Helmet of Japanese soldier is returned from U.S. 70 years after war
Sep. 3, 2015
by Yuji Yamamoto, Staff Writer
Alicia Bay Laurel, 66, a musician from the U.S. state of Arizona, carried a helmet which belonged to a Japanese soldier to a temple on the local island of Miyajima for a memorial service. The helmet was brought back to the United States by her father from the fighting in the Pacific during World War II. He held the helmet, whose owner is unknown, for decades, but Ms. Bay Laurel decided to let it “go home” after the passing of 70 years and hold a service for the victim of war at Daishoin Temple on the island.
Her father, Paul Kaufman (1910-2007), was a surgeon and performed his medical duties on an island in the Pacific. While searching for injured soldiers during a break in the fighting, he found a helmet emblazoned with a star. It belonged to a Japanese soldier, but the owner was not in the vicinity. Mr. Kaufman then brought the helmet back with him to the United States.
Ms. Bay Laurel recalls seeing the helmet for the first time when she was 7 or 8 years old. Finding it on a bookshelf in their home, she asked her father about it. He told a captivating story about going off to war, but said he did not know why he brought the helmet back, despite the risks. Still, he held onto it after the war.
The helmet was then used by her mother, an artist, when she made a statue of a soldier whose skin was damaged by Agent Orange. She put the helmet on the statue’s head to express her opposition to the Vietnam War. Ms. Bay Laurel said the helmet must have been something that directly reminded her parents of war, though to her it was just a helmet.
Her father did not tell her exactly where he found it. When the helmet was handed down to her, she decided to take it to Japan. While in Hiroshima to perform at a peace concert, she brought it to Miyajima, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for a memorial service on August 9. After a priest began chanting sutras, she became choked up with tears and held her hands together in prayer for the length of the 20-minute service. She felt as if the soldier’s soul had come home, she said.
The helmet will be kept at Saikoji Temple in Miyoshi, a city in northern Hiroshima Prefecture, a connection she created through an acquaintance. She said she was glad to finally hold this memorial service. Expressing her wish for peace, she said that human beings are like the members of a family, and that war can be prevented through mutual understanding.
(Originally published on August 11, 2015)
Alicia Bay Laurel, 66, a musician from the U.S. state of Arizona, carried a helmet which belonged to a Japanese soldier to a temple on the local island of Miyajima for a memorial service. The helmet was brought back to the United States by her father from the fighting in the Pacific during World War II. He held the helmet, whose owner is unknown, for decades, but Ms. Bay Laurel decided to let it “go home” after the passing of 70 years and hold a service for the victim of war at Daishoin Temple on the island.
Her father, Paul Kaufman (1910-2007), was a surgeon and performed his medical duties on an island in the Pacific. While searching for injured soldiers during a break in the fighting, he found a helmet emblazoned with a star. It belonged to a Japanese soldier, but the owner was not in the vicinity. Mr. Kaufman then brought the helmet back with him to the United States.
Ms. Bay Laurel recalls seeing the helmet for the first time when she was 7 or 8 years old. Finding it on a bookshelf in their home, she asked her father about it. He told a captivating story about going off to war, but said he did not know why he brought the helmet back, despite the risks. Still, he held onto it after the war.
The helmet was then used by her mother, an artist, when she made a statue of a soldier whose skin was damaged by Agent Orange. She put the helmet on the statue’s head to express her opposition to the Vietnam War. Ms. Bay Laurel said the helmet must have been something that directly reminded her parents of war, though to her it was just a helmet.
Her father did not tell her exactly where he found it. When the helmet was handed down to her, she decided to take it to Japan. While in Hiroshima to perform at a peace concert, she brought it to Miyajima, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for a memorial service on August 9. After a priest began chanting sutras, she became choked up with tears and held her hands together in prayer for the length of the 20-minute service. She felt as if the soldier’s soul had come home, she said.
The helmet will be kept at Saikoji Temple in Miyoshi, a city in northern Hiroshima Prefecture, a connection she created through an acquaintance. She said she was glad to finally hold this memorial service. Expressing her wish for peace, she said that human beings are like the members of a family, and that war can be prevented through mutual understanding.
(Originally published on August 11, 2015)
