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PEARL HARBOR (Dec. 9, 2019) - It was a time of war. The Dec. 7, 1941 attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor thrusted the United States into World War II. The U.S. was poised to fight back in the years to come and begin an unrelenting attack on Japan.
On June 20, 1945 I was on board a B-29 aircraft attached to the 314th Bombardment Wing of the U.S. Army Air Forces which would join 136 others that departed from the island of Guam. Our target was the Japanese city of Shizuoka. For this mission the wing was to continue America’s air raids of Japanese cities.
The hum and buzz of the aircraft engines roared throughout the bomber. We awaited the word to proceed over Shizuoka. With the go ahead, the engine noise was interrupted by the sounds of bombs exploding on the earth below. One by one the B-29s dropped bombs over the city, more than 13,000. As we executed our mission, there was a mishap. My bomber and another collided, falling from the air to the recently bombed ground below.
I laid in a field among the wreckage and the crew of both aircraft; all were deceased, 23 total. Townspeople drew near toward the wreckage. Unable to move, I waited to be found. After a couple of days, I was discovered. What would happen now?
I was fortunate, for behind enemy territory I found a rescuer, Fukumatsu Itoh, a Shizuoka city councilman and a Buddhist. He had survived the bombings to the city and sought out the wreckage that crashed onto his brother’s farm. All of us would be forever impacted by the tragic events and its effects permanently imprinted and scarred on my body. Itoh took me with him.
He believed all life is precious and stated, “Even enemy soldiers, when they lose their lives, their spirits become the same as anyone else.” [1]
This 53-year-old Japanese man who collected me from the field where American planes had crashed, after just bombing his city, was now risking himself for his ideals which helped to benefit me. He saw to it that my 23 fallen crew members were honored with a burial and not just anywhere, but right beside his estimated 2,000 departed countrymen. He decided to hold a ceremony to reverence all those who lost their lives that day, Japanese and American. Some of his people showed great disdain and shunned him, but Itoh never gave in and upheld his principles and beliefs.
For years to come, Itoh and I would return to the crash site for a remembrance ceremony to honor all those laid to rest. As a vestige of the crash, I was entrusted with the bourbon whiskey that Itoh would pour on the ground as a tribute to those who perished. Some time later the ceremony was moved from his brother’s field to Sengen Hill where Itoh, now a monk, had two monuments erected, one for the over 2,000 Shizuoka citizens and the other for my 23 U.S. crew members.
One day Itoh received a visit from Dr. Hiroya Sugano. Sugano had been hiking and came across the monuments stirring up emotions of what he experienced and witnessed on that fateful day at just 12 years of age. He shared some of the same beliefs as Itoh and wanted to learn more.
Sugano’s grandfather, a military doctor who had treated the wounded enemy in a previous war, told him, “When the enemy is wounded or loses his life, he’s no longer the enemy, he’s just a man.”[1]
Itoh and Sugano formed a partnership and Sugano would now aid in the efforts and join the ceremonies. Sugano was in training to take Itoh’s place and in 1972 he assumed the full duties as ceremony host. He continued to press Itoh’s idea that we can forgive and heal if we just allow ourselves and come together.
In time, formal invitations to the day of remembrance in Shizuoka were offered to the U.S. military and American family members of the B-29 crew. In 1991, Sugano even arranged a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share the ceremony held annually in Japan, in the U.S.
I had been an essential part of the ceremonies from the beginning, I would be there for everyone to see. Though battered, worn, charred and with some deformity I would be presented as a representative of peace and friendship.
Sugano said, “It was Mr. Itoh’s wish to see the people of Japan and the United States together as one honoring his message of peace.”[2]
My first time back in the U.S. among fellow Americans, Sugano lifted me up and with a firm embrace, brought me over to the railing of the Arizona Memorial. Resting in Sugano’s hands, he leaned me forward and from my old worn lip flowed the bourbon whiskey that had been poured for many years.
I am the Blackened Canteen.
Found over 74 years ago among the wreckage of two U.S. Army Air Force B-29s, I continue to stand as a symbol for peace, forgiveness, reconciliation and friendship. I stand as a testament that goodness can shine through a devastating event.
For over 28 years I have helped lead in honoring the fallen from both countries, traveling from Japan to the U.S. every year, sharing drinks with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our countries.
My journey and story can indeed be a representation of how we can make an impact and be a positive force to change the world and bring people together.
[1]Hollier, Dennis. “The Blackened Canteen.” Air and Space Magazine: Pearl Harbor 75 Collector’s Edition, 2016, https://www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Blackened-Canteen-Air-Space.pdf. (last accessed 26 Nov 2019)
[2]Troutman, Jeffrey. “Peace, Reconciliation Emphasized at Blackened Canteen Ceremony.” Military News, 9 Dec. 2016, https://www.militarynews.com/norfolk-navy-flagship/news/quarterdeck/peace-reconciliation-emphasized-at-blackened-canteen-ceremony/article_7df5a89d-abd1-58cb-a835-50ee55d1227e.html. (last accessed 26 Nov 2019)
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2019 18:43 |
| Story ID: | 355508 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Battered and Seared, I Stand As a Symbol of Peace, by PO2 Jessica Blackwell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
