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Day Three July 12
	I couldn't sleep well, so I got up and took a walk. I headed out toward Epinal but realized that the main town was quite a ways in the distance and I didn't have a map.
	I headed around toward the back of the hotel, toward the hospital complex and was greeted by a large parliament of crows in this tree. All through the days in the Vosges I kept seeing and hearing many crows. Liz was reading a book on the trip that described crows as the bearers of history. So, I greeted the crows. The sense of history was a powerful and moving force on this trip.
	At breakfast, Elliot had brought in items he had found up on the mountain where the Lost Battalion had been and the rescue had occurred. These are the cryptic remains of battle after 65 years. Elliot was particularly interested in finding the remains of a plane from his father's unit that crashed in the effort. It was flying too low and the wing clipped a tip of tall pine and went down. Sam Sakamoto (I Company) and Elliot
	After breakfast, we met Herve Claudon and Gerome Villain, who made the trip a success with all their efforts and knowledge and passion that the events in the Hauts-Vosges be remembered.. Gerome and Herve with Fumio Shimizu of F Company
	The first stop was to the American Cemetary outside Epinal in Quequement on a day when rain came off and on. The cemetary is in a beautiful location, surrounded by hills and forests. It couldn't be more peaceful or more cared for. from the official website: The Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in France, 48.6 acres in extent, is sited on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army. The website has a video tour, which mentions the 442nd.
	We stepped out from the bus on the stairs and organized. The names of the 14 members of the 442nd RCT buried in the cemetary had been distributed on the bus by Ellen Sawamura, along with maps, American flags, and silver and gold cranes. Robert A. Booth, 405th Fighter Squadron, U.S. Air Force Joseph L. Byrne, 442nd RCT Teruo Fujioka, 442nd RCT Tomosu Hirahara, 442nd RCT Bob T. Kameoka, 442nd RCT Mitsuru E. Miyoko, 100th Infantry Battalion Hachiro Mukai, 442nd RCT Edward Ogawa, 442nd RCT Ben W. Rogers, 442nd RCT Uetaro Sanmonji, 442nd RCT George W. Suyama, 442nd RCT Yoshio Tengwan, 442nd RCT Hideo Yasui, 442nd RCT Minoru M. Yoshida, 442nd RCT
	Patricia and Kelly brought the cranes. The colors glowed.
	Lawson tried to organize a group shot on the steps, but half the group wanted a photo of the veterans at the front of the group, so I don't think we ever had a whole group in any of our attempts. I myself broke ranks this time to get a shot of the front row.
	Lawson Sakai, Sam Sakamoto, Art Iwasaki, Fumio Shimizu, Nelson Akagi, George Kanatani, Elliot
	A French veteran was there (on the right) as well as a man who during the war was a boy of 14. He actually saw the plane go down in the effort to supply the Lost Battalion. Every Sunday he would go up to the crash site and retrieve pieces to see what he might be able to use. He brought the pieces with him to Epinal, as Tom Cavaness acted as translator. In his hand here is the radio set, which he got to working and developed a hobby as a ham radio operator.
	Here he explains to Elliot another part he'd found and how he'd tried to use it. My favorite reuse was that he sawed off rings from the gun barrel to make washers for his tractor--swords into plowshares!
	In the memorial building, there are two rooms. The one on the left contained a large mosaic by Eugene Savage of Connecticut that represents the movement of troops from Southern France to Germany on a golden map. On the left was a figure of war...
	On the right, was an angel--the video called it the angel of victory, but I thought of it at the time as the angel of peace since peace reigns at Epinal Cemetary.
	On the right of the building, is a chapel. The full inscription reads, "Give light to them that sits in darkness and guide our feet in the way of peace."
	We gathered in the central space of the memorial for a service. Superintendent of the cemetary, Tom Caveness gave a moving speech about what it meant to him to have members of the 442nd there.


	After the ceremony, we went through the memorial building to the cemetary beyond, to honor the individual members of the 442nd and all the men resting there. Liz and I had volunteered to honor Lt. Ben Rogers.
Liz found this memorial to Ben Rogers on a discussion forum called TheHighRoad ------------------------------------- "Along with honoring all those who paid the ultimate price for freedom, I will be paying special tribute to my my Mom's cousin 1st. Lt. Ben W. Rogers, Platoon Leader in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team Anti-tank Company, who was KIA Nov.'44 and is buried along side his fellow fallen comrades at the US Military Cemetery in Epinal, France. "Ben W. Rogers, Jr. was born in 1921 and a resident of Garland County, Arkansas. Ben attended 3 years of college and enlisted into the army as a Private on May 13, 1943 at Little Rock, Arkansas. Because Ben had attended 3 years of college, he was sent to Officers’ Training School. 1st Lt. Ben Rogers, Jr. was assigned to the Anti-Tank Company of 442nd Regimental Combat Team when the unit was shipped overseas. "As the Nisei unit approached the Arno River, the Anti-Tank Company was detached on July 15, 1944 from the 442nd RCT and assigned to AFHQ and attached to the 517th Parachute Infantry Combat Team of the First Airborne Task Force to train to become an “instant” glider company for a landing in southern France on D Day August 15. The Anti Tank Company with 41 gliders crossed the coast of Southern France and made a rough landing where 10 men were injured. However they successfully completed their mission of blocking roads and prohibiting the enemy from reinforcing their troops in the Mediterranean coastal area. On August 26, 1944 in the vicinity of St. Vallier, 2nd Lt. Ben Rogers of the 4th platoon led a patrol to a house and captured 6 Germans which were turned over to the 1st Airborne Task Force. Before being relieved, the Anti Tank Company in support of the 5l7th Parachute Infantry Regiment were maintaining road blocks in the vicinity of Peira Cava, l’Escarene and bivouacked north of Nice. "The Anti-Tank Co. rejoined the Combat Team on October 27th in Bruyeres, France after a 570 mile 3 day motor convoy from the vicinity of l’Escareben, Southern France. The 100th/ 442nd was now attached to the 36th Infantry division of the Seventh Army in the Vosges forest in eastern France. "The Nisei Combat Team liberated the French town of Bruyeres in the Vosges forest on October 18, 1944. The Nisei outfit was then called upon to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” the 1st Battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division as they suffered decimating casualties in the wintry cold rain and snow. Following the 442nd RCT rescue of the “Lost Battalion”, despite their huge casualties, they were called upon to further aid the also undermanned 36th Division to push through to St. Die. The 442nd RCT with their Anti-Tank Company and the 522nd Field Artillery dueled the Germans self propelled gun and artillery. 1st Lt. Ben W. Rogers Jr. was killed in action in the Vosges Mountain-St Die Campaign on November 14, 1944. "Franz Steidl in his book LOST BATTALION notes on November 14, 1944; a German self propelled 88 scored a hit on the 3rd Battalion Command Post killing 1st Lt Ben W. Rogers, Jr. and wounding Dave Kawagoye, Masao Hayakawa and Masao Aizawa , just a couple days before the 36th Division commander General Dahlquist detaches the decimated 442nd RCT."
	We said our prayers for him and through him all the men of the 442nd and placed our flag and cranes. The larger American flag and the French flag were there already. We had been told that schoolchildren learn about individuals in the cemetary and then honor them on U.S. Memorial Day. I didn't get photographs of all the 442nd there so if someone wants to send them to me, I'll gladly add them.
	We moved through the cemetary, saying prayers, locating members of the 442nd but also honoring others buried there. Very close to Lt. Rogers was a member of Dad's combat team--the 399th.



	We were expected at lunch, so we had to move on. On the bus ride, Herve pointed out the significant locations where the 36th Infantry Division and the 442nd were operating in the area, including this hill, which is one of the lettered hills around Bruyeres.
	We stopped briefly in Bruyeres to see the street named for the 442nd. This house and garage were there during the fighting. The street sign is on the garage.
	Art Iwasaki, George Kanatani, Sam Sakamoto, Nelson Akagi, Fumio Shimizu, Lawson Sakai
The house and garage and road down the hill are in this photo (which was in the exhibit in town). One of the hills that the 442nd had to capture looms in the background.
	The road down to town is now guarded by a giant ant in a cage. I think it marks the entrance to what is now a forest preserve, where the fight for Bruyeres took place.
	Walking down the road, Gerome pointed out that this peaceful valley during the war was known as Donkey Flats and this hill and valley were the scenes of vicious fighting. The Germans were on the hill, dug in. A brief history of the fighting on these hills can be found here at the Go for Broke website http://www.goforbroke.org/history/docs/bruyeres.pdf
	From our stop in Bruyeres, we went to La Farme Devant Faite in Laval-sur-Vologne, where a crowd of people were waiting for us to arrive. Here Gerome and Herve are explaining that these men had helped the 442nd and the 36th Division where they were young. I think the gentleman on the left had helped the soldiers find the safe place to cross the Moselle River when he was just a small boy.
	Frederic and others who worked on the recreation of the 36th Infantry Division and the restoration of U.S. Army vehicles were there at the restaurant. They brought copies of the photos from the exhibit in town and an American flag for the veterans to sign. Here's Lawson holding up his own photos that he autographed.
	Inside, the restaurant had a unique decor. I kept bumping my head on the wild boar.
	The food was hearty and plenty of it. This is a platter of pork and scalloped potatoes--the third course. That's a very nice fruity punch in the glasses. There was also plenty of home-made red wine.
	The Japanese film crew took the opportunity to interview a number of the veterans, though the rain kept interrupting them.
	And they were very interested in the objects that the recreators had brought with them. There was a lot of discussion about this M-1 Garand rifle. I thought the recreators were a bit cavalier in how they handled their weapons until I found out that it's illegal to fire them in France, so none of them had ever been loaded since the war.
	After lunch, there were presentations of gifts--this is a unique lamp that will go to the U.S.S. Hornet. Letters of appreciation were read by many--including the producer from the film crew. I wished I had a recording because the letters were so moving.
	But we did have a sense that everything was being recorded!
	On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a lake to stretch our legs and envy the swimmers. It looked cold but fun! Here are Gaye Miyasaki, Margaret Miyasaki, and Lawson posing, Nelson Akagi enjoying the view and John strolling away. The family on the right was one of the hundreds enjoying the walk around the lake. Along the way back to Epinal we drove along the route that would soon see the Tour de France go through the Vosges.
	While we were parked there, Liz walked up the hill into the woods. I took this picture to see whether I could capture just how steep and dark the forests of the Vosges are. I don't think any of them quite capture it--but this one gives a hint. I kept trying to imagine what it was like to be there in that impenetrable gloom in October and November in the midst of battle when they cast such deep shadows on a bright July afternoon.
	Day Three concluded with another beautifully presented dinner at the hotel--a taste of shrimp cocktail, rabbit in aspic, duck in pastry, and a lovely citrusy dessert. It was certainly a change of pace!
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Day Three July 12