A CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE HAS GONE MISSING
As some of you may already know, my very dear friend and an exceptionally talented poet, professor and father, Craig Arnold, has gone missing on the small volcanic island of Kuchino-erabu-shima while on a creative exchange fellowship. An independent expert search and rescue group is on the island looking for Craig until the 9th, but the official search by Japanese authorities has been called off. They believe that military assets would make the search very efficient and effective, and we hope the consulate will move forward with the possibility of engaging local US military/DOD assets in the search at this stage. Please help us contact your local Congressional delegation and encourage them to support the consulate in this effort. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE CONSULATE OR EMBASSY - THEY ARE BUSY WORKING VERY HARD FOR US AND WE NEED THEM TO BE ABLE TO DO SO, WITHOUT DISTRACTION. THEY HAVE BEEN EXCELLENT PARTNERS IN THIS PROCESS. PLEASE CONTACT SENATORS AND CONGRESSPEOPLE.
WE NEED EVERYONE’S HELP contacting their local congressional delegation and asking their assistance in encouraging the Fukuoka consulate to engage local US military/DOD assets on the ground in Japan. They have been thinking about it and we respectfully request them to move forward with that as quickly as possible. (To donate to the fund, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/cofj63)
Right now, what we need most is for everyone to contact your state Senators NOW:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Calls and faxes are most efficient, e-mails are important too.
When contacting your Senators:
Please include a request for US military assistance from the local bases.
An example of a letter and of the kinds of things one might say over the phone are included below. Feel free to edit, but please take care not to give out inaccurate information. Thank you so much for your help.
Dear Senator _______,
I am writing to you to express my concern for an exceptionally talented American poet, Prof. Craig Arnold. He has gone missing on a small volcanic island in Japan called Kuchino-erabu-shima while representing his country on a U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission’s U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship. Craig, an experienced explorer of volcanoes, never returned to his inn after leaving alone to visit the island’s volcano for the afternoon. As a concerned constituent, I respectfully request that you please contact the U.S. consulate in Fukuoka and the U.S. Embassy in Japan and urgently request that they continue the search for University of Wyoming Professor Craig Arnold using local U.S. military and D.O.D. assets, specifically those on Okinawa.
Prof. Craig Arnold has made a profound, significant contribution to American arts and letters. He is also an inspiring and deeply caring father, brother, son, and much beloved by his family and his partner of six years, Rebecca. He is a generous and devoted friend and teacher to many. We have reason to be hopeful, as the small independent search-and-rescue team on the island has picked up Craig’s trail, and a little bit of rain has given us hope that he might not be too dehydrated. But time is of the essence. The island is small enough that an extended search performed by experienced searchers WILL lead to Craig’s discovery, but we understand that more searchers on the ground are needed immediately.
Will you please keep me informed of action being taken to continue the search? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Please join this facebook group to support the search effort.
Here is more on what you can do:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=73877053262&ref=nf
Here you can read Craig’s travel blog that he had maintained until the evening he went missing:
