Dad
played piano
melodies
wandered
but he was steady
he
was too shy to dance
me
I love to dance
the gates of heaven open
time wears down
as pulse gets weaker
and feet can’t keep on beat
a sitar drones . . .
Dad I wonder
does this sadden you
as you recall
the earthly pains
before your final steps
ten years
after you passed
advice
from you in a dream
in clear prophetic words
Dad
your warm tears
falling
from the sky
rinse away my fears
January 24, 2021, written by Genie Nakano
Tom Nakano, June 16, 1921 – October 23, 1999
Genie Nakano 
Interesting story. Dad was in Bruyeres and helped rescue the lost battalion. Hideki and I went to Bruyeres 3 times. We met a really nice couple there and stayed at there home each time. It is a beautiful village. Dad never talked about the 442. He said he wanted to move on. He trashed all his medals. I didn’t know he had them but Hideki my husband went through a lot of paperwork and got copies of my Dad’s medals. Ten medals! But Dad passed away years before we got them.All this time I thought he deserted because he never talked about his experiences in war time. Only a beautiful short story of a love affair he had with a woman in France. In the story he talked a little about the Bruyeres Battle but quickly went into the love story. I f interested I will send it to you. It is called Interlude I guess meaning a break from fighting.
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Very nice! I’ve met several members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. One was at Mom’s nursing home. Brian had dementia but was 98. I sometimes stopped by to check on Mom after Coast Guard Auxiliary meetings or boat patrols. He would stand and salute me, not realizing I was not an officer. Every time he heard the national anthem or saw the American flag he would stand and salute and cry. I had a former employer who had been in the “Lost Battalion” at the Battle of the Bulge who had been cut off and surround by the Nazis. He was rescued by the “Fighting 442” and spoke highly of them.
~Charles Harmon
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