Mitsuru

Today is the 62nd year anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the greatest battle in the history of naval warfare. It occurred in the Philippines in the closing months of the Pacific War in a desperate effort by the Japanese Imperial Forces to draw the US Navy’s Seventh and Third Fleets into one final engagement hoping to annihilate them in the process that will result in the isolation of the Allied Invasion Force in Leyte from its lifeline and prolong the war and the survival of Imperial Japan with the knowledge that once the Philippines is lost, the war is over. I am a self- confessed history buff and ever since I was a young boy I was always fascinated by the men in uniform and their exploits-- --Blame it on the proliferation of war movies at that time. I can say that I watched a lot of war flicks ( “Tora! Tora! Tora!” “A Bridge Too Far,” “The Longest Day”, “Force 10 from Navarone,” etc.) with my Mom and Dad in the movie houses of Tabaco (Jojo Cinema) in Albay Province as well as ...

Chariots of fire Racing against the tide Blowing in the wind Rushing into the fire Struck by lightning Roaring like thunder Defying the gods of the sea and sky. Goaded by the blazing sun Restless spirits Wandering souls Warriors of the past Kamikaze! Too young to die For a cause that We will never fully Understand. Two days from now on October 25 will mark the 62-year anniversary of the first successful attack of the Japanese Special Attack Units (tokubetsu kōgeki tai) popularly known albeit erroneously in the West as the Kamikaze Special Attack Force. It was recorded on the U.S. escort carrier St. Lo to mark the beginning of a new form of warfare never seen before in the annals of war that brought terror in the eyes of the Allied Navy during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the waning months of the Pacific War. "Kamikaze" roughly translated in English as Divine Wind (kami= god; kaze= wind) was the name of the legendary typhoons that crushed the Mongol Fleet in the Sea of Japan in...

Are you superstitious? It's odd to wake up early in the morning and the first thing that greets you when you open up the door is the piercing cold wind that immediately numbed your face and you wished for a warmer weather that you are so used to several thousand miles back home across the Pacific. It’s even eerier when the only sound that you can hear is the sound of your footfalls echoing in the sleepy neighborhood and you realize that today is Friday the 13th, that day of days dreaded by a lot of people all over the world. I don’t particularly pay much attention to these things for I am not superstitious but today an uncanny thought immediately crossed my mind while I was walking through the wet walkway on a stormy morning heading to my parked car in the deserted parking garage of the flat that is my “home” for almost three years now. I can’t help it but I remember my old friend Jason, he of the notorious sequel- rich urban legend cum slasher flick, Friday the 13th and visions of...