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Associated Press
From right, Yoshio Mochizuki, vice-minister for foreign affairs, and
Ehime Prefecture official Michiaki Yokote join Ehime Maru crew
family members Ryosuke Terata and Kazuo Nakata in expressing
their sorrow yesterday at a private ceremony at the Ala Moana
Hotel. Local musician Jake Shimabukuro, at far left seen from
back, presented an ukulele song he composed
to commemorate the nine missing.

Tennessee town
offers support for
sub’s crew,
Japanese

Emissaries here from
sub's namesake town

---

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

Skipper's command style Greeneville condolences Skipper's defense fund

Dale Long chokes up with emotion as he talks about the naval submarine named after his hometown in Tennessee.

Long, president of the USS Greeneville Inc., came to Hawaii last week with his wife, Linda Kay, to demonstrate his town's support for the crew of the nuclear-powered fast-attack sub that sank the Japanese training vessel Ehime Maru Feb. 9, causing the loss of nine Japanese men who had been aboard the ship.

He came bearing some 1,200 letters, cards and Girl Scout cookies for the Greeneville sailors -- men he considers extensions of his family. The small town of Greeneville lobbied hard to get the submarine named for them and, since it was christened in 1994, have developed proprietary sentiments toward it. Long said the attachment was reciprocated by Cmdr. Scott Waddle, captain of the Greeneville at the time of the accident.

"He showed to be a very caring, kind man, always friendly," and he stayed in touch with the Greeneville residents since the submarine was named. If people did something outstanding, Waddle would send them pieces of the ship or photos, Long said.

The relationship would withstand hard times, as well. "When something happens to a loved one, you don't walk on them," Long said. "You pick them up, and if you have to, you carry them. We're not turning our backs on this boat."

The Greeneville and Greene County also extended their sympathy to the Ehime Maru victims and their families.

Long brought 80 to 100 cards and letters from schoolchildren and townspeople for the families, not knowing if he'd ever be able to deliver them. But yesterday morning, he got his chance.

Five family members, representing three missing sons and one missing father, assembled in a conference room at the Ala Moana Hotel as several U.S. groups presented the family members with monetary donations, which were a fraction of more than $100,000 collected and to be distributed among the survivors and families of the missing men.

The mothers of Uwajima High School teacher Jun Nakata and 17-year-old student Toshiya Sakashima were in tears as they left the room.

Long also had tears in his eyes after the emotional meeting and said he wished he had more to offer the family members. "We actually would have done more but we still were hoping that the nine missing Japanese men would be found," he said.

Although there was no letter-writing campaign for the Ehime Maru victims, Long said many Greeneville and Greene County residents wrote of their own initiative. Most of the letters were from students at Mosheim Elementary School.