From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Sun Mar 22 22:33:02 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id WAA21818 for ; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:33:02 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 8880; Sun, 22 Mar 98 21:25:16 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 7590; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 21:26:33 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 7403 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 21:24:30 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 7402; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 17:34:06 -0500 Received: from ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Sun, 22 Mar 98 17:34:03 CDT Received: from mail1.centuryinter.net (mail1.centuryinter.net) by ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #20456) id <01IUZ48NSBGW00DFAD@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU> for SCOUTS-L@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 17:32:40 -0500 (CDT) Received: from cen23981.centuryinter.net (ppp016.ra.centuryinter.net [207.230.212.30]) by mail1.centuryinter.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA02793 for ; Sun, 22 Mar 1998 17:32:31 -0600 (CST) X-Sender: cen23982@mail.pe.centuryinter.net MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Message-ID: <199803222332.RAA02793@mail1.centuryinter.net> Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 17:32:31 -0600 Reply-To: Mark Arend Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Mark Arend Subject: Re: SM minute wanted X-To: SCOUTS-L@TCU.EDU To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: Here's a good one that was sent to me: This was told to me by a former dean of the U.F. Law School, Tom Read, who had at the time just returned from a trip to Japan. Bruce Major, SM. T84 Gainesville, FL The Spirit of Scouting Kyoto, Japan, is a city of many temples. Among those temples stands a statue somewhat different than its surroundings. It is a statue of two young men, an American Scout, and a Japanese Scout, clasping hands. How it came to be there is a story worth telling. Some of the worst fighting of World War II was in Okinawa. It was protracted, and bloody, and fought with fierce determination by both sides. In the midst of one of the battles, near the beach, a young American soldier fell wounded. As he lay there, bleeding and in pain, his vision out of focus, about to lose consciousness, he saw a Japanese soldier standing over him, bayonet at the ready, poised to strike. He said afterwards he did not even know himself why he did what he then did. He was weak from blood loss and blacking out. But he raised his right hand in a familiar sign - the universally recognized Scout sign. Then he lost consciousness, expecting never to awake. He did wake, though. When he came to, he was in an American field hospital. His wounds had been dressed. And in his pocket was a note, written in Japanese. He was able to find someone to translate the note eventually, and this is what it said: "I could not bring myself to kill a fellow Scout." The note also bore the name and address of the Japanese soldier who, instead of taking his life, had spared it, and tended to his wounds before moving on. When the war had ended, the young soldier was assigned to the occupation force. He went to find his savior at the first opportunity. He discovered that the Japanese soldier who had both spared and saved his life had died later in the fighting there on Okinawa. But his family had survived, and he American became their friend and helped them in every way he could during his time in Japan. When asked why, he explained what had occurred, and showed the note, which he still kept. The people were so touched by this story, that they erected the monument which stands in Kyoto today. It is a monument to our shared humanity- that in the midst of war and violence, of hatred and bloodshed, two young men found that they were in fact brothers. It is a monument to the ideals of Scouting - that even when thus deeply divided, Scouting is a link that joins us and encourages compassion, mercy, understanding, and peace. The statue stands among the temples of Kyoto, a monument to the spiritual values of the world-wide movement known as Scouting. It is also a monument to hope - the hope that if we can only recognize our common bonds, the world would be a better place. Mark W. Arend Beaver Dam Community Library 311 N. Spring St. Outside of a dog, a book is Beaver Dam, Wisc. 53916 man's best friend. Inside of (920) 887-4631 (fax 887-4633) a dog it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx www.centuryinter.net/bdlib/ Scoutmaster, Troop 736 mailto:arend@centuryinter.net