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Why I Listen to Spirits
My father has two older brothers that served in the 442nd (Japanese American) regiment during World War II. The 442nd was the most decorated military unit in US History. My uncle Stan Izumigawa lied about his age and enlisted in the army at 17 before telling anyone in his family. When he lined up at his first meeting, he found himself behind his older brother who had also enlisted without telling the family.
It was only through a lot of questioning that my cousin took down her father’s WWII story. He didn’t like talking about it. My other uncle does not talk about it at all. On one of his first few nights in Italy, my uncle Stan was keeping guard when his area was hit with a few bombs. All was quiet and he had a “premonition” and heard a rustling sound moments before anything could have caused the sound. Here’s an excerpt from his memoir:
“As I sat staring across the grassy field, I had some kind of premontion. It felt like I could hear a rustling sound and I bent over, lowering my head forward and down.
‘Whap’
What must have been a stray bullet hit the sadbag behind me where my head had been a moment earlier. Why or how I don’t know, but something told me to duck. (Lucky Number 1).”
My uncle didn’t understand how or why he ducked, but he felt that “something had told me to duck.” The passage struck…
