As many readers of the Progress know, Joe Rizza, M.D., a resident of the SaddleBrooke community, has been an avid traveler and has brought his medical skills to many remote corners of the world. Most recently, in the summer of 2025, he was in charge of the medical clinic on the island of Wake, which is a small military base and home to roughly 110 civilian contractors and a varying number of military personnel.
This Spring he was asked to be the chief medical officer at the small hospital on another tiny Island in the Pacific Ocean, Kwajalein Island. Both Wake and Kwajalein are small atolls that make up the many islands of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Kwaj, as it is commonly referred to by those civilian contractors and Army personnel residing on the island, is roughly 2,400 miles southwest of Honolulu. It is six square miles and lies just slightly over eight degrees north of the equator. It is a United States Army Garrison. Kwajalein was first sighted by Spanish navigators in 1543. It was taken over by the Japanese in World War I and was infamous during World War II as a prisoner of war camp where prisoners died of harsh treatment and physical abuse. It acquired the nickname ” Execution Island.” The aviator and 1936 Berlin Olympics track star, Louis Zamperini, was a prisoner there after being shot down over the Pacific. Unbroken is the title of the book written several decades ago highlighting his incredible feat of survival.
The Americans liberated Kwajalein in February. of 1944 and almost all of the 8,700 Japanese were killed by massive bombardment. It was designated a United Nations Trust Territory, along with the remainder of the Marshall Islands, under United States protection.
After the war, it became the command center for nuclear testing, with 67 blasts taking place on nearby atolls, such as Bikini. Today, it is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Defense Test Site.
Kwaj is like a small city with tennis courts, softball fields, a golf course, a small supermarket, swimming pool, schools for the children of civilian contractors and military personnel, a small shop, and a large dining facility. It has a beautiful, calm sheltered beach called Emon Beach that is suited for children. There are contractors on Kwajalein who have lived here for decades and call the island “home.” Nearby Ebeye Island, home to about 10,000 Marshallese, is the sixth most densely populated island in the world. It is only .14 square. miles in size. Many of the residents find employment caring for the United States Army Garrison on Kwajalein. The distance between Ebeye and Kwajalein is only a few miles and transportation is via local ferry that covers the distance in about 20 minutes.