “You were there (protesting in front of the gate), weren’t you mother?” She told us with a cheerful smile, “The situation complicates things, but for my children and my grandchildren’s sake, I won’t let (them) construct the base. If our generation runs away from this, it would set a bad example for the younger people.”
(English translation by T&TC and Chelsea Ashimine)
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