The Provisional Peoples' Democratic Republic of Diego Garcia
a.k.a. PROPEOPDEMREPDG; a.k.a. PPDRDG

Don't Worry About the World Ending Today...
It's Already Tomorrow on Diego Garcia!

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Want to use something from this site?  See the TERMS OF USE.
Want to add something?  I'm ALWAYS looking for new stories and photos. CONTACT ME.

QUICKIES

• Learn all about the PROPEOPDEMREP, and get a Good Government Job.
• Send in Your Warstory Today - if you are a Diegonian, or just want to pretend you are, tell the world about it!
• Links to other web sites about or related to DG.  Don't forget to check your favorite search engine too!
• Lost and Found.  Looking for someone?  Also Reunion Announcements (if any).
• What Time is it on DG?
• If you have ORDERS to DG, you might want to check these essential sites
• Want a Job on Diego Garcia?
• Want to Visit Diego Garcia?
• Make History Sing!  Contribute to "The Book"!
• Skip it all, and go straight to the last page.

EXAAAAAAAGGERATIONS

• Bar Coasters from Diego Garcia's sleaziest dives.
• Beauty Pagent of the Indian Ocean!
• updated 3 May 08!  Berbera Somalia - a small page with some rare photos & stories of that god-forsaken dependency of Diego Garcia's Fuels team.
• new 17 Apr 04!  Blowing Holes in the reef for fun and profit - 1974.
• updated 30 Apr 07!  Blowing Open the Ship Channel, Shark Fishing Nude, and Learning to Waterski, 1974.
• Bob Hope's 1972 Christmas Show!  Find yourself or your buddy in the crowd!  (Lots of photos, takes a while to load).
• new 17 Dec 06! Bob Hope's 1972 Christmas Show, Page 2.  NMCB 62's Newsletter of the show!
• updated 22 Jan 08! Book Reports - Let the Ministry of Cultural Correctness tell you what to think when scientists and politicians write books about Diego Garcia!
• Bottled Beer Banned by US Navy from Diego Garcia!  No shit.
• "Brit Club" Page - Photos and stange Royal Navy Rituals.
• updated 20 Nov 06! But Seriously Folks... The Official Gripe Sheet for DG - it isn't all peaches and cream out there!
• updated 12 Jan 07! C-141s In Paradise Page with all the C-141 pictures on DG and Masirah Island, Oman.
• Coconut Diplomacy.  Wherein sailors are employed for agricultural work at less pay than migrant farm workers.
• New 23 Nov 07!  Crab Whacker.  The Brits won't let you whack crabs with your 9 Iron any more?  Well, you can do it here - the wacky new game where you try to zap 40 crabs in less than 50 seconds!
• Cruel Joke played on unsuspecting Sailors, Marines, and Airmen for decades!
• new 16 Jan 07!  Dallas Does Diego Garcia!  The Cheerleaders visit in 1982 & 1983.  Plus some other photos by Paul Soutar.
• Dear Abby "Letters to Any Sailor" for Christmas 2001.
• Desktop Photos from DG you can download!
• Donkey Gate - the true story of the construction of the barrier at the end of the earth!
• Double Digit Midgit Countdown Calendar:  For when it was finally time to leave.  WARNING:  X-Rated!!!
• new 20 Mar 08!  Drugs:  Were they ever really a problem?  Apparently the Brits though so in 1981...
• updated 30 Mar 05! Earthquake of 1983!  Even Paradise has its Perils!
• new 12 Mar 07!  The EOD Bar - Wherever you find munitions, you'll find EOD.  Wherever you find EOD, you'll find a bar.  Check out DG's own.
• Escape from the People's Paradise Now!  Move to Little Arabia, North Carolina!
• updated 31 Aug 07! Fishy Stories of the rich and infamous.
• updated 26 Feb 04! Flag of the PPDRDG! ( and the real things, too )
• new 30 Mar 05!  Flag Clothing Competition!  Girls!  Girls!  Girls!
• updated 15 Aug 05! FOR SALE - Polos and caps for sale from the company that sells them on the island.  Also a new Cafe Press store by Tom Lawson (DG Class of '79).  I don't get paid for these (damn the luck)...
• Ghosts of Diego Garcia!  See the Ghost of the Point Marianne Cemetery!
• Golfing Diego Garcia - is it more than just a rumor?
• Gorgo Diecia Tattler... Wit and sarcasm from 1989-1990.
• updated 25 Mar 08! Hector the Hammerhead.  The biggest shark in the Lagoon.  Ever.  Plus the story of the famous photos from the guy who took them!
• new 4 Feb 07!  Hit Parade - Lists of the music you loved during your stay in the Republic!
• HITCH'N POST - THE Place to see and be seen!  [editor's note:  The Hitch'n Post was disbanded in early 2000]
• Hope Colt bares all - "no restriction on content"!  The world's funniest comedien tears 'em up in November 2001.
• updated 5 Sep 07! Lost and Found - looking for someone?  Try here.  Also any REUNION INFORMATION that anyone sends in.
• Lost Ships of Tuna Hunter Lagoon!  See photos of all the ships captured by Teddy and the Pirates (on film)
• Miss America's 1974 USO Tour of Diego Garcia!
• updated 18 Feb 08!  Music of the Republic - Songs and MP3s home-grown on the island and by our fellow travelers.  Download genuine folk art from fellow Diegoians!
• updated 15 Feb 07! Patches of Diego Garcia!  From the earliest days until the present.  Caution, it takes a LONG time to load if you are dial-up.
• updated 03 Oct  06! Pirate Radio DG - A very brief look at AFRTS/AFN/NBS entertaining the troops.
• updated 14 Aug 05! Plank Owners' Certificates - Some selections from the very, very, very early days, and recently too.
• updated 2 Sep 06!  The Plantation - Tara in the Indian Ocean!  But where was Scarlet when we needed her?
• new 23 Nov 07!  Pop Quiz!  All the answers are on this website (somewhere).  More quizzies are in the works...
• updated 19 Feb 07! Provisional People's Democratic Republic RECRUITING PAGE!  Meet the members of your government!  Get a Good Government Job for Yourself!
• Recipes of the Republic - Betty Crocker, watch out!  Citizens provide their favorite recipes for you to try at home.
• unfortunately, updated 17 Feb 08... Remembering those who have served, and have now passed on.
• San Miguel - the official beer of the PPDRDG!  Also, politically incorrect humor that is GUARANTEED to offend someone.  I update this page whenever some new irrelevancy comes to my attention.
• updated 19 Oct 06! Seven Degrees South - Yes, they are still there!  The Best Band in the Indian Ocean!
• Souveniers of the Peoples' Republic's Ships Store!  Not for sale... Also an ad from someone who wants to buy sand from DG!
• updated 18 Apr 07! Stump the Dumbies - What's the REAL name of our favorite island?  Riddles.  Alcohol Related Incident Testing.
• Sunset Photo Page with the Photos of the Best Sunsets in the World. Also a Sunrise or two!
• updated 18 Jul 06!  Surfing Diego Garcia.  It HAS been done!
• Temple of Doom - Even Fantasy Island has its darker places!
• Transition Assistance for those leaving the Navy.
• updated 12 Sep 07! Tropical Times - The Official Propaganda Rag!  Read all the news the Navy sees fit to print!
 

Special Request:  If anybody out there gets the Tropical Times, please send me a copy!




• new 15 Aug 05! Tsunami Tour, 2004.  Why weren't we all drowned in our beds?  Why?
• updated 14 Aug 05!  US Navy and Air Force Outlaw Flip Flops and Tank Tops as off-duty wear on Diego Garcia.  Un-freakin'-believable...  And a new policy applies to all dependents, retirees, contractors, etc.
• updated 03 Oct 06!  Warning Letter - Your wild man is coming home!
• updated 17 Feb 08! Yacht Club - and the Marina.  Where the Elite Meet!  Also, info on how to join!
• new 14 Nov 05!  Yacht Club, Page Deux, with lots more photos and info!

HISTORY

• updated 12 Nov 07! The TRUE History of Diego Garcia - A chronological list of historical facts about Diego Garcia & the Chagos Archipelago.  Forget all those DoD propaganda pages, this is the straight skinny.  If you really want to know what happened when, check out this page!


Special Request:  If anybody out there gets the Tropical Times, please send me a copy!




• Chagos Mortality Report - population and death reports through the centuries.  A PDF file - Requires downloading.
• updated 14 Nov 05! First Americans - the fascinating story of a satellite tracking team on DG 1968-1970.
• "KATIE" - The no-shit, true story of the PBY at the Plantation, and Jim Park, her pilot.
• new 14 Nov 05! NMCB 62's History of the Island.  A GIF of their handout.
• "Official" History of the Provisional People's Democratic Republic.
• updated 30 Jul 07!  OPERATION EARNEST WILL Airlift Directive (a MAC Mission Directive, for the War We Should Have Had with Iran in 1987).
• OPERATION EARNEST WILL Airflift Schedule for those interested in technical, historical detail.
• OPERATION EARNEST WILL Photos C-5s load up the Marines.  The first operational deployment of B-52s to DG.
• new 14 Nov 05! REAL Official Histories of the Island.  US & UK governmental propaganda.
• updated 17 Feb 08!  SEABEES!  The Boys Who Built the Seahuts: The early SEABEE years - 1971-1973 - It takes a long time to load this one (lots of photos) but it is well worth it if you want to see what Dodge looked like in the "old days".
• new 28 Jun 07!  SEGA PARTY!  Party down with the islanders, circa 1969!  Unbelievable!  Unique!  The songs and speeches from a lost civilization!
• new 2 Sep 06!  Steve Forsberg's Master's Thesis on the History of DG.  Also a short paper about Capt. Thompson and "Only the Sun Remembers."
• TDY in 1982 to Fantasy Island (a journal with some photos of the period).  By the future President for Life.
• new 14 Jun 06! "Under Two Flags" - David Melville's 1976 History, which includes a lot of original source documents.
• USS GRAHAM COUNTY, LST 1176 Docks at DG in 1971!  Lots of photos, takes a while to load.  Don't forget to check out Page 2.

MAPS, CHARTS, & DIAGRAMS

• updated 18 Sep 06! Aerial Photos - show your loved ones exactly where you passed out on the beach!
• updated 18 Sep 06!  Historical Maps of the IO and DG!  Serious historical s&!%, man!
• Map of Downtown - amaze your friends by knowing exactly where the Pay and Pay and Pay Phone Company is!
• Map of the Island - this is definitely not the one from the CIA's Country Book!
• Photo Tour of DG, 1999-2000 Got some pictures of your favorite places on DG you want included?  Send them to me!

NATIVES

• updated 15 Apr 08! Chagossians - Who are they and what do they want?  Have you ever wondered what happened to the people who used to live and work at the Plantation?  They got kicked out of the Chagos in the early 70's.  Read the true, sordid story.
• SEGA PARTY!  Party down with the islanders, circa 1969!  Unbelievable!  Unique!  The songs and speeches from a lost civilization!
• new 18 Feb 08!  Johnny B's Music.  John Bridiane, a Chagossian who worked on Diego Garcia in the late 1990s has an cut a couple albums!  It's on My Space, and takes a while to download, but it's worth hearing, and you should buy it!

 

 
 












NOW, HERE ARE THE LEGAL SQUABBLES:

• IN THE UK:  Some of them have sued the UK to let them return.  Here's that Court Case:
• The 2000 Court Ruling in the UK.
• The 2003 Court Ruling in the UK.
• Appendix to the 2003 Court Ruling that pretty well discusses every issue and the historical facts in excruciating detail.
• The 2006 High Court Ruling in the UK.  Allows the Chagossians to return to the Chagos, but not to DG.  This decision is under appeal.
• IN THE US:  Chagossians - Part Deux.  Oliver Bancoult, et al, sues the US in December 2001 for "forced relocation, torture, racial discrimination, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, genocide, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and trespass."  This time, they want money.  Ten billion dollars.  He lost my support when they claimed "genocide".  We make mistakes, but we don't do that.
• The Docket Page for the Chagossian's Suit of the USA (i.e., all the evidence filed) with links to all that evidence.
• The US District Court's Final Ruling - Dismissal of the Lawsuit, 21 Dec 2004.
• Notice to Appeal the Dismissal made to the US District Court, 29 May 2005.
• The US Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit Final Ruling- Dismissal of the Lawsuit, 21 April 2006.  The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal, and that should be all for this lawsuit, which took 5 years and 2 months to resolve.
• EMAILS between me and Michael Tigar and his team of US lawyers, and with some Chagosians (and their supporters).
• RELATED SOMEHOW:  "Cry Freedom -  Rodrigues Island: Case for Self-Determination"  An interesting critique of Mauritian policy and practice that may have implications for Diego Garcia and the Chagossians.

NATURE STUDY MERIT BADGE

• General Ecological Observations of our favorite island.  See a Strangler Fig strangle a latrine.
• new 17 Mar 07!  Appeal for your help getting photos of wildlife on Diego Garcia!  Please help!  Before they make everything off limits and you can't go looking.
• Brown Tree Snake Invades Paradise... Population flees in terror, then naplams the little sucker.
• New 23 Nov 07!  Crab Whacker.  The Brits won't let you whack crabs with your 9 Iron any more?  Well, you can do it here - the wacky new game where you try to zap 40 crabs in less than 50 seconds!
• new 26 Mar 07!  Birds of Diego Garcia - a whole series of pages about our fine-feathered friends.
• new 26 Mar 07!  Nesting Pelagic Birds - See the pictures of Boobies!
• new 27 Mar 07! (but not quite done)  Herons and Land Birds - The birds you might stumble over.
• new 17 Feb 08! (but not quite done)Terns of Diego Garcia.
• new 17 Feb 08! (but barely done)Shorebirds of Diego Garcia.
• These and additional Bird Pages are...  
• updated 17 Feb 08! Coconut Crabs and other land crabs.  Learn all about the most unique resident of the island.  Race your favorite in the Diego Garcia Downs Handicap!
• new 20 Nov 07!  Commercial Fishing - who is watching the watchers???
• Fauna - the insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles of Diego Garcia.
• updated 12 Mar 07! Marine biology - Meet the denizens of the sea, reefs, and lagoon.
• new 17 Feb 08!  Really great photos by James Cox of various things around DG.
• Really great photos of creatures large and small... Taken by official photographers on DG.
• new 20 Nov 07!  Sea Cucumber pirates raid the Chagos!  Read all about it!
• new 20 Apr 07!  Sea Turtles of Diego Garcia!  Learn how to tell the players with this handy program.
• new 20 Nov 07!  Shark Poaching!  Shame of the Indian Ocean.
• Vaguely natural pages (also linked elsewhere on this page):
• Fishy Stories of the rich and infamous.
• Hector the Hammerhead.  The biggest shark in the Lagoon.  Ever.  Plus the story of the famous photos from the guy who took them!
• new 15 Aug 05! Tsunami Tour, 2004.  Why weren't we all drowned in our beds?  Why?


PDF files well worth reading:

• Atoll Research Bulletins - The Smithsonian Institution's official journal of, well, atoll research.
• No. 149; the report of Stoddard and Taylor's 1967 expedition to Diego.  Download this critically important 288-page book by going to the University of Hawaii's web site, scrolling down to "No. 149" and click on "Download PDF File".
• No. 175, Birds of Diego Garcia as of 1971.
• No. 313, Flora of Diego Garcia by John Topp, Brit Rep out there 1984 - 86.
• Bioslurping!  The latest craze on and under the airfield!  Learn how to recover fuel from the freshwater lenses!
• Chagos Conservation Management Plan; For the BIOT Administration; by Dr. Charles Sheppard and Dr. Mark Spalding; 2003.
• Joint Nature Conservation Commission's profile of the Chagos; from 1999.
• NSF's Nomination for Best Natural Resources Management Program in the US Navy; 2001.
• "Effects of the Tsunami in the Chagos Archipelago" by Dr. Sheppard, the pre-eminent scientist of DG and the Chagos.
• World Atlas of Coral Reefs - BIOT & Diego Garcia.


Here's a special pitch for the helping the environment of our favorite island:

Chagos Conservation Trust - If you are serious about protecting the wonderful environment of our favorite island and the rest of the archipelago, with out going too Greenie-Weenie, go to this site and read all about the CCT! JOIN TODAY!  Membership is $20 per year, and you can get the membership forms and payment info on the site.  Plus they sell books.

PHILATELY

• Postage Stamps Proving the legitimacy of the PPRRDG government and My Claim To Life-Long Presidency of the Republic!!!
• 1968 - from Kirby Crawford
• 1973 - from Vig Villanueva
• 1973 - from CATFRANKIE (Dave)
• 1990 - from Andrew Young
• Varios Dates - from Francesco Fantozzi
• The REAL Postmaster General of the BIOT - buy your souvenier stamps here!  (It's run by Cable & Wireless)

POST CARDS FROM THE EDGE

• Provocative Post Cards from the PPDRDG Ministry of Post-Feminist Arts and Crafts.
• Semi-provocative Post Cards from paradise.
• XXX - French (Naked Women) Post Cards of Diego Garcia - XXX!

THE PRESIDENT FOR LIFE'S ESOTERICISMS

• NPR Interview by Scott Simon with the Author of this Web Site- Not officially a page on this web site, but a critical piece of PPDRDG lore - aired on National Public Radio 10/13/01.  You can also listen to the interview right from that page!
• Photos of Brits c. 1988 - Strange People in Foreign Places!
• updated 19 Nov 07! Photos of Det. 1, 374 TAW Personnel.
• Photos of FEBROIDS c. 1988 - Just a few pics of the people who ran the island on behalf of the Navy.
• Photos of Space Commandos c 1988 - People somehow related to Det. 4, 1st Space Wing.

WAR

Click here to get a bigger version of the YAP colors you can frame or
take down to your local hot-rod shop and get made into a window decal for your truck!

• updated as messages are received!  Best Wishes Page to the troops that may or may not be deployed to Diego Garcia for which ever Operation we're conducting now...
• Bomber Ops during ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM; 14 Sep '01 - 15 Aug '06 (1 year and 2 months longer than the US was in WWII).
• updated 6 Mar 07! Bomber Ops, Part Deux - USAF planes and crews go about their intended purpose.
• updated 6 Mar 07! B-1 Operations
• updated 6 Mar 07! B-2 Operations
• updated 6 Mar 07! B-52 Operations
• updated 1 May 08! Bombs and Bomb Dumps.
• Geopolitical Lesson #1:  Why are we on Diego Garcia anyway?  More importantly, why did I have to spend a year there?
• updated 15 Apr 08!  Final Flight of B-1 "ICECUBE 44" and the rescue of her crew by the USS RUSSELL.
• new 22 Oct 07!  Interservice Rivalry at work.  B-52 Wing Attack Plan Romeo.  Gilligan promoted to XO.
• updated 6 Mar 07! Leaflets dropped on the Helpless Taliban during OEF.
• NSF earns the MERITORIOUS UNIT CITATION for outstanding support of bomber ops. A .jpg file.
• updated 31 Oct 06! Nuvo-communists criticizing America's use of DG following the WTC attack.
• updated 6 Mar 07! Personal Statements To The Terrorists delivered to the bad guys by airmail.
• R & R on DGAR - Consider the possibilities!
• updated 2 May 07!  Recovering from a Gear-Up Landing.  Ooops, I forgot, you can't recover from a Gear-Up Landing...Until you rebuild the airplane - which they did!
• Stars and Stripes article about DG and this web site on Oct. 10, 2001 (by Ward Sanderson).
• new 13 Mar 07!  Tanker Operations - Crews of KC-135s and KC-10s pass gas on Diego Garcia.
• USNS COMFORT, a hospital ship, puts in for Liberty before steaming north to the war.  A PDF file.
• WAR NEWS (Enduring Freedom) from Diego Garcia - Warning!  Not for the faint of heart!
• updated 1 May 08!  Wing and Squadron Emblems of the OEF/OIF Participants.

• WAR STORY ENTRY FORM - (a.k.a. My Guestbook)  Share your story with the world!  DO IT TODAY!
• updated 2 Sep 06!  WAR STORIES - intro page!  Personal Reminiscences by Citizens of the PPDRDG.  This page has entries from as early as 1942, and includes some TCNs who were out there as long as 20 years!  (Called 'Troglodites' in the table below)
• CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED!  Links to Warstory pages by year - Click on the Year in which you have an interest: