Initially, the car wreckage was lined up on Runway A, but around March 20th, it was quickly moved to another location due to the arrival and departure of US military helicopters. The work of the US Marines was impressive. They lifted the wreckage with huge forklifts and loaded it onto self-loaders to take it away. In just four days, all of the wreckage, about 1,000 cars, were lined up on the grounds outside the runway.
"For lunch, we brought water and rice and had them prepared for us at a nearby restaurant, and ate salted rice balls, but the U.S. military personnel continued to operate the machines without a break. When I asked them if they were okay, they said, 'We have a three-shift system (every eight hours)'" (Sakai Hiroyuki, Kitahara's subordinate)
Maeda Road Co., Ltd. Tohoku Branch Sendai Minami Sales remove background image Office Manager <strong>Masatoshi Kitahara</strong>
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Maeda Road Tohoku Branch Sendai Minami Sales Office Manager Masatoshi Kitahara
Maeda Road received an order from the president that "Sendai Airport is the top priority," and gathered 20 tire shovels and 7-8 backhoes to lift the rubble, 3 forks to pull up cars that had fallen into the ditch, and 50 large dump trucks. The managing director and the Tohoku branch manager who arrived on-site quickly put Kitahara's request into action.
It was unclear what was in the sludge and rubble, and the sand carried by the tsunami had dried and was blown up by the strong winds. Employees of the company and its affiliated companies continued to work with heavy machinery and by hand, wearing winter clothing, helmets, dustproof goggles and masks, and rubber gloves over their work gloves.
"I was always making suggestions (at the Joint Operations Coordination Meeting) like, 'We should do this here,' but they were always quick to reach a decision. I dealt directly with the U.S. military about things on the ground. Every morning, I would negotiate on my cell phone, speaking half Japanese and half English, saying things like, 'Can we borrow a shovel?'" (Kitahara)