The Purple Heart (39 page)

Dear
Minami,

I
can't begin to tell you how happy I am right now. Even my friends are happy and
are literally fighting among themselves to see who's happier for us.

I'm
glad that you and the baby are doing well. I've been nervously waiting for your
letter and I think I even scared one of the mail clerks when I demanded to know
if any letter from you had arrived.

I
can't tell you how disappointed I am that I'm not with you to share this moment
with you. I wish I could hold little Ichiro in my arms, but the thought of
being a father does kind of scare me.

You
have such strength, Minami, and you alone pulled through without me being
there. It's because of that, I now I admire you so much more, for your will and
strength. I love you so much more now.

Nothing
would make me happier than to be there with you right now, holding you in my
arms as you cradle Ichiro in your own arms. I hope your father will get those
pictures developed soon, but I'm sure any child of ours would be the
best-looking baby.

I'm
sure that if the baby were a girl, she would be blessed with your beauty, which
I miss so much. Maybe we can work on that when I get back. When I do return, we
are going to have the most wonderful life and when we win the war, no one will
look down on our son with suspicion. He will be treated like any other American
because I'm going to fight for his future and ours. I love you.

Lovingly
yours,

Hiroshi

* * *

The following months of
training toughened the troops of the 442
^nd
. Every morning, Hiroshi
would wake up and think about his newborn son. But the guilt of knowing that
his son was growing up in a prison camp gnawed at him incessantly. However, it
reenergized his drive to pursue what so many people take for granted: Freedom.
In his heart he knew he was a true American, a patriot. He wanted to prove it
so that the many Japanese Americans imprisoned, including his own family, could
be free. Hiroshi committed himself every single day to training, but the long
months of training without seeing battle made him restless. Ultimately, if he
could not prove himself in battle, he believed then that everyone in America
would still cast suspicion on all Japanese Americans.

Other troops also seriously
doubted if they would ever be given the chance to fight in the war. With each
passing day, their faith was waning, but they soldiered on in their training,
which had now become monotonous. Their sense of hopelessness, however, was
partly alleviated by the heroics of the 100
^th
Battalion, the Japanese
American battalion who had left before them. They had heard about their
bravery, which rivaled other regiments of similar size.

The stories only made them
more eager to join the fight. They knew in their hearts that they were ready to
win the war so that they could go home to their families. Still, the question
remained: Should they return home, would they be considered war heroes or
prisoners?

The day that Hiroshi
received the pictures of his son Ichiro was one of the happiest days of his
life. Minami was able to send back a few photos of Ichiro, who was about three
months old by the time that Hiroshi received them. He looked at his son's
photos, and they reinvigorated his sense of patriotic duty.

The day his company, along
with the entire 442
^nd
, completed their training couldn’t have come
soon enough. The entire company had dressed meticulously from their starched
uniforms to the shine on their boots. Hiroshi and Akira were in the middle of
the first row, flanked by Peter and Kenji. The stocky drill sergeant led his
troops, whom he had developed a newfound respect for since the first day he
barked at them. Despite his belief, not one soldier failed the rigorous
training. If anything, they had exceeded all his expectations and were in his
eyes, some of the best soldiers he had ever trained. The soldiers were no
longer Japs as he once called them; instead, they were Japanese Americans. He
marched with pride with his troops and saluted proudly to the higher-ranking
officers as he marched by them during inspection.

It was only a few days
after the inspection that the 442
^nd
received their deployment
orders. The destination was kept secret. But they all knew that it would be
somewhere in Europe, and the trip would take some twenty days or more by sea.
The soldiers were excited but apprehensive. After almost a year of training,
they would finally be given the chance to prove themselves.

Hiroshi, for the most part,
was calm and deliberate on the evening prior to his departure. He had just
received a letter from Minami the day before, giving him a summary of life on
the prison camp. She described how Ichiro was getting bigger. He was now more
than seven months old. The mood of their families was fine. Minami’s letters
had also become more relaxed.

Hiroshi feared that Minami
was getting comfortable with the idea that even though he was in the army, he
really wasn’t. For almost a year, he had been in training, so the fear that
Minami once held of Hiroshi actually fighting had slowly ebbed away.

But it was only a matter of
time before her greatest fear would be realized. Hiroshi pondered the hardest
letter he would have to write to her. He was being shipped off the next day,
and he wasn't sure where he was going. The regular exchange of letters would be
interrupted and further slowed by the Atlantic Ocean.

Hiroshi had his belongings
and gear packed. Kenji, on the other hand, was frantic as he scrambled to
organize his belongings. It was almost a mystery as to how Kenji could be so
disorganized in such a small space. But he repeatedly pulled items out of his
bag because he couldn’t remember if had put them in there in the first place.

Peter was calm when packing
his items. He was polishing his boots and quietly whistling. Whether it was
idle whistling or a whistling to hide his apprehension, Hiroshi wasn’t sure.

But Akira’s behavior was
truly cryptic. He withdrew from everyone else as he brooded outside behind the
barrack and took a smoke. He packed only the essentials and didn't pack many of
his personal items, which were limited to begin with.

Hiroshi only had a couple
of more hours left before lights out as he stared down at the pad of paper
before him. He tapped it with the end of his pen a few times. The noise of people
packing was frustratingly distracting. He let out a sigh and looked out the
window. It was a clear night. A thought suddenly came to him. He straightened
up and headed for the door.

Hiroshi walked by the other
men until finally he walked through the open doorway of the barrack and down
the steps. He turned to the left, rounded the corner and came up to the
darkened side of the barrack. He then turned around to face the wall of the
adjacent barrack, which was only about six feet away, when a crazy thought came
into his head. Carefully, he tucked the pad of paper inside his shirt. He took
a few steps back and took in a deep breath. Hiroshi ran towards the adjacent
barrack to gain momentum, leaped into the wall, bounced off it, and caught the
windowsill of his barrack with his left foot. With his left foot, he pushed
himself upward and caught the edge of the roof with his hands and threw his
right leg onto it. Slowly he pulled himself up and walked to the peak of the
roof.

A cool breeze suddenly
glanced him and was gone. Hiroshi looked up at the dark purplish sky and
realized that he had not stargazed since the days with Minami. It was
reassuring that some things didn’t change. A smile crept over his face as he
gazed at the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear. Other familiar
constellations beckoned Hiroshi and for a moment, he felt finally all alone in
a nightly realm that welcomed his presence. Besides the glistening stars, it
was the luminous moon that was the star of the show as it cast out its pale moon
rays.

Looking away from the night
sky, Hiroshi looked straight ahead and walked to the end of the roof and
settled himself down. The light of the moon provided enough light to write by.
He carefully pulled out the pad of paper from his shirt and the pen from his
pants, and gathered his thoughts as he prepared to write what would be his last
letter to Minami from Camp Shelby.

Dearest Minami,

I’m
looking up at the stars tonight and it reminds me so much of the times we
stargazed together. But at the same time, it reminds me that we’re not
together. But maybe you’re looking up at the sky right now as I am, thinking of
me and under the amazing starry audience, maybe we’re not that far apart.

You
have been so patient and I am so lucky to have you. Even though I’ve never seen
Ichiro, I miss him. Sometimes my own arms foolishly think they miss holding
Ichiro, but they’ve never had the chance. Maybe it’s the just the father in me,
knowing that I have a son back home whom I’ve never met but want to hold so
eagerly. But your wonderful words keep me going and I know we’ll be reunited
soon.

I
see you so clearly in my dreams and sometimes I think I can even smell you. I
know my dreams are playing tricks on me, but they are the sweetest of dreams. I
would almost dare say that on some nights, I wish I would never wake up from
those dreams.

Tonight
will be my last night writing letters from Camp Shelby. I will be going
overseas tomorrow. I don’t want you to be sad or worried–we knew this day was
coming. Please know that I’ll be thinking of you and no matter how many miles
or oceans that may keep us apart, I will always love you. I’ll still write, but
I’m sure it’ll take a little longer for our letters to reach one another but
reach one another they will.

My
heart aches for you so much that it hurts. But then again, on some days, just
thinking about you brings back so much joy into my heart. This is how I know I
love you.

Please
hold Ichiro for me and tell him that his father will be back soon. Tell him
we’ll play baseball and I’ll get him a puppy to play with. We’ll have dinner at
your parents’ house and mine, and we’ll finally be a family.

Let’s
think about the future because that’s what we’ll have together.

Lovingly
yours,

Hiroshi

“Take cover! Take cover!”
shouted Hiroshi to everyone as they approached the intersection from the south.
Bullets suddenly flew past them and ricocheted off the street. Hiroshi rushed
to the right with Kenji close behind, followed by two other soldiers. Akira ran
to the left with two other soldiers including Peter. But Peter lagged behind,
and the bullets cut off his path to safety. Peter’s heart sank as fear gripped
him. The other soldiers grew further away. The Nazis couldn’t see Hiroshi and
the soldiers that followed him and had quickly trained their machine gun on
Akira and the soldiers moving the other way. It was a tactical mistake on
Peter’s part: Being a bit slower, he should have followed Hiroshi to the right.
He couldn’t make it to the building, and he was the only soldier in plain view.
And the Nazis were determined to take out at least one soldier on the patrol.

Peter crouched down as
bullets riddled the ground in front of him, sending up quick flashes of dust.
He raised his right forearm up against his face and peered out into the street
from where the unknown Nazi position was. He could see the flashes from the
machine gun muzzle behind the bombed-out tank that sat neglected in the middle
of the road not too far away. It was the only thing that prevented the Nazis
from getting a clean shot at Peter, and it was his only chance. Peter suddenly
made a dash for the tank. As he ran, his ears filled with machine gun fire
bursts, flurried shouts from his fellow soldiers for him to get out of there,
and the clanking of gear clinging from his body. He dove into the ground with a
thud, turned over quickly and backed up against the tank’s side, which sat at
an angle to the street. Peter shifted his helmet upward from his brow as he let
out several breaths as his heart pounded furiously. The bullets riddled the
tank’s turret, giving off an ominous metallic sound, but he was at least safe.
The bombed-out Nazi tank gave him temporary sanctuary from the bullets meant
for him.

“Are you okay?” yelled out
Akira from behind the pile of rubble.

Peter couldn’t answer him
immediately as he crouched into a tighter position, holding his rifle tightly
across him. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way out of his dire
predicament.

The entire 442
^nd
had been joined by the 100
^th
to liberate the little town of Sesseta,
Italy from the Nazis who had taken up positions. The 442
^nd
was able
to secure the outer perimeter of the town and were ordered in to flush out the
remaining Nazis. As they entered the little town, the situation became more
obviously dangerous. Seemingly silent buildings started to swallow them up as
they meandered into the bowels of the town.

“Damn it, Peter! Are you
okay?” shouted Akira as he looked furiously at him from the rubble that offered
little cover against the bullets.

Peter came to his senses
and ducked once more as several bullets bounced off the turret above him. Peter
didn’t shout back, but stared back at Akira’s eyes and nodded his head. Akira
nodded back and indicated with a hand signal to hold tight as he moved against
the wall to confer with the other soldiers. It was getting hot, and Peter
wasn’t sure if it was the weather or the situation he was in. Peter wanted to
know what Hiroshi was doing, so he carefully got down on his hands and knees,
keeping his butt low to the ground to avoid having it shot off. He peered from
under the tank’s treads and saw Hiroshi at the corner of the wall, peering down
into the street and trying to assess the Nazi position. Kenji was kneeling down
in back of him with his rifle ready while the other two soldiers stood behind
them at the ready.

Hiroshi looked frustrated.
He met Peter’s eyes from underneath the tank and nodded reassuringly. Hiroshi
motioned with his hand to keep low as he whispered a few words to Kenji. He
then looked over the tank at Akira’s position.

Hiroshi couldn’t get a good
read on the situation from his vantage point. Akira suddenly appeared as if on
cue and indicated silently that there were actually two machine gun bunkers in
the doorways of the last two houses, and at least four Nazis. Hiroshi
acknowledged Akira with a nod. Hiroshi looked back at Peter and signaled him to
look at Akira for instructions. They had to get Peter out of there. He was a
sitting duck.

Peter turned over and
backed himself against the tank once more. He looked at Akira. Akira motioned
with his hand to Peter that there were two Nazi positions. They were going to
lay down some cover fire, drawing the enemy’s fire allowing Peter to run toward
Hiroshi’s position. Peter breathed in heavily and nodded. Akira nodded and
signaled to Hiroshi just as a bullet glanced off a brick in the rubble that
shielded him. Akira ducked quickly as he held onto the top of his helmet with
his hand. Peter’s heart sank. But Akira’s middle finger shot up toward the Nazi
positions and then disappeared. The bullets subsided, but the Nazi positions
preserved their tactical advantage.

Akira signaled once more to
Hiroshi, who then nodded. Akira turned to the two other soldiers behind him,
and they got into position. One rifle was no match for a machine gun and they
were too far away to lob grenades. But three rifles firing in unison may be
enough of a distraction for Peter to run to Hiroshi.

Akira met Peter’s gaze once
more and signaled to him to get ready. They would lay down the cover fire at
the count of three. Akira moved furtively into position and looked at Peter,
who had gotten up on his heels and wrapped his left hand around the tank’s
corner, hoping that the leverage would whip him around that much faster.
Peter’s breathing quickened, but he was ready. On Akira’s signal, he would run
as fast as humanly possible.

Akira signaled cautiously
with one finger of his left hand, then two, and finally three. Akira stood up
and burrowed himself against the rubble as the two other troops came around to
his right, propped their rifles over the rubble, and let out a flurry of shots.
Peter didn’t hesitate. He turned away and pulled himself as hard as he could
with his left hand toward Hiroshi. Hiroshi had turned the corner and positioned
his rifle with Kenji crouching beneath him as they simultaneously let out shots
from their rifles. Peter was in an almost upright position and had almost
cleared the tank when a bullet glanced off the corner of the tank. Then another
landed right in front of Peter’s right foot.

Peter suddenly felt that
time itself had slowed down as he turned in the direction of those bullets.
Peter saw the flashes from the two machine gun muzzles firing incessantly as
countless bullet casings arced from the firing chambers. They were pointed away
from him, but as he looked up, he saw a Nazi soldier leaning out of the second
floor window. It was sniper fire: The Nazis had anticipated their move. For a
moment, Peter thought he could actually see the sniper’s eye through his scope
as a sinister smile crept across his face. There was a strange pause. Suddenly,
a third bullet glanced the right side of Peter’s helmet, startling him back to
reality.

Peter felt his helmet
reverberate as the glancing bullet forcefully pulled his head to the right. The
two soldiers behind Hiroshi were urging him to make a run for it, but they
could not see the sniper. Peter did the only thing that he could do: He turned
around and dove back toward the tank for cover. The sounds of bullets suddenly
riddled the top of the turret, almost taunting him. Peter lifted his head and
shifted his helmet up to look at Akira’s position.

Akira looked furious as he
stared down Peter, angry that he had not listened to his instructions. He
turned away to return additional rounds as enemy bullets dotted the rubble in
front of him, sending up chunks of shattered brick into the air. The other two
soldiers fired as well when a single bullet made its way over the rubble and
caught the last soldier in his right shoulder, sending him backwards. A sudden
look of muscle-tearing pain crossed his face as he landed onto the ground with
a thud. Peter let out a gasp. The wounded soldier was no longer behind the
protective mound of rubble. Akira and the other soldier turned momentarily to
the soldier and mouthed something incomprehensible from where Peter was. The
soldier realized the vulnerable position he was in, gripped his right shoulder
with his left hand, and leaned upward.

A red dot suddenly appeared
in the middle of his forehead. For a moment, the soldier calmly looked straight
ahead as if the pain had faded away. Then his body fell lifelessly backwards
onto the ground.

“Fuck! Get back!” yelled
Akira to the other soldier as he firmly gripped him by the scruff of his
collar. “Leave him! He’s dead! Don’t risk your life for a dead man!”

Akira and the other soldier
then disappeared behind the building as additional bullets sprayed the rubble,
sending up shattered brick into the air. They had not seen the shadowed sniper.
Peter looked down at the fallen soldier. His head had rolled in Peter’s
direction, and his hollow eyes stared back at Peter, almost as if pleading for
help. His face seemed stretched out as his lifeless facial muscles had gone
slack. His black eyebrows were awkwardly crooked, and his brown eyes remained
eerily wide open, as they seemed to stare off into nothing. It was the face of
death.

Peter turned away from his
lifeless comrade and pressed his head against the tank. Akira and the two other
men did not see the sniper. This was probably the sniper’s intent. A sniper’s
greatest weapon was stealth. The rubble may have offered enough protection from
the merciless machine guns, but it didn’t protect Akira and the two other men
from the sniper’s vantage point on the second floor of the building.

Peter realized that he
should have immediately warned Akira about the snipers. If he had, Akira may
have pulled back the other two soldiers. But now, one of them was dead because
he didn’t warn them soon enough. It was his fault, he thought. He lamented his
hesitation.

The bullets stopped
whizzing in the air. Whatever Nazis were left were probably trying to hold onto
their positions so that they could slip away under the cover of night in a
couple of hours. They were probably cut off from reinforcements and needed to
preserve their ammunition.

Hiroshi yelled over to Peter,
and he let out a sigh. He got down on his hands and knees once more and peered
out from around the tank. Hiroshi motioned for him to stay put. He indicated
that he had assessed at least two snipers on the second floor. The building on
the other corner of the Nazi position, was bombed apart, so it was highly
unlikely there would be any Nazis positioned there. It looked like the Nazis
had taken position solely in the corner building. Hiroshi sent the two other
soldiers around the block to assess the other corner, even though he was sure
it was covered.

Akira and the other soldier
stood silently as they reloaded their rifles and counted their ammunition.
Akira confirmed Hiroshi’s assessment from his vantage point and was ready to
shoot back at the Nazi position. The street leading up to the Nazi position was
littered with rubble from the buildings, and there were no useful obstacles.
Anyone who was caught in the street would be torn apart by the machine gun
fire.

Additional machine gun fire
could be heard a distance off, followed by silence. It was likely that the two
other soldiers encountered gunfire as they approached the Nazi position from
around the block. For a few tense minutes, no one knew if the two soldiers fell
to the Nazi machine gun fire. Then finally, Kenji spun around to see the two
other soldiers approaching them. They were unharmed and had indicated that the
street on the other side was blocked off with another bombed-out tank and that
it was heavily covered in rubble. Another machine gun bunker also protected the
corner, and they believed they had spotted another sniper on the upper window
as well. The final assessment was that there were at least nine Nazi soldiers
holed up in the corner building.

A bullet glanced harmlessly
off the turret, causing Peter to duck instinctively. The sniper was taunting
Peter. The Nazis were using Peter to lure out his fellow troops with the desire
to pick them off, one by one, or at least kill Peter, should he try to make a
run for it.

Hiroshi backed up against
the wall and wiped his brow with his left forearm. The sleeve of his uniform
was already dirty from the last few days of fighting.

“I can’t see Peter,” said
Kenji as he swayed his head gently back and forth trying to find Peter from
behind the tank.

“Well, let’s hope the Nazis
don’t see him either,” said Hiroshi.

“We need to get him out of
there so that we can go after these fucking Nazis,” said Kenji with a tone of
frustration. “What are we going to do, Home Run?”

Hiroshi let out a breath
and carefully peered around the corner and looked up. He couldn’t see the
sniper from his position. But he could make out the end of the rifle barrel
sticking out of the window trained on Peter’s position. He assumed that the
other sniper had his sniper’s scope trained at Akira’s position, hoping that
maybe they would make a heroic attempt to drag the dead soldier back. Hiroshi
then looked upwards at the rooftops of the buildings across the street and saw
no movement. All he saw were the chimneystacks when suddenly an idea came to
mind.