Dear friends and supporters,

With only ten days to departure for Japan and my month-long trip to the Pacific, I’m getting a little anxious and nervous. There are still many loose ends and things to do in preparation. Keeping me up at night.

I’m relieved that my biggest logistical problem, lodging in Hiroshima, has been solved. Thanks to local peace activists, I now have a place to stay. Because my stay overlaps with the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima all of the hotels and guest rooms are booked.

Lodging has also been confirmed on Majuro in the Marshall Islands and Guam.

Lodging in Gangjeong Village has been secured by my dear friend, Joyakgol, the activist who accompanied me on our cross-country screening tour of The Ghosts of Jeju in 2013. I’ll spend ten days on Jeju, actually working about 40% of the time, and will take time on this trip to see everything on this beautiful Island that I missed in 2012. I’ll use this stop to rest up a bit after 15 grueling days in Japan and to visit with the many friends I made.

My greatest concerns regarding my two short visits to Okinawa have been relieved, thanks to the efforts of a Japanese-American living in NYC and her contacts in Okinawa, along with the assistance of Edo Heinrich-Sanchez, an American veteran and activist living there. Lodging has been confirmed, translators found, and a series of location shoots and interviews have been organized.

My stay in Hawaii has not as of yet been finalized, but local activists have offered to help.

I  want to thank Veterans for Peace National, VFP #001 – Tom Sturdevant Chapter here in Maine, the Smedley Butler Chapter in Boston, Pax Christi Maine, and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space for being major sponsors  of the film.

Thanks also to several local VFP Chapters around the country for their contributions.

And, of course,  thanks to everyone who has contributed financially towards this trip. Without you it would not have been possible.

If you are receiving this and have not contributed, it isn’t too late. Every little bit helps.

Your contributions will be completely tax-deductible if you contribute on the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space website: http://www.space4peace.org/

 Simply click the “Donate” button, enter the amount you wish to donate and in the comments declare it is for Regis Tremblay’s film.

Should you wish to send a check, make it out to Global Network and mail it to 209 River Rd., Woolwich, Maine 04579.  Be sure to put Regis Tremblay in the “for” line.

Thank you for investing in independent media.

Regis Tremblay

Thanks to all who have contributed to date. Only about $1,000 short of my goal with only three weeks to go before departure. There is still time to help out if you have been intending to do so.

As I reported last time, I have booked the entire trip: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Okinawa, Jeju, The Marshall Islands, Guam, and Hawaii. I leave on the 25th of July and return September 5th to Maine.

From my research, I’ve learned a great deal about issues and events that have been unreported and classified for many years. For example, I had no idea that nuclear tipped short range missiles were deployed to Okinawa during the Cuban missile crisis, and thereafter more than 1200 nuclear missiles were deployed in silos until the 1970’s.

I am so looking forward to spending 10 days in Gangjeong Village where I will film the progress of the base which is about 85% completed. And, I will have a leisurely time to interview Gangjeong villagers, Fr. Mun and the Jesuits as well as spending quality time with my many friends.

From Jeju, I fly to the Marshall Islands where several interviews with national politicians and local residents have been scheduled. I will make a day-night trip to Kwajelein to show the massive U.S. military presence there that is the heart of the missile testing program conducted from Vandenburg Air Force base in California.

The Marshall Islands have not only suffered immensely from the detonation of 67 atomic bombs, but the Marshallese have been brutally treated by the U.S. military since 1946 when thousands were lied to and relocated to a tiny atoll where thousands live in abject poverty.

All kinds of cancers have caused premature births and deaths from the contamination of their land and the food chain.

The Marshallese are also among the first to be threatened by rising sea levels caused by global warming. Where will the island people go when their islands are covered by the sea?

On the way to Hawaii, I’ll make a brief overnight stop on Guam, another island that has been occupied by the U.S. military.

Finally, I will spend a full week in Hawaii with activists involved in protests against the militarization of their homeland, the illegal annexation of Hawaii by the U.S. in 1898, and the construction of the 18 story high new telescope on Mauna Keo.

Many of us are aware of Monsanto and GMOs, but few are aware of what five of the world’s largest biotech chemical corporations have been doing in Hawaii. For the past 20 years, Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer and BASF have performed over 5,000 open-field-test experiments of pesticide-resistant crops on an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 acres of Hawaiian land without any disclosure, making the place and its people a guinea pig for biotech engineering.  (See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/hawaiians-against-monsanto-struggle-reclaim-paradise#sthash.3rv1q2G1.dpuf)

In spite of all of these imminent threats to our existence on this planet, the people of the Pacific islands are rising up and providing the rest of us with hope and an example of what it will take to overcome the evils of Capitalism.

My hope for this film is to educate and inform people around the world about the threats to our existence and encourage them to do something to stand in solidarity with all of the oppressed people of the world.

The only hope to turn things around is for a world-wide and peaceful uprising against the dark forces that would destroy us.

If you have planned to contribute, please do what you can. Also, please share this with like-minded friends.

Your contributions will be completely tax-deductible if you contribute on the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space website: http://www.space4peace.org/

 Simply click the “Donate” button, enter the amount you wish to donate and in the comments declare it is for Regis Tremblay’s film.

Should you wish to send a check, make it out to Global Network and mail it to 209 River Rd., Woolwich, Maine 04579.  Be sure to put Regis Tremblay in the “for” line.

Thank you for investing in independent media.

Regis Tremblay