Apocalypse Now? The Fate of World War II Sites on the Central Pacific Islands

Spennemann, Dirk

"....There are four horsemen of the apocalypse for historic sites: the first is war and the impact wreaked on sites and collections; the second is neglect and destruction labeled modernization or development; the third is the army of avid collectors, raping and pillaging sites, as well intentioned as some of them may be. The fourth of the horsemen of the apocalypse is about to visit upon these sites: the tourist. And the tourist will not come alone but with many of the same: with hundreds of feet trampling over the site, poking her, poking there, with hundreds of curious hand-pulling there, picking up this and that and chucking it back in the general direction it came from. Some are descendants of the third horsemen and will take away some parts of the resource, little by little, but with a steady flow. The dimensions and complexities of several of the sites are daunting: management and visitor surveillance are problems in view of extremely limited staffing. The Historic Preservation Office of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with financial support from the Department of the Interior, Office of Territorial and International Affairs, has begun a program to take stock of the existing resources, ranging from complete airbases with aircraft wrecks, gun emplacements with guns installed, concrete installations, personnel shelters, bunkers, support structures including vehicles and the like. The lagoons of several atolls are littered with wrecks of ships and aircraft, or with war surplus material discarded by the U.S. forces after the Japanese surrender..." Project funding was provided by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Republic of the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Office, administered by the Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior.

Apocalypse Now? The Fate of World War II Sites on the Central Pacific Islands

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