Richard Rieckenberg Biography

The Samoans are very proud of their warrior heritage. This is a culture that values strength, courage, discipline, obedience, and, above all, family.

We visited a village called Fagasa this week. We were greeted warmly by a young boy of about ten, named Mio. He invited us to his house a short way up the shore which had suffered severe damage but was still standing. He was like a lot of the Samoan children here. They all seem to have this kind of swagger when they walk, giving off an aura of great confidence, but yet are friendly and very respectful. I noticed that he had several scars on the right side of his face, two of which were still an angry red and extended from the top of his forehead down his cheek to his jaw. He was also heavily bandaged on his right knee. My deputy, Steve, asked him if he had seen a doctor or nurse.

"No."

"Why not?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine."

The tsunami struck this village around 7:00 AM. I asked him to tell us about his experience. He had been sleeping in his house when he heard the warning bell. The warning bell in each of these villages is an old welding gas cylinder cut off at the bottom and hung in a central location. Whoever sees a threat bangs on the cylinder with a metal rod. It was their only warning.

"Where was your family?"

"They were outside away from the house. They ran up the mountain."

I looked out over Fagasa Bay. It was 'U' shaped and tranquil, providing shelter from the high waves that are common along the open shoreline. In a tsunami it would be different, I thought. The bay would form an enclosed area with nowhere for the water to go except toward the village. I am told that this tsunami approached Samoa at over 250 miles per hour and may have been going as much as 100 miles per hour as it entered the bay. I imagined what it was like for the parents running for higher ground, perhaps unaware that their son was still in the house, perhaps aware but helpless to reach him. I had read accounts of parents running toward the approaching disaster, hoping for some moment of mercy that would allow them to reach their children and bring them to safety. For many the only mercy they found was to die with their children in their arms.

Mio told me that when he woke up he saw the tsunami coming. He knew he had no time to try to reach high ground. Instead, he grabbed a ladder that lay at the side of his house and climbed up to the roof.

"How high was the water when it hit your house?"

Mio held his hands about a foot apart. "This far from the top", he said.

I have a great deal of admiration for the courage of this boy. Rather than being traumatized he was empowered. He survived this challenge because of a cool mind and quick action. He knew he had acted as a warrior and he was full of pride.

It was impossible not to like Mio. I surveyed the disaster around me. "How long do you think it will take to repair the village?"

He looked at me and shook his head. I thought perhaps he did not understand. I swept my arm across the village. "How long to fix?" I asked.

Mio shook his head again. "We will not fix. We will build a new village."

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