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November 11, 2004
A Veteran's Memories
I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning about a war veteran that was really touching.
"On this Veterans Day, Halloran wonders what the long nights will hold, 10 and 20 years from now, for today's men and women fighting in Iraq. How many will wake up sweating and screaming, as he did, years and years after he had returned home safely? Halloran was 62 when, long after abandoning his fourth psychiatrist, he came to understand that every war veteran has to find his or her own way to chase the nightmares.
This was his: He returned to the place he vowed never to set foot in again."
The man reminded me of the survivor Josh and I met in Hiroshima a couple years ago. Matsushimi-san missed the tram that would take him to school the day the Americans dropped the bomb on the city and being late that morning saved his life.
When we went to meet him, I didn't really know what to expect but I guess I thought victims of war generally reacted angrily. Meeting him and finding out that he chose to do everything he could to become friends with Americans was an inspiration. He went to study in the U.S. and even became an English teacher. Reading the article in the Chronicle made me think that was probably Matsushimi-san's way of getting rid of the nightmares.
If you're interested in reading more about our meeting with Matsushimi-san, Josh wrote an article about it.
Posted by insideoutmag at November 11, 2004 12:55 PM