thedrifter
06-24-08, 08:36 AM
Brother welcomes new name to Okinawa memorial
By Chiyomi Sumida, Starts and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Monday, June 23, 2008
ITOMAN, Okinawa — Joseph Lukasik, 73, was on a mission when he crossed the Pacific over the weekend: ensure the memory of his brother who died 63 years ago on Okinawa lived on.
Henry Lukasik, a Navy corpsman assigned to the 7th Marine, 1st Marine Division, was killed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, but it was only this year that his name was added to the Cornerstone of Peace, where names of people who died in the 83-day battle are inscribed.
On Monday morning, under the scorching sun, Joseph Lukasik sat quietly underneath a tree, eyeing the black granite stone memorial in the Okinawa Peace Prayer Park in Itoman. The last panel of the American section of the memorial had a fresh engraving: Henry Lukasik, the 14,409th American listed.
Last year, when Joseph Lukasik visited the island with his wife during their Pacific Ocean voyage, he found that his brother’s name was missing on the memorial and took action to have it added.
"Something told me that someone must be there to represent him," Lukasik said. "It is so nice to see so many people that care about their loved ones who died in the battle."
He said the wall is "the most unique memorial I have ever seen, with names of children, babies, mothers and fathers beside soldiers, sailors and Marines."
More than 5,500 attended the ceremony including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and Lt. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Forces and Marine Corps Bases Japan, who offered a silent prayer at noon.
Ellie
By Chiyomi Sumida, Starts and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Monday, June 23, 2008
ITOMAN, Okinawa — Joseph Lukasik, 73, was on a mission when he crossed the Pacific over the weekend: ensure the memory of his brother who died 63 years ago on Okinawa lived on.
Henry Lukasik, a Navy corpsman assigned to the 7th Marine, 1st Marine Division, was killed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, but it was only this year that his name was added to the Cornerstone of Peace, where names of people who died in the 83-day battle are inscribed.
On Monday morning, under the scorching sun, Joseph Lukasik sat quietly underneath a tree, eyeing the black granite stone memorial in the Okinawa Peace Prayer Park in Itoman. The last panel of the American section of the memorial had a fresh engraving: Henry Lukasik, the 14,409th American listed.
Last year, when Joseph Lukasik visited the island with his wife during their Pacific Ocean voyage, he found that his brother’s name was missing on the memorial and took action to have it added.
"Something told me that someone must be there to represent him," Lukasik said. "It is so nice to see so many people that care about their loved ones who died in the battle."
He said the wall is "the most unique memorial I have ever seen, with names of children, babies, mothers and fathers beside soldiers, sailors and Marines."
More than 5,500 attended the ceremony including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and Lt. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Forces and Marine Corps Bases Japan, who offered a silent prayer at noon.
Ellie