Remembering Tokyo

Like many others, I was moved to call and speak to every member of my family after hearing about the tragedy on Tuesday, but one of the most important things to me was calling my mom and my dad. My mom endured the Allied bombing raids on Tokyo in the early ’40s. She was a 12-year-old Japanese girl. I knew that if she saw the footage of the attack and its aftermath, she would be transported back to 1940’s Tokyo.

She’s 72-years old now, but my mom still cannot talk about those bombing raids without crying about one particularly poignant memory she has of running into a bomb shelter when the air raid sirens began going off, and leaving her beloved little kittens. She knew she couldn’t take her kittens to the bomb shelter, so she ran with her family, crying about what presumably would be a loss. The joyful ending to the story is that she returned to find her kittens safe and sound.

We all know that in August of 1945, atomic bombs were dropped first in Hiroshima, then in Nagasaki. My mom, still living in Tokyo, would have been almost 15 years old. I am not at all conflicted about the fact that the United States had to use deliberate military action against Japan in retaliation for their attack on Pearl Harbor – nor am I conflicted about the fact that the subsequent action of use of nuclear force was necessary to quell the Japanese nationalistic fervor that gave birth to Kamikaze pilots. I see the path that we had to take to peace, and that swift military action followed by a plan of reconstruction and diplomacy was the model of restoration that God calls us to.

I am a product of that. I wouldn’t be here if the United States hadn’t used atomic weapons in Japan. The losses on and destruction of American soil would have surely been more devastating had atomic weapons not been used in Japan. As a “full circle” follow-up to this little story, when we moved to Charlotte, we visited a small church in our new neighborhood. The interim pastor, Malcolm Nodine, a 76-year-old retired Baptist preacher, visited us in order to get to know us better. But first, he shared a bit about himself: “Fifty-five years ago today, I stood next to Nimitz on the USS Missouri, while he signed the peace with Japan.”

I listened quietly while he told the rest of his story: “We were told that it was a somber occasion and we were not to show joy or celebration of any kind, nor were we to touch or speak to any of the Japanese on board. However, after the Japanese signed the surrender, as they were being escorted away, I felt that God wanted me to hold out my hand to one of the Japanese men walking by. He smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. I asked God a short time later to allow me to someday meet and talk to a Japanese person.”

So, 55 years later, as he’s sitting in my living room, I was able to answer that prayer and tell him that I am Japanese, that my mother lived in Tokyo during and after the war and that she married an American serviceman. We both cried at this little connection we share.

I cannot stress enough that however devastating acts of war may be, they are necessary to effect true and lasting peace in our hearts and minds as well as in our land. Peace is the ultimate goal, but war is necessary. As much as I’m glued to the action on television, watching the coverage and hearing people speak, I’m praying that behind closed doors of the Pentagon, military strategy is being discussed and plans are being made to go to war.

I’m thankful that our defense is as strong as it is, and I pray that it becomes even stronger and that funds are poured into those efforts. I praise God we have people in leadership who have seen and understand combat, who know what’s it like to go to war to effect peace. There will be further tremendous loss of life, property and liberty if we do not act aggressively against those at war with our beliefs and our way of life. I am disappointed that I cannot act on my own in a military capacity, but I will continue to pray that God will show me what I can do to defend our country and our beliefs.