The 69th anniversary of the tradition, led by the U.S. Air Force and supported by many volunteers and donors, will skip the FSM because its officials don’t want to take the risk of bringing Covid-19 to the island nation.
FSM President David Panuelo, in a press release Tuesday stated, “We are canceling Operation Christmas Drop this year not due to a lack of trust and confidence (in the U.S. Air Force), but due to ongoing concerns from our citizens in our most remote and vulnerable communities about the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The FSM’s council of traditional chiefs of the Yap outer islands and Pohnpei’s Gov. Reed Oliver did not want Christmas Drop presents this year.
A Dec. 5 flight to return dozens of FSM citizens stranded on Guam has also been canceled.
Operation Christmas Drop has traditionally used U.S. Air Force aircraft and crew to drop off toys, food items, tools, clothing and other necessities on some of the FSM’s remote outer islands and atolls using crates tethered to parachutes. The operation also allows the airmen to practice low-altitude flying.
An airdrop mission is conducted during Operation Christmas Drop 2019. The operation is the world’s longest running humanitarian assistance airdrop training mission, providing critical supplies to remote islands in the Western Pacific. Photo by Senior Airman Juan Torres/U.S. Air Force
While there are fears Covid-19 will be piggy-backing on the Christmas presents, the crates are traditionally packed many days ahead of the flights. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that on hard surfaces, the virus that causes Covid-19 can last from just hours to a few days.
According to Bruce Best, longtime volunteer of Operation Christmas Drop, four U.S. Air Force C-130 planes, joined by a Japanese Defense Force C-130 Hercules plane will be dropping 50-plus boxes of tools, fishing gear, sporting goods, toys, schoolbooks and food across the Republic of Palau island chain from Tobi to Kayangel.
The items that were destined for the FSM would have included tools for the repair of a rain catchment system on one of the outer islands.
“It is unfortunate the FSM outer islands have opted out, but they will be back on the list for the big 70th Christmas Drop,” Best stated.
Operation Christmas Drop was the inspiration for a recently released Netflix movie with the same name.
