The Purple Heart (29 page)

Minami’s face crumbled. The
mere thought that Hiroshi may be shot at or killed so tore at her that she
impulsively turned toward the blanket partition and ran out. Hiroshi started
after her, but his parents held him back. “Minami!” he screamed urgently after
her. Hiroshi’s eyes welled up in tears at seeing her so angry and hurt.
Hiroshi’s mother stepped in front of him. Although she looked clearly worried,
she was still in control of herself. She looked up at Hiroshi reassuringly.
“I’ll go after her. You stay here and think about what you just said.”

Hiroshi felt hopeless as his
composure started to fade. He nodded to his mother, who stepped through the
blanket partition just when they heard the door to the barrack slam shut. There
was a great deal of commotion coming from the neighbors. No one dared confront
the situation, but the exchange between Hiroshi and Minami loudly echoed the
very thoughts they had been pondering. Hiroshi’s father sat his son down and
quickly stepped through the blanket partition.

Hiroshi ran his fingers
through his hair with both hands, attempting to massage away the throbbing
emotions that had built up against his temples. He looked down at the floor and
tried to reflect on his exchange with Minami. He began to tell himself that she
would understand soon enough. Hiroshi’s father stepped back through the blanket
partition and stood in front his son.

“Hiroshi, when did you make
this decision?” he asked.

Hiroshi was still looking
down at the floor, “A few days ago.”

“And you didn’t bring it up
until now?”

“I wanted to, but I never
found a good time to tell you. I thought a right time would come up,” replied
Hiroshi.

“Well, you certainly picked
a good time tonight,” said Hiroshi’s father flatly.

Hiroshi wasn’t sure if his
father was making a joke or was being serious. After wiping away the hot tears,
he looked up at his father.

“Hiroshi, you don’t need to
go. You have responsibility here. You just got married. Think about how unfair
this is to her.”

“Dad, this whole thing is
unfair. And my decision to join has everything to do with her.”

“Hiroshi, you don’t need to
prove anything, just be a good husband to Minami…”

“That’s why I’m doing
this!” Hiroshi interjected. “What kind of husband would I be if I can’t free my
wife and our families from this prison because some white people say that I’m
not American in their eyes!”

At that moment, Hiroshi’s
father could tell that his son had made up his mind. He didn’t want to see his
son go to war. Hiroshi was his only child, and the thought of losing him
carried too great of a weight to think about just yet. But he saw his son
confused and alone, and he wanted to let his son know that he would support him
in whatever decision he made, even if he personally didn’t agree with it, and
no matter how sad it made him feel.

“Such strength, such
determination,” said his father. For a moment, he admired something he had
never before seen in his son: Courage.

He knelt down in front of
Hiroshi and placed a warm hand on his son’s strong shoulder. He spoke
reassuringly, “Sleep on it, Minami will be back.”

He was wrong.

* * *

Minami ran all the way back
to her parents’ barrack barefoot. The jagged pebbles in the ground did their
damage; she left a bloodied trail behind her. She burst into her parents’ side
of the unit, alarming them with her uncontrollable sobs and incoherent choked words.
Her mother cradled her daughter gently in her arms as Miho tended to her
bloodied feet. Hiroshi’s mother recounted the night’s event to Minami’s father.
He nodded at every single main point.

After a while, Mr. Ito
looked at his wife, who looked up and whispered, “She’s finally asleep. She’s
exhausted.”

Mr. Ito nodded and then
looked down at Miho, who looked back up at him. “I did the best I could, Dad.
I’ll help her tomorrow when she wakes up.” There was such an expression of
worry and concern on Miho’s face that Mr. Ito gave her an appreciative nod. He
turned to Mrs. Satoh, thanked her for watching after his daughter, and walked
her back to her barrack.

Minami began to sleep away,
withdrawing herself from the world. Attempts by her parents to get her to talk
to Hiroshi failed. She stubbornly refused to talk to him unless he changed his
mind. But Hiroshi didn’t.

Minami felt utterly
betrayed and abandoned. She was so happy at one moment with Hiroshi and then
all of sudden, he took that away from her with his decision. He was her
husband, and his first duty should be to her. She felt herself questioning her
marriage to Hiroshi.

A couple of days later,
Hiroshi came to Minami’s barrack. Out of respect for Minami and her family, he
went around to the back and whispered her name, but it was her father who swung
open the window. Hiroshi didn’t know how Mr. Ito would react. But he was surprisingly
calm.

“How is Minami?” Hiroshi
asked with a concerned look on his face.

Mr. Ito replied flatly,
“She’s sleeping.” Hiroshi turned away in heartbroken frustration.

Hiroshi brushed away his
emotions and out of duty than anything else, he asked Mr. Ito for the water
pail. Mr. Ito lowered it down to him, and Hiroshi walked away to fetch the
water. When he returned, he lifted the filled water pail to Mr. Ito, who
thanked him.

Hiroshi then asked of Mr.
Ito a favor.

“What is it, Hiroshi?”
asked Mr. Ito.

“Would you please tell
Minami I miss her… and that I love her?”

Mr. Ito looked down at the
sad Hiroshi and said, “I will.”

As Hiroshi took a couple of
steps, Mr. Ito added reassuringly, “Hiroshi, give her a few more days. She’ll
come around.”

But Minami never did come
around.

For the next few days, the
same routine was repeated. Hiroshi diligently came to Minami’s barrack, fetched
the two pails of water, and walked away without a word to his wife. Minami’s
parents tried to convince their daughter to step out of whatever lonely world
she was in, but Minami stubbornly refused. Minami insisted that if she
relented, Hiroshi would not change his mind.

When Minami’s parents tried
to convince her to talk to Hiroshi, Minami responded with unequivocal anger.
Mr. Ito resorted to yelling at his daughter, but when he did, she would respond
even more loudly and strongly. But it was Minami’s tears and choked-back
emotions that held Mr. Ito at bay. Minami was still his daughter, and he loved
her. It pained his heart deeply to see her that way. So he would always back
down.

The reality of the
situation was dawning on everyone: Hiroshi was going to be shipped off soon,
and everyone’s attention focused on this gut-wrenching eventuality. Hiroshi’s
mother carefully packed and repacked her son’s suitcase, holding each of his
items with care as she tried to brush away the thought that it may be the last
time she would ever pack anything for her son. She became overly attentive to
her son, asking him if there was anything that he needed. Hiroshi would always
thank her and say reassuringly that the war may be over before he would even
enter it.

Hiroshi’s father was still
his quiet self. In the time leading up to Hiroshi’s eventual departure, which
was scheduled for early spring, he reflected on the fact that his son was going
to be a soldier. A sense of duty and pride that only a father could have
overtook him as he reluctantly gave his support to his son. But his heart still
ached for him. He could tell that the time of separation from Minami was eating
away at his son’s very core. He had thought Minami’s anger would give way to
reason, but it hadn’t, and he bitterly blamed Minami for her immaturity. But
Minami was now also his daughter-in-law, and he saw her as his very own daughter.
He would become frustrated at the entire situation and felt hopeless to resolve
it. His daily chats with Mr. Ito bore no additional news on Minami. This left
both men frustrated.

On the day before Hiroshi’s
departure, Hiroshi arrived at the back of Minami’s barrack to see Mr. Ito, who
was waiting for him.

“Good morning, Hiroshi,”
called down Mr. Ito.

“Good morning,” replied
Hiroshi. “How is Minami today?”

Mr. Ito sighed and said,
“Still the same.”

Hiroshi looked down at his
feet and looked up toward Mr. Ito. “I’ve brought some things with me. I believe
most of Minami’s items have been brought back.”

“Yes, Hiroshi, I think she
has most of them,” Mr. Ito replied as he looked over to his right to see Minami
sleeping with her back turned to him.

“I have a few personal
items here that I’d like her to have while I’m away. I figured she’s the best
person to watch over them.”

Mr. Ito took notice of the
seeming finality of Hiroshi’s tone and his voice reflected a tone of sympathy
to the young man who undoubtedly still loved his daughter immensely. “Sure,
anything, Hiroshi.”

“It’s just a few things to
remind her of me, nothing much,” said Hiroshi as he lifted up a bag toward Mr.
Ito who hauled it up. “It’s my baseball mitt and the bat that I hit the home
run with. Tell her that the home run ball that she caught is at the bottom.”

Mr. Ito looked down at
Hiroshi. There was sadness in Hiroshi’s eyes, but he stared right up at Mr. Ito
without blinking as silent determination held his tears at bay.

“And Mr. Ito,” said Hiroshi.

“Yes Hiroshi?”

“Tell Minami that I’ll miss
her and that I’ll be home soon.”

There was a pause and Mr.
Ito responded, “You will come home soon, right?”

Another pause, “I will come
home.”

Mr. Ito smiled at Hiroshi’s
confidence and believed him. He wanted to believe Hiroshi, and hoped that he
would soon come home to his daughter.

“Oh, one more thing…”

“Anything, son,” said Mr.
Ito.

“Can you lower me the
pail?”

Mr. Ito chuckled and
lowered the water pail down to Hiroshi. He watched as the solid frame of the
young man walked away and felt such a sense of pride for having the opportunity
to know Hiroshi, the man who would be a soldier for the United States Army.

The next day was an
emotional one for many families in the prison camp. Like Hiroshi, many young
men decided to volunteer. Even though many of their families, like the Satohs,
balked at their sons’ decisions, they couldn’t stop them. Even Mrs. Yasuda’s
two sons–her older son, who had been taken away for questioning, and the
recently turned nineteen-year-old Kenji, who had driven the Itos to the pick-up
center, volunteered.

Many families and friends
gathered to wish their loved ones the best of luck. No one wanted to say
goodbye because they wanted to be hopeful that their loved ones would return. The
pick-up time was scheduled for 11 A.M. Slowly, the crowd grew larger by the
main gate. About two hundred young men from the prison camp were going to leave
that fateful morning.

It was 8 A.M., and Hiroshi
stood tall and confident as his parents proudly admired him in their barrack.
But beneath the calmness, a profound sadness lurked behind every proud thought,
every smile, and every laugh. Everyone was trying to be strong for each
another.

Hiroshi wanted to look
proper. He decided to wear the navy slacks from his wedding suit. The white
short-sleeve shirt was recently ironed with the top button undone. He looked
more like he was going to work at some office than going off to war. But he
looked strong and handsome nonetheless.

His father walked over,
gently brushed his son’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes, “Be a good
soldier, son, make us all proud.”

Hiroshi nodded confidently
and replied, “I will, Dad. I will make you and Mom proud.”

Hiroshi turned to his
mother whose eyes were glazed over with tears. His father then caught Hiroshi’s
attention as he gave him a firm look. His eyes looked soulful as he gazed at
his son for possibly the last time. He struggled with the words that came out
of his mouth, “And remember, a son is not supposed to die before his father. So
you come back home soon.”

Hiroshi’s mother’s
composure crumbled as she brought her hands up to her face. Her eyes welled up
with tears. Hiroshi’s father’s expression was still firm, but his eyes began to
tear up as he reached out for his wife to wrap a reassuring arm around her
shoulders. Hiroshi rolled his hands into tight fists, digging his nails into
his palms. He wanted to be strong for his parents, for their sake. He clenched
down on his teeth and closed his eyes as he felt every muscle strain to hold
himself together, but he couldn’t as he reached out to his parents with both of
his arms. He held his sobbing parents in his arms, their warmth permeating
through him. It had been a long time since he had held his parents, and on that
day, he so needed to. He held onto the two people who had watched him grow up
and who had been there for him every single day of his entire life. He rested
his head against theirs as he sobbed softly.

Hiroshi’s father stepped
back suddenly and unexpectedly blurted out, “We better let you get going, or
we’ll soak your clean shirt.”