SEDUCTION OF SPRING

~ omika63 ~ Leave a comment 

 
Aggressors need not call,
the line is long;
She has been blindsided, 
pairing with cold and hot,
where balance was shelved
 
Summer awaits,
probably not for long,
for Spring will be worn out,
gladly giving up her shortened reign

Friendships, where eternal Spring resides,
orektika of conversation, culture, understanding,
music and light;
Seconded by senses of taste and smell

OM

FACING HISTORY

~ omika63 ~ 2 Comments 
A journey to Trader Joe's usually involves sampling the latest end-cap items, picking up things you did not have on your list, and friendly staff.  The unexpected greeted me yesterday, as I went to pick up some non-essentials.

Walking down the frozen appetizers section, I noted an older man with a hat that had "WW2 Veteran" on it. 

"What theater of operations were you in?" I asked.

Bernard Weiss was a breath of fresh air, a tribute to the nonagenarian spirit.  Having been assigned to the Seventh Armored Division in Europe, he was relocated, much to his consternation, to the Pacific theater of operations, where he saw bloody action in Guam and surrounding areas.  I asked him whether taking Japanese prisoners was the exception rather than the rule.  "Absolutely," he replied.  "We would secure islands where the army needed to build air strips; we captured very few Japanese, as surrender was considered shameful."   He spoke at length about his experience, at one point pulling out his wallet, from which he took out a black and white photo, taken in 1945, where he is pictured with a smiling Japanese POW.  "Why is the prisoner smiling,"  I asked.  "Because he is alive, and I let him keep his wedding band,"  replied Bernie, who had no problem communicating with the prisoner, as the latter was originally from California, having gone back to Japan before the beginning of the war.

Proudly awaiting his ninety-third birthday, Bernie told me that he married Ingrid, a former German diplomat stationed in Washingon, in the 1980s, and that they travel to Munich often. 

I thanked him for his sacrifice and for sharing his life with me.

My day was ever more enriched, as was my life.


Odysseus
May 24, 2012