"She just read 'Faithful Elephants'. I tried to tell her it'd make her cry."
Samantha and I had read "Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War" by Yukio Tsuchiya the previous evening.
Nancy, our own personal librarian at the Downtown Kansas City Public Library, suggested it to us. She warned us that though it is wrapped up as a picture book, it was a tough one.
In the preface "To the Readers", Chieko Akiyama conveys his hope that the reading of this book help bring about "seeds of peace and war prevention will be sown."
By the first few pages of the story we were heartsick for John, Tonky and Wanly.
During WWII, these three elephants were of many killed by Ueno Zoo keepers who thought that IF any of the animals survived the bombings they would be loose, scared and therefore dangerous.
For whatever reason, the keepers were unable to poison the elephants as originally planned. John, Tonky and Wanly were starved to death.
"Over two weeks later, Tonky and Wanly were dead. Both died leaning against the bars of their cage with their trunks stretched high in the air, still trying to do their banzai trick for the people who once feed them."
Our sorrow extended to the elephants Japanese Keepers who were ordered to carry out this death plan.
At the end of the story Samantha had one burning question,
"Was the Ueno Zoo bombed?"
Other words, did John, Tonky, Wanly and their zoo friends have to die?
We took the question to the web. Google's only response - Hap Halloran's, WWII Prisoner of War, web page.
'Then Hap was moved to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo where he was a prisoner in an animal cage and tied to the front bars in his lion cage so civilians could march by and view a B-29 flyer. He was naked and black from non-washing and hair all over his face. Hap lost 90 lbs. and was covered with open running sores from flea-bed bug bites.'
After being left with these two brutally honest contradictions of war, I have one simple burning question:
What if Samantha, Annalise and myself . . . along with you . . . extended our hands out of our caged thinking and fostered the growth of seeds of peace in memory of Tonky, Wanly, John and Hap . . . and the googol of other victims of wars?