I know I am late with a post but, after serving in Pearl Harbor for a few years and having been to the Memorial several times, I can't seem to find the words to describe how it felt each time I went there. Seeing the Japanese there just really turned my stomach.
My greatest concern is that with most of the survivors no longer with us,this "Day In Infamy" will over time be all but forgotten.

Dear Dirtfan,

You are wrong. The reason we go to school is to think and never forget about our past. There is a reason why we have schools and our teachers teach history, ethics and what is right and wrong.

When I was in school I won a award that nobody else won that year. The award was based primarily on grades. You had to have straight A's. I did not. The award was given to one boy and one girl in the 5th and 6th grades. That year they couldn't even find one boy who met the requirements. That bothered me. Why?

In the 6th grade there were 20 boys that met that requirement. I barely got in by my extracurricular activites. I played sports, was a member of the band, sang in the chorus and was a member of the traffic patrol.

Later I learned to be member of the traffic patrol you had to be special, because you would miss class to direct the younger kids across the streets. You wore a uniform, wore shiny silver badges and carried a rather heavy metal sign to stop traffic as our youth crossed the busy streets coming from home or going home from school.


Later in life I asked one of my teachers how in the heck did I win that award (Citizenship) over those 20 other straight "A" boy students? I had one "B" in english and normally wouldn't even be able to compete for that award. I knew that, but somebody let me in. Extracurricular activities meant something and was my ticket for me to compete for that rather pretigious award.

My teacher just laughed and said "Larry, you had spunk". I'm only learning now at age 55 why I won that award over my competitors who could cream/beat me in achademia. Trust me those other 20 boys were very upset that I won that award and they were smarter than me. I could see it in thier faces. They were not happy. Trust me thier parents were not happy, either. But I won that award and they only gave one award for a boy, that year in the whole school.

But, I won that award against all the odds. I will never forget it. It showed me what one could do if they put their minds to it. It's never over until its over. Never give up, you might amaze yourself in what one can achieve if you give it your all, everday of your life. Jimmie Johnson might be one example. He sets a bar that most will never be able to acomplish no matter how hard they try. His competitors know that. He is a five time champion and personally I think he will win 7 in a row. I do not think he will win eight. It has no meaning or value. 7 does. It's God's number ....lol!

It set's an example bigger than himself, bigger than Hendricks Motorsports of even the United States. His accomplishments sets a standard that the World takes notice. You would be surprized how many people follow Nascar Racing and have done so for the last 20 years. Nascar is bigger than most people think and Nascar knows the implications.

It may not appear at first glance what JJ's accomplishment mean across the world's ocean fronts. That's why we have so many from so many racing organizations competing for a spot to run on any sunday afternoon. It's a big deal, it's a world affair that all racing associations take notice to. The people follow in their footsteps of their racers and their careers and accomplishments. It sets a world standard in any sport, in any business and in life itself. It's the meaning of life for so many across the World.

I know my destiney, I have been teaching myself for all my life to learn about the Japanese/American people, my father, a member of the United States Army serving in Italy and Germany during WWII was a member of the 442nd, the most highly decorated fighting unit in US history.

I spent 20 years tracking down all his brothers and sisters and at the time my 55 first and second cousins. When my mom died she said you know more about your Dad than I do. And I knew more than she did about his father and his grandparents that lived/died in Hiroshima during the first dropping of an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. I wasnt' even born until 1955. How could I learn so much. I just say it was "Spunk"...lol!

I know that I am one of the few who can join a organization in the preservation of Japanese/American History, the 442nd, the incarseration of Japanese during WWII and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasake.

To be a member you must be a decendent of those who fought for America during WWII and you must be Japanese. No other people have that honor or allowed to join this prestigious organization and the preservation of that history. That is my destiney and that is an honor and not a privledge.

So in reality that history will not be lost. It's up to the children to keep those memories alive.

And God Bless you,

Sincerely,

Lawrence (Larry) Brian Otani

When December 7th rolls around each year, I think of the two words that seem to me to be quite appropriate:

Hiroshima
Nagasaki

When December 7th rolls around each year, I think of the two words that seem to me to be quite appropriate:

Hiroshima
Nagasaki
__________________
Steve Turner

“Just try to make the world a better place for your having been here” -- Jimmy Doolittle, World War II Medal Of Honor winner

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I saw a program tonight which I have seen once before and I thought I would comment on it. On the renouned "Dish TV" research channel Yona, a Hiroshima survivor talked about the atomic blast and radiation poisoning.

"The first thing you see is the bright white light". If you are lucky you will duct to the ground shrouding your body from the immense heat covering your face and eyes. If you don't and react to slowly you will no longer have eyes on your face. They will be gone. It is not a pretty site to see loss of eyes from the face. She will never forget.

If you are lucky you might be wearing white clothing. Radiation is reflected and black absorbs all the radiation and you will be burned, most likely alive. If you can run you might be able to escape from the destruction traveling at you, but she said those with no eyes could not run.

In this instance the survivor was blown away and was later found underneath, I assume a collapsed building. To this day some parents still don't know where their children are. I guess they are still hoping that they will see them again. I guess they just can bare the fact that they were never found.

It took Yona 15 years to even talk about the blast and that she survived when so many other children had died. You see on that particular day she was sent home, 10,000 kilometers from the epicenter. Her stories were from the mothers of the children who suffered the blast. The mother wrote down their stories I guess in remembrance of the event. You see the children were gathered to make bullets to support the war effort. Most of these children knew nothing but war. Since 1930 they were in the "15 Year War" and 15 years later on Aug 7th, 1945 was another day in the factory making the weapons that would be used to kill others. For 15 years these children only knew war, that was their life. I doubt they would be going to the races on a saturday night, if they had the day off. I assume they would probably just go to the lake, watch the water and dream how peaceful it was and quiet.

Amazingly those who survived appeared not scarred from the blast. They looked normal but several months later just died. She assumed the radiation had killed them, but it was the internal death and not wounds from outside the body. These people who had died had no visible wounds from without. Those who survived had diarrhea and urniated blood and later had heart problems and breathing problems.
Yona assume it was from the radiation poisoning.

Yona jobs at the age of 15 was to take all the dead bodies in a field and burn them. Her job was to insure they were properly incinerated. It was a job she took very seriously. I wonder if I could take litterally hundreds of bodies into a field and make sure they were properly incinerated. I assume that was not a pleasant job at the age of 15 years old. I think I would rather be making bullets.

At age 31 Yona realized she had a responsiblity to educate those who had not seen war or survived a nuclear blast. It was one of the last wills and testaments of a mother before she died. So, I assume Yona has for the last 40 years went on a mission around the world to try to educate others that nuclear bombs should be eliminated and that war should be stopped. Maybe then children would not have to make bullets, and survive a nuclear blast. She was speaking in Santa Barbara, Ca in Japanese with an English translator. I can't but help think she was educating me and was hoping I would spread the word.

Sincerely,

Larry Otani and hope 2011 is a great year for racing. God Bless you all.