Palau divided over countrymen fighting for U.S.

The small nation is one of a handful of Pacific islands that have suffered a disproportionate number of casualties. Many young people become U.S. soldiers in part to escape poverty.

For The Record Los Angeles Times Thursday, June 18, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction Palau GIs: A photo caption in Wednesday's Section A that accompanied an article about citizens of Palau who join the U.S. military said a soldier's funeral was taking place in Koror, which it identified as the nation's capital. The ceremony was in Melekeok, which became the capital in 2006.

His funeral, held on a morning of sudden showers that alternated with stifling tropical sun, symbolized the division here over the fact that young Palauans are serving -- and dying -- in the military of a nation not their own.

Known as Jazz by island friends, and as Sgt. O.B. by fellow soldiers, he was killed by a roadside bomb June 1 in a town outside Kabul, Afghanistan.

Obakrairur wasn't American, but a 26-year-old native of this Pacific island nation. He joined the U.S. Army five years ago, inspired by a sense of duty and a plan for a better life.

KOROR, PALAU — They carried Sgt. Jasper Obakrairur's body home Tuesday in a casket draped with an American flag for a service held inside a domed government complex modeled on the U.S. Capitol.

Watching the funeral and the casket-carrying soldiers with their precise movements, Lory Ngemaes felt torn.

"We're proud one of our own fought for America," she said. "But I told my 13-year-old son, 'You're not going. You are a Palauan.' "

In recent years, far-flung Pacific islands have suffered an outsized share of war casualties. Hundreds of their young have joined the U.S. military, often as a way out of isolation and poverty.

Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau have lost 32 men and women since 2003. A comparable fatality rate would stagger many U.S. communities.

Obakrairur is the fourth Palauan to be killed in conflict and the second to be buried here on the island, 4,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. The republic of 20,000 residents has 200 fighting men and women in U.S. uniforms, according to Palauan officials.

A former U.S. territory with close ties to Washington, Palau has tried to demonstrate its value as an ally. In a move hailed by the Obama administration, President Johnson Toribiong this month agreed to accept 13 Chinese Uighurs from the Guantanamo Bay prison.

The decision to accept the Uighurs has further divided a populace already split by the willingness of some Palauans to fight under the U.S. flag.

Many endure each loss with stoicism, reasoning that U.S. servicemen lost their lives here. Palau was a major World War II battle site, and ships that sank during the fighting still litter its lagoons.

"The Palauans who join the military are considered heroes here," said Fermin Meriang, editor of the local Island Times.

But some, including former Palauan President Tommy Remengesau Jr., bristle at the presence of U.S. military recruiters.

"Our soldiers have served side by side with Americans. Now another has been killed -- blown up in a roadside bomb. Isn't that the ultimate sacrifice?" he said. "I think Palau has done its duty."

At a bar in Koror, a woman challenged an American, saying her son was stationed at the same Ft. Drum, N.Y., Army base where Obakrairur had received training.