Obon - Some Personal Thoughts for the Future

A vision I had this morning; At the end of my life I will have succumbed to the effects of dementia from the Agent Orange I inherited from my father's exposure during the Vietnam War. I had been in bed for days in the company of one of my grown up daughters. Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sound of approaching helicopters I had not heard in many years. A smile had come to my face. “What is it?” she asked. “That sound. I know that sound.” “What sound?” she asked. “That’s the sound of the Air Cavalry!” I exclaimed. I suddenly became excited the way I did when I would hear Military helicopters fly over our house when I was a kid. For the first time in days I got out of bed strangely wearing OD Green fatigue pants & t-shirt with my father’s dog tags around my neck. I stretched my legs and arms and walked outside into the knee high wild grasses of a tree lined clearing. I looked and felt young again as if I were in my twenties. I could feel the breeze of the rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees as the sound of the Hueys got louder and louder before coming into view. “You see them?” I asked. “See what dad?” “Up there!”I pointed. I looked up into the clear blue skies and pointed to a dozen Bell UH-1 B models circling around. I wanted to puff smoke and in my mind I did. As the Hueys circled in closer you could see the door gunners manning the M-60’s keeping watch as a lead ship came into the LZ. I stretched my arms into the clearing and waved down. The lead Huey came in and set down right in front of me. Like a young boy filled with excitement I raced to the chopper and there standing in the open side door was my father wearing a flight helmet, flakjacket, and his OD green fatigues with the patch of the 1^st Air Cavalry on his shoulder. He looked into my eyes and extended his hand as he smiled and said in his native Spanish: “Subir te’ Mijito,” (climb on board son). I took his hand and climbed into the chopper and sat in the middle seat as my dad shook his head to the pilot that we were good to go. As he sat down I clenched my father’s hand and smiled as we lifted out the LZ and into the heavens. The long shadow of the Vietnam War that haunted my father’s life and that of my own faded into the white mists as we passed over the Hon Cong Mountain and the Song Ba River content that we were now at peace. Until we meet again. 

Louis Edward Rosas III. 2014

Last Crewman of Enola Gay is Dead

69 years ago no one could have ever imagined the destructive weapon about to be unleashed upon the City of Hiroshima and its doomed inhabitants. But that was war and here we are today. So as Obon season comes to a close, the last surviving crewman of the infamous B-29 Enola Gay (which dropped the bomb over Hiroshima) Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk has passed away of natural causes at the age of 93.

Van Kirk flew many missions in North Africa and Europe against the Nazi's but it was his one mission against Japan that made him synonymous with the deaths of over 140,000 people and ending the war. He was once asked if he would do it again. His complex answer goes as such: "Under the same circumstances -- and the key words are 'the same circumstances' -- yes, I would do it again. We were in a war for five years. We were fighting an enemy that had a reputation for never surrendering, never accepting defeat. It's really hard to talk about morality and war in the same sentence. In a war, there are so many questionable things done. Where was the morality in the bombing of Coventry, or the bombing of Dresden, or the Bataan death march, or the Rape of Nanking, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor? I believe that when you're in a war, a nation must have the courage to do what it must to win the war with a minimum loss of lives." Van Kirk would write about this and many more detailed accounts of his experience in his book "My True Course." His passing marks another close for the Showa Era and that of those Hibakusha still alive.

Obon Memories: Terminal Island

While many people visit Temples and the graves of their ancestors this Obon, let us not forget entire communities that have also passed on. For this we chose to visit the Terminal Island Memorial in San Pedro California with it's iconic stone Tori Gate that stands without color like a faded memory of the lively once thriving Japanese-American Community that was bulldozed by the US Navy after the forced internment of all US Citizens of Japanese Ancestry.  When you arrive there it is hard to believe that this barren strip of wharf was once home to some 3000 Nikkei and their families with houses, trees, and a real Shinto Jinja. All that remains are the ghostly reminders of the people that spoke their own distinct dialect of Japanese and once made this place unique. While it is off the beaten path there are many signs that will show you the way there. It is if the spirits of the place want you to visit and during Obon it is the perfect time to do it. Gassho!

 

Hatsubon: When Obon Gets Personal

Every second weekend in July has the annual Obon festival throughout the many temples in Little Tokyo. This year however became most personal. If you have been reading our blog you'll know that we have had two deaths in our family this year making us a family in mourning also known as "Hatsubon." Traditionally Hatsubon family members attend the Obon service and offer a candle and memorial plaque to the deceased family members. In my case I offered two candles, one for my uncle Enrique Rosas and for my father Luis Rosas. No members of uncle's family were in attendance thus I represented them as well as my own. My mother was too ill to travel from Arizona so her sister Irma Dominguez stood in for her in her place.

Seen here are the two memorial plaques representing our family. Green candle for Enrique Rosas and Red Candle for Luis Rosas.

Additional offerings to our ancestors were also made at the bamboo altar seen below.

An offering of rice and water is made here for the hungry spirits that come at Obon.

Despite our losses, The Rosas Clan will live on.

Ichiro Dreams In Color Relaunched!

The first illustrated American Mishima book by Louis Edward Rosas has been re-released with larger type and additional artwork as a revised 2nd Edition.  You'll find it to be larger, easier to read, and easier to understand. Check for Kindle Format availability.

Product Details

• Paperback: 50 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; Second Edition edition (July 10, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1500354783
• ISBN-13: 978-1500354787
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.1 inches

To order your copy of the new book click the following link:  

Ichiro Dreams in Color

Sayonara Samurai Blue

Japan's hopes for advancing to the Group of 16 were dashed today by it's defeat to Group C leader Columbia. For a moment at the 45th minute during stoppage Japan looked like they could turn it around and potentially save themselves but it was not to be. This ends Japan's 2014 World Cup Run. We hope the Samurai Blue will find a new coach and their fighting spirit for the 2018 Challenge to come. がんばれ日本!

American Mishima: The Real Soldier and the Samurai

It's not everyday an author gets to honor a person who has inspired your work but this last Sunday at the Aoba Matsuri (Birthday for Koyasan Buddhism founder Kobo Daishi) at the Los Angeles Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo, we had such an opportunity. In our newly released historical epic The Soldier and the Samurai we based our Soji Nishida character on the template of the real life Shoji Kanogawa (seen here overcome with pure emotion) who actually lived in pre-war Seattle of the 1930's to the forced relocation in 1942. Like our fictional Soji Nishida, Mr. Kanogawa or "Stogie" as he was known not only spent his teens in the "Relocation Camps" of WWII but later served in the US Army in Korea. Mr. Kanogawa later served as our Temple president for many years. So this last sunday we were pleased to present him and the real Nishida Family aka the Kanogawa's their own copy of our epic with sections based on the many conversations with Mr. Kanogawa before he had his debilitating stroke in 2013. Like in our fictional tale, we hope our book becomes for the Kanogawa family much like the Tanto knife of Harada Sanosuke and becomes a family heirloom thus life imitating art.

The real "Nishida" family Mr. Shoji Kanogwa with his longtime wife and one of his grown up daughters.

Order your copy of The Soldier and the Samurai here!

Enjoy!