Tue, May 13 2008
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Published May 09, 2008 09:56 am - The extent of damage and the death toll in Myanmar from the massive storm that hit on May 3 may never be known. Mike Surbrugg: Change must come from within The extent of damage and the death toll in Myanmar from the massive storm that hit on May 3 may never be known.
It will be impossible to know how many lives were lost. Census counts are unreliable. Transportation is restricted and not easy. Health care is primitive and the big need could be for basic shelter provided by tents and tarpaulin. From September of 1966 through August of 1968, I was part of the U.S. military mission in what was then Burma. Basically, our mission was to deliver items the Burmese military purchased from the United States. Burma is a nation of contrasts. Our military unit was not all work and no play. There were two golf courses, the American club with movies and swimming pool, and a softball field. Getting to Burma in the 1960s and today seem similar. It took months to secure a Burmese visa from a government that is suspicious of all visitors and does not welcome thoughts of democracy. My wife, Doris, was an exception to the visa delays. While it took me months and a lot of waiting to get my diplomatic visa, I got Doris included on my diplomatic visa in less than a day. We were married in New Delhi, India. We met a lot of American and other regulations. I was able to get her added to my diplomatic passport to be with me in Burma. Our daughter, Carolyn, just might be the last American born in Burma. She was born in the American clinic and has a U.S. Department of State birth certificate. Change comes slowly or quickly to a country wrapped in tradition of kings at Mandalay, followed by years of British control to the assassination of the new leader and the military taking control. What has followed for more than 50 years is a government led by the military, which retains control of almost all aspects of life. To replace a dictatorship with democracy would not be easy. The people may have problems agreeing just how democracy would work and in what form. The void left after the British left found those with little or no training filling positions of responsibility. This can result in warehouses filled with cloth or other items desperately needed by the public. 
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