S&S - Backers of rape accuser wanted Japan to prosecute

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Backers of rape accuser wanted Japan to prosecute

Philippines legislator visits Okinawa to highlight handling of alleged sex assault by Kadena sergeant

By David Allen, Stars and Stripes

Pacific edition, Monday, July 21, 2008

GINOWAN, Okinawa — Supporters of the Filipina who claims she was raped by a soldier on Okinawa in February are confident the U.S. Army is serious about investigating the incident. But they wish Japanese prosecutors had gone forward with the case.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Maza is on Okinawa for a five-day mission to lend support to Hazel, not her real name, who said she was raped in an Okinawa City hotel room Feb. 18 by Sgt. Ronald Hopstock Jr., 25.

Hopstock, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment on Kadena Air Base, is restricted to the base pending an investigation initiated by the Army in mid-May, after Japanese prosecutors, citing a lack of evidence, declined to indict him."

"Maza said she was also looking into the plight of other young women from the Philippines who, like Hazel, come to Okinawa to work as dancers only to discover they are forced to be bar hostesses and prostitutes."

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"Lusito "Butch" Pongos, a coordinator for Migrante Japan, an organization supporting the rights of Philippine foreign workers, said the Philippines government often fails to brief its citizens on what to expect when they leave for jobs overseas."

S&S - To the Okinawan widow of a fallen Marine, a son is born

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

To the Okinawan widow of a fallen Marine, a son is born

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes


Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cindy Fisher / S&S


Hotaru Ferschke cradles her newborn son, Michael H. Ferschke III, at a Japanese clinic near Kadena Air Base on Tuesday. Michael, born Jan. 9, was named for his father, Marine Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr., who was killed in Iraq in August.


CHATAN, Okinawa — Michael H. Ferschke III, the son of a Marine who was killed on a mission in Iraq last August, was born Friday on Okinawa. Hotaru Ferschke delivered the healthy child at 1:18 p.m. at a Japanese clinic near Kadena Air Base. He weighed 7 pounds, 8.8 ounces and was 19.7 inches long.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The much-awaited arrival brings to a close another chapter in a story that began Aug. 10, when Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr., a team leader with Okinawa-based 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, was killed conducting door-to-door searches north of Baghdad.

It was exactly one month after Ferschke and Hotaru exchanged marriage vows by proxy while thousands of miles apart. Hotaru, supported by her in-laws, has vowed to raise her son in the Tennessee town where his father grew up."

"She said her husband’s parents, whom she first met in Tennessee during Christmas 2007, are to arrive on Okinawa next month to see their new grandson and make arrangements to bring him and his mother to their home in Marysville, Tenn."

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"She said she would soon apply for a passport for the baby, and her six-month temporary visa should be ready before they leave for the United States in late February.

She said she was grateful for all the help provided by the U.S. Consulate and the Marine Corps to process the paperwork for the visa and passport.

At first, she will be on a six-month temporary visa, which can be extended for another six months.

She and her family in the States hope to change the visa status before the visa expires."

I hope they're able to change her visa status as well.

This is the sad case you might have heard about where DHS can't recognize her proxy marriage since it was never consummated subsequent to the wedding ceremony.

It sounds crazy, especially in a situation where the woman has given birth to a fallen marine's child, but neither the consulate nor USCIS gets to pick and choose which laws and regulations to apply and which ones to ignore.

With the attention of the Marine Corps and, IIRC, a friendly congressman or two, I hope an immigration judge will apply some discretion, the valor already having been provided by Sergeant Ferschke.