For the Japanese of WWII

Death poem

The jisei, or death poem, of Kuroki Hiroshi, a Japanese sailor who died in a Kaiten suicide torpedo accident on 7 September 1944. It reads: “This brave man, so filled with love for his country that he finds it difficult to die, is calling out to his friends and about to die”.

Tadamichi Kuribayashi

On March 17, 1945, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the Japanese commander-in chief during the Battle of Iwo Jima, sent a final letter to Imperial Headquarters. In the message, General Kuribayashi apologized for failing to successfully defend Iwo Jima against the overwhelming forces of the United States military. At the same time, however, he expressed great pride in the heroism of his men, who, starving and thirsty, had been reduced to fighting with rifle butts and fists. He closed the message with three traditional death poems in waka form.

国の為 重き努を 果し得で 矢弾尽き果て 散るぞ悲しき
仇討たで 野辺には朽ちじ 吾は又 七度生れて 矛を執らむぞ
醜草の 島に蔓る 其の時の 皇国の行手 一途に思ふ

Kuni no tame / omoki tsutome o / hatashi ede / yadama tsukihate / chiruzo kanashiki
Ada utade / nobe niwa kuchiji / warewa mata / shichido umarete / hoko o toranzo
Shikokusa no / shima ni habikoru / sono toki no / Mikuni no yukute / ichizu ni omou

Unable to complete this heavy task for our country
Arrows and bullets all spent, so sad we fall.
But unless I smite the enemy,
My body cannot rot in the field.
Yet, I shall be born again seven times
And grasp the sword in my hand.
When ugly weeds cover this island,
My sole thought shall be [the future of] the Imperial Land.

Susannah Willey, author

From Susannah Willey

https://utterloonacy.com/2023/06/11/the-poetry-of-war-sonnets-going-home/

Home! Going home! I’m going home today.
War’s brutal horrors past, I’ve lived to see
The happy faces of my family;
But I am not the boy you sent away.
I am a well-trained killer; I have seen
Men die in fearful agony, while I
Have killed in turn, so that I might not die.
I am a killer. I am just nineteen.
I have no other marketable skill.
I went from high school straight into the war.
Now I am going home, to fight no more.
Now I must learn the work of shop and mill.
And leave behind the bayonet and gun.
A killer, yes; but I am still your son.

愛し国
親、妻、子供
いざ帰国

Itoshi kuni
Oya tsuma kodomo
Iza kikoku

Beloved homeland
Parents, dear wife, and children,
I return to you!

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Military Humor – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Benjamin T. Ackison – WV & VA; USMC, Pentagon, Office of the Judge Advocate General / Afghanistan

Robert E. Black – Richlands, NC; USMC, Korea & Vietnam, Colonel (Ret.)

David W. Brown – US Army, Vietnam

Dabney Coleman – Austin, TX; US Army  / actor

Roger Corman – Detroit, MI; US Navy, WWII  / film producer, director, actor

Mark W. Greenberg – Lansingburgh, NY; US Air Force

Joseph L. Greer Jr. – Dameron, MD; MD National Guard / US Air Force / Head of Navy Casualty Assistance (Ret. 30 y.)

Herbert A. Higgins – Brooklyn, NY; US Navy, WWII

Robert J. Petrik – Lyons, IL; US Army, Korea

Larry E. Tripke – Janesville, WI; US Army, codes and translation

Dennis C. Warfield – Ft. Lewis, WA; US Army, Vietnam

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EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE MONDAY MORNINGS?

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