seesul
Senior Master Sergeant
Hi,
a friend of mine, Todd Weiler from Millwaukee, whose uncle was KIA few miles away from my born town, got an e-mail from Jerry Yellin who flew 19 missions with P-51 over Japan in 1945. This e-mail is very interesting and Todd agreed me to share it with you. So here is a copy:
Dear Todd, My name is Jerry Yellin and I am an 84 year old published author
whose book The Blackened Canteen is available at Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs more. As a P-51
pilot I flew 19 missions over Japan from Iwo Jima from April, 1945 until
August, 1945. On many of those missions I escorted B-29's as they dropped
their bombs on Japan
On one such mission on June 20, 1945, two B-29's collided in midair and
crashed. Two airmen survived the crash. They were found by Mr. Fukumatsu
Itoh, a 49 year old Shizuoka City councilman. The airmen, badly injured died
before any medical treatment was provided and Mr. Itoh insisted that they
and the remains of the other 21 receive a proper funeral. The local
townspeople furiously protested against this, as the B-29 raid had killed
2000 Japanese and it was against Japanese law to help the enemy or to give
them a proper funeral. He buried them anyway, alongside the Japanese that
died in the raid and erected a small memorial to all the people who had died
in the bombings. A blackened canteen with the hand print of the man who was
holding it was found in the crash. Every year until he passed away and on
the Saturday closest to June 20th, Mr. Itoh poured whiskey over the monument
using the blackened canteen to remember those that perished both Japanese
and American.
Twenty five years later, a local doctor, Hiroya Sugano, found the site and
was so moved by it that he searched out and found Mr. Itoh, who had become a
Buddhist monk, and discovered the story behind the shrine. After Mr. Itoh's
death, Dr. Sugano has conducted a ceremony every year to honor those who
died in the crash and to offer a silent prayer for peace in the world. The
ceremony is attended by some of the top military leaders in Japan and the
United States command from Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. On June 14th, 2008 a
marble slab with the names of the 23 Airmen was dedicated. I attended that
ceremony, as a guest of Dr. Sugano along with the nephew of Jack O'Connor,
one of the Bombardiers who were killed. I wrote a fictional account of the
lives and events before, during and after the war, The Blackened Canteen,
after attending the ceremony in 2006. It tells the story of these inspiring
events. You can view a three minute clip of the 2008 ceremony at
jerryyellin.com as well as purchase the book.
Yoko Ono deeply appreciates the story as well. This appeared on her website,
IMAGINE PEACE.
I would appreciate it if you would circulate this email to the members of
your association to help spread this message of good will. I am hopeful that
this book will be a catalyst of understanding between people and Nations, a
history lesson for young people, a reminder to us older folks what kind of
world we lived in when we were younger and what we fought for and, most
important for all of the WW II veterans families, a chronicle of our lives
from 1941-1945 and beyond.
Thank you very much
Jerry Yellin
a friend of mine, Todd Weiler from Millwaukee, whose uncle was KIA few miles away from my born town, got an e-mail from Jerry Yellin who flew 19 missions with P-51 over Japan in 1945. This e-mail is very interesting and Todd agreed me to share it with you. So here is a copy:
Dear Todd, My name is Jerry Yellin and I am an 84 year old published author
whose book The Blackened Canteen is available at Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs more. As a P-51
pilot I flew 19 missions over Japan from Iwo Jima from April, 1945 until
August, 1945. On many of those missions I escorted B-29's as they dropped
their bombs on Japan
On one such mission on June 20, 1945, two B-29's collided in midair and
crashed. Two airmen survived the crash. They were found by Mr. Fukumatsu
Itoh, a 49 year old Shizuoka City councilman. The airmen, badly injured died
before any medical treatment was provided and Mr. Itoh insisted that they
and the remains of the other 21 receive a proper funeral. The local
townspeople furiously protested against this, as the B-29 raid had killed
2000 Japanese and it was against Japanese law to help the enemy or to give
them a proper funeral. He buried them anyway, alongside the Japanese that
died in the raid and erected a small memorial to all the people who had died
in the bombings. A blackened canteen with the hand print of the man who was
holding it was found in the crash. Every year until he passed away and on
the Saturday closest to June 20th, Mr. Itoh poured whiskey over the monument
using the blackened canteen to remember those that perished both Japanese
and American.
Twenty five years later, a local doctor, Hiroya Sugano, found the site and
was so moved by it that he searched out and found Mr. Itoh, who had become a
Buddhist monk, and discovered the story behind the shrine. After Mr. Itoh's
death, Dr. Sugano has conducted a ceremony every year to honor those who
died in the crash and to offer a silent prayer for peace in the world. The
ceremony is attended by some of the top military leaders in Japan and the
United States command from Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. On June 14th, 2008 a
marble slab with the names of the 23 Airmen was dedicated. I attended that
ceremony, as a guest of Dr. Sugano along with the nephew of Jack O'Connor,
one of the Bombardiers who were killed. I wrote a fictional account of the
lives and events before, during and after the war, The Blackened Canteen,
after attending the ceremony in 2006. It tells the story of these inspiring
events. You can view a three minute clip of the 2008 ceremony at
jerryyellin.com as well as purchase the book.
Yoko Ono deeply appreciates the story as well. This appeared on her website,
IMAGINE PEACE.
I would appreciate it if you would circulate this email to the members of
your association to help spread this message of good will. I am hopeful that
this book will be a catalyst of understanding between people and Nations, a
history lesson for young people, a reminder to us older folks what kind of
world we lived in when we were younger and what we fought for and, most
important for all of the WW II veterans families, a chronicle of our lives
from 1941-1945 and beyond.
Thank you very much
Jerry Yellin
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