Head of US forces in Okinawa apologizes for fatal vehicle crash

November 21, 2017

Naha, Okinawa Pref.- Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, head of US forces in Okinawa, apologized on Monday for a fatal drunk driving accident caused by a US Marine in Naha, the southernmost Japan prefecture's capital, on Sunday.

In talks with Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga at the prefectural government office in Naha, Nicholson expressed his condolences to the victim's family and promised to take more steps to prevent any recurrence of similar incidents.

"We can't help concluding that preventive measures against drunken driving taken so far by the US side are insufficient," Onaga said.

Preventive measures and discipline enforcement by the US forces are "utterly unreliable," he also said, following a string of misconduct cases and incidents. "It's impossible for us to call (US service members) good neighbors."

Onaga again expressed opposition to a plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal district in Nago in the prefecture, and urged the US side to reduce Okinawa's burden of hosting US military facilities.

Nicholson stated that he has no excuse for Sunday's accident, admitting a lack of efforts to prevent drunk driving by service members. He vowed to make more efforts to reduce accidents and incidents.

He also asked for understanding to allow US troops to stay in Okinawa. Jiji Press