Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese imperial army straggler lived in Guam for 28 years after World War II ended, died on Sept 22, 1997 of heart failure at JR Tokai General Hospital in Nagoya Japan. He was 82 while living in an underground cave in a bamboo grove until Jan 24, 1972, when he was discovered close to Talofofo River by hunters. Fortunately Yokoi, was a tailor’s apprentice before being drafted in 1941, made clothing from the fibers of wild hibiscus plants and survived off of eating coconuts, breadfruit, papayas, snails, eels and rats. He stated: “We Japanese soldiers were told to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive”. “The only thing that gave me the strength and will to survive was my faith in myself and that as a soldier of Japan, it was not a disgrace to continue on living”.
Author Archives: Randi Boseman
1986 Challenger Explosion
Astronaut Ellison Onizuka was a Japanese American who grew up in Hawaii and was the first Asian American astronaut to fly into to space. Unfortunately, he was one of the crew members who dies in the 1986 Challenger Explosion.
Also, Donald J. Kutyna he served a combat tour of duty from December 1969 to January 1971 with the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. There he completed 120 combat missions in the F-105 tactical fighter. He is most famous for his help in several investigations of NASA launch failures, especially his membership on the Rogers Commissions investigating the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger. He was key of NASA’s decision to allow the shuttle to keep flying despite knowledge of the O-ring flaw that led to the explosion.
Paull Shinn
A key accomplishment for Asian/America was Paull Shinn being the first Korean American ever elected to the Washington State Legislature. He was elected from the 21st Legislative District in Snohomish County. He was born in South Korea and was also orphaned at the age of four and lived on the streets of Seoul begging for food until the start of the Korean war. He was also a sponsor for legislation that enacted observance of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the United States. Unfortunately, on January 7th of this new year 2014, he resigned after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and now Shinn currently resides in Mukilteo, WA.
Better Luck Tomorrow
“I don’t know what my future will hold. I don’t even know what the other guys are going to do. All I know is that there’s no turning back. “
The first thought that popped into my head was that the title fit the movie perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, there was not one point in time that I wanted to move my head or even blink my eye because I was so eager to find out what was going to happen next. The movie was pretty harsh. I’m wondering how Ben truly felt after the murder and how was he able to even kiss or look at Stephanie without feeling any sort of remorse or guilt about the situation? But I guess regardless…there is no turning back… ha
Moral of the story: Whatever decisions you make in life are the ones you will have to live with. So you make a decision without looking back on it and feeling regretful. Regardless, the world stays moving, and there is no time to dwell on the past whether it was a good decision or a bad decision.
Basketball as a way to cope with stress- It was cool to be able to relate to Ben in the film with myself being a basketball player as well. It was clear basketball was his serenity as it has always been for myself too.
“If you repeat something enough times it becomes part of you.”
The Beautiful Country
My main question after watching this film was: Did his father actually know that his son had come to find him? It seemed as if the producer of the film left it for the viewers to try and figure out whether or not he knew it was his son. Towards the end of the film, while Binh was making the two Pho, his father, Steve began to tell him about his first wife in Vietnam and what happened to where he never saw her again… once the two sat down to eat, his father began to touch his face and it seemed as if he was sure that Binh was his son. To the viewer, it seemed that he knew after Binh also stated “My mother is beautiful” after Steve said “My wife was beautiful”
What is the meaning of the title of the film, The Beautiful Country?
Is the title The Beautiful Country somewhat of a personification for his mother?
Other concerns: It was upsetting to have to see Binh’s little brother die. What happened to Binh’s mother? What happened with the situation after the lady died from hitting her head on the ground?
Beyond the film: Throughout the film, especially during the time period they were on the ship to go to America, the amount of suffrage was clear and ultimately turned others against each other when in reality the enemies were not each other. Furthermore, I began to think about my life and make connections with other minority groups. The struggle that many minorities face are all similar to one another in some way.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Initial Impressions of 47 Ronin
Appears to be an exciting film. Would be interesting to read the story and see how both the film and the story compare and contrast.