The Blackened Canteen
“I’m certain that this memorial service will be a bridge between our Nations and contribute toward peace” – Dr. Hiroya Sugano
DEVOTION
Blackened canteen, which was pulled from the ashes during World War II, is seen as an inspiration for peace. Its blackness and heat-distorted shape represent the inevitability of conflict, yet its presence represents eternal hope for a future of peaceful understanding and reconciliation between former enemies.
The canteen ritual began as a Buddhist monk’s long-ago secret ceremony to honor two American airmen he pulled from a downed B-29 in Japan in 1945. The airmen soon died. In that same wreckage, the monk – Itoh found a crumpled, blackened canteen. It appeared to bear the seared-in imprints from a human hand.
After Itoh’s death, Dr. Hiroya Sugano, who lived through the raid on Shizuoka as a child, continued the traditions for peace and reconciliation…(learn more)
In Memory of Gary Meyers
LtCol USMC
Friend & Man of Honor
Bridge for Friendship
and Peace
“Peace is our work : It calls for our courageous and united action. ‘Peace Will Be the Last Word of History”
St. John Paul II
“I have always believed that the continuation of the peace has to start with paying respect to those who were hurt during the war. “
Dr. Hiroya Sugano
Dr. Hiroya Sugano, center, pours bourbon whiskey into the waters at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with a member of the Japanese military, left, and the U.S. Air Force.
