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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2017)
Page 8A NORTHWEST East Oregonian World War II vet brings fallen enemy’s keepsake on long journey home BRIEFLY Quake hits Pacifi c Ocean off coast of California, Oregon BROOKINGS (AP) — The US Geologic Survey has recorded a 4.6-magnitude earthquake in the Pacifi c Ocean off the coast of Northern California and Oregon. The temblor struck Thursday about 115 miles northwest of Eureka, California. KTVL-TV reports there were no injuries or damages caused by the earthquake. By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND — Marvin Strombo was behind Japanese enemy lines on a Pacifi c island during World War II when he realized the other fi ve men in his squadron had moved on without him. The young U.S. Marine, part of an elite scout-sniper platoon fi ghting a 1944 battle on Saipan, nervously scanned the terrain. He spotted a body on the ground, a dead Japanese soldier lying on his left side. The young man looked peaceful, as if asleep, and some- thing white poked out from his jacket. Strombo knelt and pulled out a silk fl ag, all the space around the bright red emperor’s sun fi lled with elegant calligraphy. He hesitated, then took the fl ag and scrambled to reunite with his squadron as they entered the Japa- nese-held town of Garapan. More than 70 years later, Strombo is returning the Japanese fl ag to his fallen enemy’s family. The 93-year-old arrived Friday in Tokyo, the fi rst stop in a 10,000-mile journey into the remote mountainside to bring the keepsake back to the man’s home village — back to a brother and two sisters who could never say goodbye. He was met by Japanese news media, who gathered around his wheel- chair to interview him. “I realized there were no bullets or shrapnel wounds, so I knew he was killed by the blast of a mortar,” Strombo recalled in Portland this week before boarding a fl ight to Japan. Then, quietly: “I think that soldier wanted me to fi nd him for some reason.” The fl ags were a good-luck charm that linked Japanese soldiers to their loved ones and their call for duty. Some were signed by hundreds of classmates, neighbors and relatives. Allied troops frequently took them from the bodies of their enemies as souvenirs. They have a deep signifi - cance because most Japanese families never learned how their loved ones died and never received remains. For Strombo, the fl ag hung in a glass-fronted gun cabinet in his home in Montana for years, a topic of conver- sation for visitors and a curiosity for his four children. He never spoke about his role in the battles of Saipan, Tarawa and Tinian, which chipped away at Japan’s control of islands in the Pacifi c and paved the way for U.S. victory. Saturday, August 12, 2017 Authorities: Oregon father killed wife, kids AP Photo/Don Ryan In this Aug. 7 photo, WWII veteran Marvin Strombo, right, and Obon Society executives director Rex Zika hold up a Japanese fl ag with names written on it in Portland. “I think the solider wanted me to fi nd him for some reason.” — Marvin Strombo, World War II veteran He wrote letters to fi nd out more about the fl ag but eventually put it aside. He knew no Japanese and, in an era before the internet, making any headway was diffi cult. Then, in 2012, the son of his former commanding offi cer contacted him about a book he was writing on the platoon. Through him, Strombo reached out to the Obon Society, a nonprofi t in Oregon that helps U.S. veterans and their descendants return Japanese fl ags to the families of fallen soldiers. Within a week, researchers found it belonged to Yasue Sadao by reading the script on the fl ag. They traced the corporal to a tea-growing village of about 2,400 people in the mountains roughly 200 miles west of Tokyo. The calligraphy turned out to be the signatures of 180 friends and neighbors who saw Yasue off to war in Higashi Shirakawa, including 42 of his relatives. Seven of the original signa- tories are still alive, including Yasue’s 89-year-old brother and two sisters. When researchers contacted Yasue’s brother by phone, he asked if the person who had his brother’s fl ag was the same one who found it so many years ago, said Rex Ziak, who co-founded the Obon Society with his Japanese wife, Keiko. “There was just silence on the line and then he asked, ‘Do you imagine he knows how my brother died and where he died?’” Ziak recounted. “And that’s when we realized that this person is very much alive in that family and this mystery of what happened to him is very much alive.” Strombo is the only person who can provide those answers. He can roughly show where he found Yasue’s body on the outskirts of Garapan and can tell the siblings that their brother likely died of a concussion from a mortar round. “I knew he was young because I could see his profi le as I bent over him. He was laying on his back, kind of on his left side,” he said. The Obon Society has returned about 125 fl ags and gets about fi ve inquiries a day from aging soldiers who regret their actions and want to return the fl ags before they die. The group believes thousands of similar fl ags are likely hidden in attics across the U.S. that could give answers to countless other families. Strombo will be the fi rst World War II veteran to return a fl ag in person to a Japanese family through the Obon Society. The trip is a journey of forgiveness and closure as he fi nishes the fi nal chapter of his life. Only two other men in his platoon of 40 are still alive and he knows the humid islands where he fought for weeks are now a footnote in the war’s larger history. “It got so I kind of wanted to meet the family, you know,” he said, his voice growing raspy. “I know it means so much to them.” SALEM (AP) — Authorities have fi nished their seven-month investigation into the deaths of fi ve members of an Oregon family, confi rming initial fi ndings that a man killed his wife and children before fatally shooting himself in the head. The fi ve members of the Kroeker family were found dead Jan. 4 in a burned home near the western Oregon town of Hubbard. Marion County deputy district attorneys Brendan Murphy and Melodie Dickey said Friday that 43-year-old Keith Kroeker was solely responsible for the deaths. Autopsies of the severely burned victims showed wife Erin Kroeker died of blunt-force trauma to the head and the children — two 10-year-old boys and a 7-year-old girl — were shot to death. All were in their bed clothes. The prosecutors say the fi res were intentionally set, with ignition points in the home, a barn and a detached garage. More than 250 Oregon residents mark ‘X’ gender on licenses EUGENE (AP) — An Oregon rule change allowing people who don’t identify with their gender to instead mark “X’’ on their driver’s licenses or state ID cards has been used by more than 250 people since the change enacted on July 3. The Register-Guard reported Friday that the Oregon Transportation Commission approved the rule change. It simplifi es the process for people who in the past have had to go through tedious court procedures to change their gender on their licenses. Oregon residents can go into any state motor vehicles offi ce during business hours to obtain the “X’’ designation. The District of Columbia implemented the same option on June 26 and is the only other place in the U.S. where the designation is available. Jail guard charged, accused of performing sex act on inmate VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors tacked aggravating factors on to the charges against a Clark County corrections deputy, which means the man who is accused of performing a sex act in the presence of a female inmate is eligible for an extended sentence if convicted. The Columbian reports 29-year-old Christopher A. North pleaded not guilty on Thursday to second-degree custodial sexual misconduct and indecent liberties with forcible compulsion. The prosecution fi led aggravating factors with the indecent liberties charge for a vulnerable victim and violating a position of trust. Charging documents accuse North of performing the sex act on the inmate after locking her in a changing area. The woman reported the incident after she was transferred to Clackamas County. North turned himself in July 26. He was arraigned the next day, during which he told the judge he’s “ready to be a man about what happened. 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Location: Classes are held at St. Anthony Hospital, conference room #1: 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR 97801 Call us at (541) 276-1987 for more information or to reserve your seat(s). Hurry space is limited. Refreshments provided. Refreshments provided. McKay Creek Estates 1601 Southgate Place Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 276-1987 www.PrestigeCare.com Safe Sitter Class SATURDAY, AUG. 26 • 9:30 AM - 3:30PM • ROOMS 1 & 2 WHO: Potential babysitters grades 6 and above. •Safety Skills •First Aid and Rescue Skills •Child Care Skills •Life and Business Skills Cost: $30 ~ Includes book and lunch To Register ~ 541-278-2627 or emilysmith@chiwest.com Deadline for registration is Wednesday, Aug. 23rd CHI St. Anthony Hospital 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR. 97801
