“When I first heard about returning to Japan, I wanted to say two prayers. The first – to forgive the Japanese for the way the POWs were treated; the second – to pray for my friends who suffered and died there. The starvation, long hours of working in the mines, the beatings and other sufferings were just plain unimaginable. All of these memories were brought back to life as I stood in front of the Hosokura mine for the first time in seventy years. As I prayed my entire body shook and I cried over the horrible memories that overcame me. I cried for my best friend dying in my arms f...