Look down on us
who are praying for the men
who suffered and died here
61 years ago.
We pray for those who died
and for those who survived—
for those who swam ashore,
and were taken prisoner again,
and went on in other prison ships
Some died in the holds of these ships
and some went on to die in prison camps
in Japanese territory.
For them this beach and their agony here,
was like your first fall under your cross
on your way to Calvary.
You went on to die for all your children
whom you loved.
They went on to die for their country,
for their people for those they loved.
The Americans enlisted in the military
to protect their native land,
the land in which they were born,
to protect their homes, their families,
to protect the poor, the powerless,
all over the world
to save them from tyranny and oppression.
The Japanese who died here
enlisted in the military
because they believed their leaders
who said that they were fighting for their human rights.
Lebensraum, room to live, freedom, liberty, equality,
a place in the sun.
The Japanese fought and died with the same courage,
and with same idealism, as our own American boys.
It was a tragic moment in the history of our word.
We are here to remember it, and to pray over it
in the hope that it will not happen again.
Lord God, please touch our minds and hearts.
Give us the light to see the wisdom
of the words you spoke to Peter
in the garden of Gethsemane on that first Holy Thursday.
You said to him when he had cut of the ear
of the servant of the high priest
“Put down the sword! Those who take the sword
will perish by the sword!”
All of us know that this is true
All of us are waiting for the day
when some Colonel in some unknown country
will panic and press the button on his atom bomb.
Then all the other Colonels in al the other countries
will pres the button on their atom bomb.
And when the smoke settles,
nine out of ten of us will be dead,
and the tenth, who is alive, will be envying the dead!
Lord, you created all of us as your children. . . . .
You want us to live as one family
brothers and sisters reaching out to each other
suffering with each other
rejoicing with each other
helping each other. . . . .
Sharing and caring,
living in friendship
living in love.
Help us to break down the walls between us,
between nations, between rich and poor,
between different religions.
Help us to build bridges
among all the Christian sects,
so that we will be truly one!
Help us to build bridges
between Christians and Muslims,
between Buddhists, Taoists and Jews,
so that all of us will live together in reconciliation,
unity and peace.
Give us the light to understand
the wisdom of your words,
“Little children, love one another, as I have loved you!”
Give us the wisdom to live that way with everyone
so that there will never be another group like us,
standing on a shore, on a beach that once was red with the
blood of those we love, weeping over their death.
Give all of us the grace to live like this always
so that there will never be another Oryoku Maru.
Father Reuter was interned in Los Banos civilian camp during WWII and his best friend died on a Hellship.
