Millington, Tennessee.

Organized regiments of marines are in the throws of rigorous training. An officer approaches the group of men as they continue in their physically demanding exercise. "Attention!" shouts the platoon’s sergeant. They fall in line. One of the marines is ordered to appear before his commanding officer immediately. The soldier salutes. "Fallout soldier!" The soldier jogs toward his commander’s military barrack. Moments later he enters, takes off his hat, salutes, states his name and is ushered before his commanding officer. Once again he salutes and stands at attention. "You wish to see me sir?" "At ease soldier." The soldier relaxes his stance.

The commander hands the soldier a letter. The soldier takes the letter, opens it and reads the terrible news that it has revealed unto him. The stoic soldier slumps forward and tries to hold back his emotion. "I’m sorry for your loss soldier." "I’ve obtained a three day furlough for you to return home and take care of the arrangements." "You are to prepare to leave immediately." "You’re dismissed." The soldier salutes his commander and turns to leave.

The marine stands in his perfect pressed uniform with a small procession of people. They stand before a coffin as it is lowered into the ground. "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust!" "This old woman lived a life and life faded from her. Now it’s time for her to move on as we all will at our appointed time." The young marine tosses a bouquet of red roses onto the coffin. The coffin is lowered into the ground and shovels of dirt begin to be thrown upon it.

The marine dressed in civilian clothing sits alone in the elderly woman’s bedroom. She was his grandmother. The woman raised him his entire life and now she is gone. He’s rummaging through her mementos and other sentimental items that she had kept over the years. There is a pair of 1942 World’s Fair earrings, a red ribbon she had coveted for winning first of show for the best bouquet of red roses. There are old family photographs and a newspaper article, accompanied with a photo of a WWII soldier who has been missing in action off of the island of Okinawa.

A picture of the elderly woman when she was in her prime adorns the wall along side of a picture of the freckle faced, blond hair and blue—eyed soldier boy not unlike the marine himself. As the young man continues to shuffle through the articles that once belonged to the deceased woman, he finds an old, yellowed envelope, which is postmarked August 17^th, 1947. The letter is hand—written and addressed to the woman herself. He looks up at the picture of his grandmother and grandfather, the young soldier that he never knew. He takes the letter from the envelope, unfolds it and begins to read.

Okinawa, July 1945.

The blue swells of the southern pacific push toward the shoreline of Nashirom, Okinawa in rapid sequence. There is a silence along the shoreline, a silence one does not associate with the serenity of a beautiful beach on an average sunny afternoon.

Although the tide is rising, the waves are sizeable. However, they do not cast themselves onto the shore. They only push themselves deeper within the shore—lined caves, which are filled with tiny star shaped sand.

The salty ocean water fills every crack and crevice as it makes its way into the abysmal cavernous tombs. A pair of worn and tattered commando boots, those of a young soldier stand sinking into the sandy floor as the ocean’s course gives way to the rising tide. The legs of this soldier are covered in well-worn, green fatigues and his uniform is soaking wet and frayed. The young man is barely out of his teens and his face is not unlike that of a confused child. He steals a look toward the opening of the cave and cowers back into the crevice he has chosen to cower into. His wide-eyed stare reveals that he is frightened as a young child and that he may even have been crying for quite sometime.

He wipes away the salty tears from his eyes. He fidgets almost mindlessly into one of his pockets and removes a damp wallet. He reaches into the wallet and takes out a picture of a young American woman who, herself, is barely out of her teens. The young woman is noticeably pregnant and waving a miniature American flag. The words, "Forever Yours" and a heart with an arrow running through it was hastily scribbled across the bottom of the picture before being mailed to the SOS. Thousands of miles away she sits, with child awaiting the return of her soldier boy. He could not be further from her now than if he had never known her! He would never be returning home.

The waves push further into the cave and the young man is pounded against the barnacle covered wall of this cavernous maze. His dog tag that he wears is caught against the sharp coral and is torn away from his neck, falling into the swirling water that now covers him to his knees. He grabs at it and then tosses it aside as one might discard the wrapper of a piece of chewing gum. He drops the picture into the water and watches as it floats away from him.

They young man’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a young woman’s voice. The timbre of compassion! The resonance of reason! Hers is a voice that speaks in a strange dialect and broken English, but it is a tone that any man could easily interpret as comforting and alluring.

"Hello!" "Are you still here?" "I brought you something to eat." "Can you understand me at all?" "Hello!" A radiating beauty, a young flower barely into her early teens enters the cave. She too, is soaking wet and carrying with her a small pot.

The young man with his piercing blue eyes hungrily stares at the beautiful creature with eyes of coal and long black flowing hair. To look directly upon her, especially in 1945, one should be filled with shame and not be tempted with the lustful thoughts that course through his veins. But after witnessing so much war, so much senseless violence, there was no place that he felt he belonged but in her arms. He longed for her to touch him and tell him that someday, everything would be as it once was. Though he knew it never would again be the same especially for a deserter.

"Hello?" "Are you still here?" "Shh, yes I am still here!" "I have come to see you." "Are they gone?" "No, they are still patrolling the village." "I have brought you a pot of Ashitibichi." She brought him a pot of pig’s feet soup. "Masaan?" "Do you like?" The soldier hastily devours the pot of food and he shakes his head yes. He does like it. "Yukuimisooree." "You must rest a while." "We have time to be alone before I must go."

The young marine sitting on his grandmother’s bed continues to read the words that are revealed unto him. He finishes the letter and folds the old paper and places it back into the envelope. He looks up at the picture of the marine hanging on the wall.

The marine stands at an airline counter at LAX airport. "I’d like to exchange this for a ticket to Okinawa. He hands the counter person the ticket, which was to take him back to Millington, Tennessee.

The plane lands onto a runway at Naha airport. The soldier exits the plane in uniform and is surprised by the extreme American military presence on the island.

He wanders the streets of Naha and finally enters a small, but quaint island style barroom. He sits at the bar and orders a beer. Pulling out the newspaper clipping of his grandfather, he asks the bartender, "Have you ever seen this man?" The bartender doesn’t really take a good look at the picture, "No!" A couple of rowdy marines enter the barroom and start to pick a fight with an elderly patron. The young marine intervenes, "If you guys are looking for trouble you just found it." The marines want a good fight, but there is something in the eyes of this young American that makes them backdown from him. The elderly Okinawan man leaves the barroom. The young man follows after him. "Excuse me sir!" The elderly man continues on. "Excuse me sir!" "I’m looking for someone." "Do you think you could help me?" He pulls out the photo of his grandfather. "This man, have you ever seen him?" "Might you know him?" "No, I have never seen him." The elderly man continues on his way.

Moving further along these confusing streets the young man comes upon a small business, not unlike that of a soothsayer, or fortuneteller. He enters. There is no one within sight. He rings a bell. A young and captivating women steps into the front of the room. She looks at the American and smiles. "You are looking for something?" "Yes!" "You are looking for someone?" "Yes, how do you know?" She laughs, "Everybody is looking for something." "Your are not unique in this eternal quest for solace." "Can you help me?" She shrugs her shoulders. The young marine hands her some money. "Will you help me?" "I am searching for an old man." He pulls out the photo and shows it to the woman. "I can only say this, you are searching in the wrong places." "What you seek you cannot find within these city walls." She turns the sign on her door to closing. "You must go now." The soldier exits.

Millington, Tennessee.

A marine enters the commanding officer’s barrack and salutes. "Sir, Pvt. Branigan was to return for duty this afternoon and he has not returned sir." "Has anyone checked the airports for late arrivals?" "Yes sir!" "It seems that he changed his flight for Okinawa, sir." The commander nods his head and picks up the phone. "Dismissed solider." The soldier salutes and turns to go. "Get me commander Stradler, Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield, Okinawa, Japan."

Nashirom, Okinawa.

The soldier wanders through a fishing village on the outskirts of Nashirom. No one seems to recognize the photo of his grandfather some fifty years earlier. Worn-out from his search and tired from his trip he sets himself down on a dock as the fishing vessels make their way toward shore at sunset.

A bronzed aging Okinawan man with white hair and beard steers his vessel toward the harbor. The aging man has a mate with him who begins to toss the catch of the day onto the dock while the local people barter for the catch. The elderly man looks amazing for his age. The young soldier approaches the old man. He hands the picture to him. "Pardon me sir, but do you think you know this man." "It’s a very old picture." "He would be a very old man now." The old man looks at the photo of the young soldier and then looks up at the young marine. "I’ve never seen him." The old man briskly walks off. But there is something in the way the old man looked at the young soldier that makes the soldier follow after him. "Please, I am looking for this man." "He may still be alive." "He is my grandfather." "I must see him." The old man stops. "And what makes you think that I can help you?" "Or why I should help you if I could?" "Because you know that I have no one else to turn to." The old man walks off. The soldier follows.

They arrive after dark at a small village. The elderly man shouts out, "We have a guest, make a setting for one more." Various members of the elderly man’s family peek around the corner to see the guest. One of them is a beautiful daughter in her late teens. "So you’re a soldier?" "A marine!" "Marines fill the island, but they are not welcomed here." "They are merely tolerated." "I’m in a lot of trouble by now." "I’m supposed to be back in the states." "I was given three days to go home and bury my grandmother." "She was a good woman and raised me well." "I was always told that my grandfather had died in the war." "But then I found this letter and now I know that he stayed on in Okinawa and never returned." "I must find him." "I must find out why he was a deserter." The elderly man replied, "I know of him." "I have not seen him for many years." "He used to fish off of a small village in Itoman." "We must eat and rest." "We will search for him tomorrow."

They sit at the table and eat a simple meal. But the young soldier cannot help to notice the man’s daughter. "Your daughter, she is quite beautiful." "Do you think so?" "Kaagee kaa ru ya ru." "What does that mean?" "What did you say?" "I said, physical beauty is only skin deep." "I want to thank you for helping me." "Shinjichi nu ada nayumi." "This means, kindness will never be wasted in any way." "But you must promise to stay away from my daughter."

The old man and the marine sit on the front porch of the home. The old man smokes from a pipe. The young soldier grows tired. "Yukuimisooree." Rest awhile. The soldier falls asleep as the old man watches him. His daughter places a blanket over the soldier’s body and the lights go out in the home.

Sunrise.

Traveling by the elderly man’s boat they come to a remote part of the island. The boat is secured and the elderly man beckons the soldier to follow. They come upon a jungle clearing and a very small village. Along the way one of the villagers pass them. The elderly man asks a few questions and is lead to a particular dirt covered street. The man points down the street to a modest home filled with island flowers and palm trees. As they approach the small home, the soldier spots an elderly white man sitting on the front porch of the home with several other aging men. They approach the home.

"Mensooree!" Welcome. "This young man wishes to speak to you." "What does he want to do with an old decaying man like myself?" "He says that he is your grandson." The elderly man looks toward the young soldier. "I have no American grandson." The young man pulls the photo out of his pocket and shows the elderly man. "Are you saying that this is not you?" "Ii misooree." Please come in. The elderly man stands and slowly enters his humble home. The old man that accompanied the soldier beckons to the soldier to follow. The elderly Okinawan men who are gathered on the porch each turn and go there own away.

"How is she?" "She passed away." "How is my son?" "He died when I was a child." "I hardly knew him." "They never told me about you." "They chose to let you die with the war." "I was always taught that you were a war hero." "But you were a deserter!" "You deserted your family, your platoon, and your country." The elderly man sits in an old rocking chair. "The war has many casualties." "In many ways." "I could not return home." "This is my home." "My wife, she passed away recently as did your grandmother." "She too was a good woman." "I know that Margaret raised you well." "Yes she did." "But why did you not return to her?" The old man begins to tell his story…

On foot patrol our platoon had been moving south from where we had landed in Higashi. We heard rumors that on April 18^th the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Shima. We just wanted to do battle with Japan and end this war. It would not be long before we got our chance. On May 24^th, the Marines entered Naha, the capital of Okinawa. This was the largest city the Marines had ever taken, but the casualties were enormous. Japan was forcing Okinawan civilians to fight against their will or be killed.

Then our platoon made their way to the bloody beaches of Nashirom where the Japanese were dug in. After a battle that left thousands of men wounded or dead, Gen. Simon B. Buckner, Jr., commander of the 10^th Army, sent surrender terms to Lt. Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of Japan’s 32^nd Army. We never received a response.

By June 15^th, the coordinated Japanese resistance ended leaving approximately 100,000 Japanese troops dead. 540,000 American troops had poured into the area in what was known as Operation Iceberg and the Japanese troops were annihilated. While the American troops suffered 18,000 casualties and the Japanese 100,000, well over 128,000 Okinawan civilians died. One out of every four Okinawan! I was one of the marines ordered to flush out the remaining 32^nd troops. I found Lt. Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru and the other ranking officer’s dead. They each had committed suicide rather than to be captured alive.

There is a knock on the door. The old man opens the door and two MP’s are there to take the soldier away. The young man struggles with the MP’s and is lead away in handcuffs.

The young soldier is taken to Camp Zukeran. While waiting to be transferred to a barracks cell he manages to escape and returns to the fishing village of the old man. He knocks on the door and the daughter answers it. "You must not come here again." "I need your help!" "My father is not home." "You must go away" "I have escaped from the camp." "There are looking for me everywhere." "Come in." She opens the door and allows the young soldier into the home.

He is grateful and watches her do he chores. She smiles at him and he at her. "You must be crazy!" "I’m crazy about you."

The old man takes the young soldier back to the Itoman village where his grandfather resides. Once again the MP’s come for him but this time the villagers, mostly elderly men stand in their path and do not let them take the young soldier away. The soldier learns that his grandfather refused to return to his duty as a soldier. He was put in a marine prison camp on Okinawa for 2 years and when released given a dishonorable discharge. His woman waited for his return. He wrote the letter to the young soldier’s grandmother from his prison cell.

The old man’s daughter begins to bring him meals daily. They fall in love and receive the elderly man’s blessings.

The MP’s return in force to the village and expect the villagers to give up the young soldier. They remain unmoved as before and the village inhabitants seem to grow in number in support for the young soldier. The soldier lets the commanding officer know that he has no intention of returning to the marines.

His commanding officer from Millington, Tennessee comes to the island and works out a deal with the young soldier. He is to spend several months in a camp prison and that he will receive a dishonorable discharge upon completing his sentence. Finally, he surrenders.

He kisses his new girl and is led past a procession of many elderly islanders who have lined the sand—covered street. He is handcuffed and taken away in a military jeep.

Months later he is released from the prison. His new girl awaits him. He is handed his dishonorable discharge paper. He folds it without looking at it and deposits it into a trash can.

They walk off.

Millington, Tennessee.

Organized regiments of marines are in the throws of rigorous training. An officer approaches the group of men as they continue in their physically demanding exercise. "Attention!" shouts the platoon’s sergeant. They fall in line. One of the marines is ordered to appear before his commanding officer immediately. The soldier salutes. "Fallout soldier!" The soldier jogs toward his commander’s military barrack. Moments later he enters, takes off his hat, salutes, states his name and is ushered before his commanding officer. Once again he salutes and stands at attention. "You wish to see me sir?" "At ease soldier." The soldier relaxes his stance.

The commander hands the soldier a letter. The soldier takes the letter, opens it and reads the terrible news that it has revealed unto him. The stoic soldier slumps forward and tries to hold back his emotion. "I’m sorry for your loss soldier." "I’ve obtained a three day furlough for you to return home and take care of the arrangements." "You are to prepare to leave immediately." "You’re dismissed." The soldier salutes his commander and turns to leave.

The marine stands in his perfect pressed uniform with a small procession of people. They stand before a coffin as it is lowered into the ground. "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust!" "This old woman lived a life and life faded from her. Now it’s time for her to move on as we all will at our appointed time." The young marine tosses a bouquet of red roses onto the coffin. The coffin is lowered into the ground and shovels of dirt begin to be thrown upon it.

The marine dressed in civilian clothing sits alone in the elderly woman’s bedroom. She was his grandmother. The woman raised him his entire life and now she is gone. He’s rummaging through her mementos and other sentimental items that she had kept over the years. There is a pair of 1942 World’s Fair earrings, a red ribbon she had coveted for winning first of show for the best bouquet of red roses. There are old family photographs and a newspaper article, accompanied with a photo of a WWII soldier who has been missing in action off of the island of Okinawa.

A picture of the elderly woman when she was in her prime adorns the wall along side of a picture of the freckle faced, blond hair and blue—eyed soldier boy not unlike the marine himself. As the young man continues to shuffle through the articles that once belonged to the deceased woman, he finds an old, yellowed envelope, which is postmarked August 17^th, 1947. The letter is hand—written and addressed to the woman herself. He looks up at the picture of his grandmother and grandfather, the young soldier that he never knew. He takes the letter from the envelope, unfolds it and begins to read.

Okinawa, July 1945.

The blue swells of the southern pacific push toward the shoreline of Nashirom, Okinawa in rapid sequence. There is a silence along the shoreline, a silence one does not associate with the serenity of a beautiful beach on an average sunny afternoon.

Although the tide is rising, the waves are sizeable. However, they do not cast themselves onto the shore. They only push themselves deeper within the shore—lined caves, which are filled with tiny star shaped sand.

The salty ocean water fills every crack and crevice as it makes its way into the abysmal cavernous tombs. A pair of worn and tattered commando boots, those of a young soldier stand sinking into the sandy floor as the ocean’s course gives way to the rising tide. The legs of this soldier are covered in well-worn, green fatigues and his uniform is soaking wet and frayed. The young man is barely out of his teens and his face is not unlike that of a confused child. He steals a look toward the opening of the cave and cowers back into the crevice he has chosen to cower into. His wide-eyed stare reveals that he is frightened as a young child and that he may even have been crying for quite sometime.

He wipes away the salty tears from his eyes. He fidgets almost mindlessly into one of his pockets and removes a damp wallet. He reaches into the wallet and takes out a picture of a young American woman who, herself, is barely out of her teens. The young woman is noticeably pregnant and waving a miniature American flag. The words, "Forever Yours" and a heart with an arrow running through it was hastily scribbled across the bottom of the picture before being mailed to the SOS. Thousands of miles away she sits, with child awaiting the return of her soldier boy. He could not be further from her now than if he had never known her! He would never be returning home.

The waves push further into the cave and the young man is pounded against the barnacle covered wall of this cavernous maze. His dog tag that he wears is caught against the sharp coral and is torn away from his neck, falling into the swirling water that now covers him to his knees. He grabs at it and then tosses it aside as one might discard the wrapper of a piece of chewing gum. He drops the picture into the water and watches as it floats away from him.

They young man’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a young woman’s voice. The timbre of compassion! The resonance of reason! Hers is a voice that speaks in a strange dialect and broken English, but it is a tone that any man could easily interpret as comforting and alluring.

"Hello!" "Are you still here?" "I brought you something to eat." "Can you understand me at all?" "Hello!" A radiating beauty, a young flower barely into her early teens enters the cave. She too, is soaking wet and carrying with her a small pot.

The young man with his piercing blue eyes hungrily stares at the beautiful creature with eyes of coal and long black flowing hair. To look directly upon her, especially in 1945, one should be filled with shame and not be tempted with the lustful thoughts that course through his veins. But after witnessing so much war, so much senseless violence, there was no place that he felt he belonged but in her arms. He longed for her to touch him and tell him that someday, everything would be as it once was. Though he knew it never would again be the same especially for a deserter.

"Hello?" "Are you still here?" "Shh, yes I am still here!" "I have come to see you." "Are they gone?" "No, they are still patrolling the village." "I have brought you a pot of Ashitibichi." She brought him a pot of pig’s feet soup. "Masaan?" "Do you like?" The soldier hastily devours the pot of food and he shakes his head yes. He does like it. "Yukuimisooree." "You must rest a while." "We have time to be alone before I must go."

The young marine sitting on his grandmother’s bed continues to read the words that are revealed unto him. He finishes the letter and folds the old paper and places it back into the envelope. He looks up at the picture of the marine hanging on the wall.

The marine stands at an airline counter at LAX airport. "I’d like to exchange this for a ticket to Okinawa. He hands the counter person the ticket, which was to take him back to Millington, Tennessee.

The plane lands onto a runway at Naha airport. The soldier exits the plane in uniform and is surprised by the extreme American military presence on the island.

He wanders the streets of Naha and finally enters a small, but quaint island style barroom. He sits at the bar and orders a beer. Pulling out the newspaper clipping of his grandfather, he asks the bartender, "Have you ever seen this man?" The bartender doesn’t really take a good look at the picture, "No!" A couple of rowdy marines enter the barroom and start to pick a fight with an elderly patron. The young marine intervenes, "If you guys are looking for trouble you just found it." The marines want a good fight, but there is something in the eyes of this young American that makes them backdown from him. The elderly Okinawan man leaves the barroom. The young man follows after him. "Excuse me sir!" The elderly man continues on. "Excuse me sir!" "I’m looking for someone." "Do you think you could help me?" He pulls out the photo of his grandfather. "This man, have you ever seen him?" "Might you know him?" "No, I have never seen him." The elderly man continues on his way.

Moving further along these confusing streets the young man comes upon a small business, not unlike that of a soothsayer, or fortuneteller. He enters. There is no one within sight. He rings a bell. A young and captivating women steps into the front of the room. She looks at the American and smiles. "You are looking for something?" "Yes!" "You are looking for someone?" "Yes, how do you know?" She laughs, "Everybody is looking for something." "Your are not unique in this eternal quest for solace." "Can you help me?" She shrugs her shoulders. The young marine hands her some money. "Will you help me?" "I am searching for an old man." He pulls out the photo and shows it to the woman. "I can only say this, you are searching in the wrong places." "What you seek you cannot find within these city walls." She turns the sign on her door to closing. "You must go now." The soldier exits.

Millington, Tennessee.

A marine enters the commanding officer’s barrack and salutes. "Sir, Pvt. Branigan was to return for duty this afternoon and he has not returned sir." "Has anyone checked the airports for late arrivals?" "Yes sir!" "It seems that he changed his flight for Okinawa, sir." The commander nods his head and picks up the phone. "Dismissed solider." The soldier salutes and turns to go. "Get me commander Stradler, Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield, Okinawa, Japan."

Nashirom, Okinawa.

The soldier wanders through a fishing village on the outskirts of Nashirom. No one seems to recognize the photo of his grandfather some fifty years earlier. Worn-out from his search and tired from his trip he sets himself down on a dock as the fishing vessels make their way toward shore at sunset.

A bronzed aging Okinawan man with white hair and beard steers his vessel toward the harbor. The aging man has a mate with him who begins to toss the catch of the day onto the dock while the local people barter for the catch. The elderly man looks amazing for his age. The young soldier approaches the old man. He hands the picture to him. "Pardon me sir, but do you think you know this man." "It’s a very old picture." "He would be a very old man now." The old man looks at the photo of the young soldier and then looks up at the young marine. "I’ve never seen him." The old man briskly walks off. But there is something in the way the old man looked at the young soldier that makes the soldier follow after him. "Please, I am looking for this man." "He may still be alive." "He is my grandfather." "I must see him." The old man stops. "And what makes you think that I can help you?" "Or why I should help you if I could?" "Because you know that I have no one else to turn to." The old man walks off. The soldier follows.

They arrive after dark at a small village. The elderly man shouts out, "We have a guest, make a setting for one more." Various members of the elderly man’s family peek around the corner to see the guest. One of them is a beautiful daughter in her late teens. "So you’re a soldier?" "A marine!" "Marines fill the island, but they are not welcomed here." "They are merely tolerated." "I’m in a lot of trouble by now." "I’m supposed to be back in the states." "I was given three days to go home and bury my grandmother." "She was a good woman and raised me well." "I was always told that my grandfather had died in the war." "But then I found this letter and now I know that he stayed on in Okinawa and never returned." "I must find him." "I must find out why he was a deserter." The elderly man replied, "I know of him." "I have not seen him for many years." "He used to fish off of a small village in Itoman." "We must eat and rest." "We will search for him tomorrow."

They sit at the table and eat a simple meal. But the young soldier cannot help to notice the man’s daughter. "Your daughter, she is quite beautiful." "Do you think so?" "Kaagee kaa ru ya ru." "What does that mean?" "What did you say?" "I said, physical beauty is only skin deep." "I want to thank you for helping me." "Shinjichi nu ada nayumi." "This means, kindness will never be wasted in any way." "But you must promise to stay away from my daughter."

The old man and the marine sit on the front porch of the home. The old man smokes from a pipe. The young soldier grows tired. "Yukuimisooree." Rest awhile. The soldier falls asleep as the old man watches him. His daughter places a blanket over the soldier’s body and the lights go out in the home.

Sunrise.

Traveling by the elderly man’s boat they come to a remote part of the island. The boat is secured and the elderly man beckons the soldier to follow. They come upon a jungle clearing and a very small village. Along the way one of the villagers pass them. The elderly man asks a few questions and is lead to a particular dirt covered street. The man points down the street to a modest home filled with island flowers and palm trees. As they approach the small home, the soldier spots an elderly white man sitting on the front porch of the home with several other aging men. They approach the home.

"Mensooree!" Welcome. "This young man wishes to speak to you." "What does he want to do with an old decaying man like myself?" "He says that he is your grandson." The elderly man looks toward the young soldier. "I have no American grandson." The young man pulls the photo out of his pocket and shows the elderly man. "Are you saying that this is not you?" "Ii misooree." Please come in. The elderly man stands and slowly enters his humble home. The old man that accompanied the soldier beckons to the soldier to follow. The elderly Okinawan men who are gathered on the porch each turn and go there own away.

"How is she?" "She passed away." "How is my son?" "He died when I was a child." "I hardly knew him." "They never told me about you." "They chose to let you die with the war." "I was always taught that you were a war hero." "But you were a deserter!" "You deserted your family, your platoon, and your country." The elderly man sits in an old rocking chair. "The war has many casualties." "In many ways." "I could not return home." "This is my home." "My wife, she passed away recently as did your grandmother." "She too was a good woman." "I know that Margaret raised you well." "Yes she did." "But why did you not return to her?" The old man begins to tell his story…

On foot patrol our platoon had been moving south from where we had landed in Higashi. We heard rumors that on April 18^th the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Shima. We just wanted to do battle with Japan and end this war. It would not be long before we got our chance. On May 24^th, the Marines entered Naha, the capital of Okinawa. This was the largest city the Marines had ever taken, but the casualties were enormous. Japan was forcing Okinawan civilians to fight against their will or be killed.

Then our platoon made their way to the bloody beaches of Nashirom where the Japanese were dug in. After a battle that left thousands of men wounded or dead, Gen. Simon B. Buckner, Jr., commander of the 10^th Army, sent surrender terms to Lt. Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru, commander of Japan’s 32^nd Army. We never received a response.

By June 15^th, the coordinated Japanese resistance ended leaving approximately 100,000 Japanese troops dead. 540,000 American troops had poured into the area in what was known as Operation Iceberg and the Japanese troops were annihilated. While the American troops suffered 18,000 casualties and the Japanese 100,000, well over 128,000 Okinawan civilians died. One out of every four Okinawan! I was one of the marines ordered to flush out the remaining 32^nd troops. I found Lt. Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru and the other ranking officer’s dead. They each had committed suicide rather than to be captured alive.

There is a knock on the door. The old man opens the door and two MP’s are there to take the soldier away. The young man struggles with the MP’s and is lead away in handcuffs.

The young soldier is taken to Camp Zukeran. While waiting to be transferred to a barracks cell he manages to escape and returns to the fishing village of the old man. He knocks on the door and the daughter answers it. "You must not come here again." "I need your help!" "My father is not home." "You must go away" "I have escaped from the camp." "There are looking for me everywhere." "Come in." She opens the door and allows the young soldier into the home.

He is grateful and watches her do he chores. She smiles at him and he at her. "You must be crazy!" "I’m crazy about you."

The old man takes the young soldier back to the Itoman village where his grandfather resides. Once again the MP’s come for him but this time the villagers, mostly elderly men stand in their path and do not let them take the young soldier away. The soldier learns that his grandfather refused to return to his duty as a soldier. He was put in a marine prison camp on Okinawa for 2 years and when released given a dishonorable discharge. His woman waited for his return. He wrote the letter to the young soldier’s grandmother from his prison cell.

The old man’s daughter begins to bring him meals daily. They fall in love and receive the elderly man’s blessings.

The MP’s return in force to the village and expect the villagers to give up the young soldier. They remain unmoved as before and the village inhabitants seem to grow in number in support for the young soldier. The soldier lets the commanding officer know that he has no intention of returning to the marines.

His commanding officer from Millington, Tennessee comes to the island and works out a deal with the young soldier. He is to spend several months in a camp prison and that he will receive a dishonorable discharge upon completing his sentence. Finally, he surrenders.

He kisses his new girl and is led past a procession of many elderly islanders who have lined the sand—covered street. He is handcuffed and taken away in a military jeep.

Months later he is released from the prison. His new girl awaits him. He is handed his dishonorable discharge paper. He folds it without looking at it and deposits it into a trash can.

They walk off.