Saturday, July 08, 2006

Shoichi Yokoi


Between 1971 and '74, half my life was spent aboard the USS Henry Clay, a submarine home ported in Guam. I was thinking of all the fascinating and sometimes surreal things to tell you about my experience when I recalled something way more fascinating that happened while I was there. In January 1972, Shoichi Yokoi came out of the jungle. He was a Japanese soldier who had been living there for 26 years since the end of World War ll. His first words back in Tokyo were"It is with much embarrassment that I return." He remarried that same year and passed away in 1997 at the age of 82. Apologies for my ineptitude creating links. If you go to Wikipedia, there's a good overview of the life of Shoichi Yokoi. More about the submarine some other time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rev.
How did Craig "Pig" Morden get the nickname 'pig'? Who's Jim McDonald and Donald Messer? Your fans want to know the 'goings on' aboard the Henry Clay.