In the Woods of Memory

mid-twenties, just a little younger than me. I’d see him all the time at this, uh, bar I used to hang out at. And then one day, he just comes up to me and starts talking. Well, before long, we became pretty good friends. He invited me to his place a few times, and I met his beautiful wife, who I’ll call Kate. They didn’t have any kids, so the three of us would go out to dinner or to the theater together. Yeah, thanks to my relationship with Jay, I made some fond memories that year. Well, at least for the second half of the year ... So anyway, the pendant, that was something Jay always wore around his neck. One day, we were drinking at the bar, when he suddenly asks me if I heard of Okinawa. I told him all the stuff I remembered from TV, magazines, and yeah, my discussions with you. He seemed really interested for some reason. Then he asks if I’ve ever been there. So I told him about my two trips. Said you could still see American military walking around, what with all the US bases and all.... All of a sudden, Jay pulls the pendant out of his shirt and says, This was made from a harpoon that a young Okinawan used against my grandfather during the war. Then he takes it off and puts it in my hand. It was heavy and kind of crudely made. Come to think of it, the way the chain was attached was kind of crude, too. But hearing it was a memento from the war, well, that just made it seem all the more authentic. So as I was checking out the pendant, Jay explained that his grandfather fought in Okinawa as a Marine, and that he was twenty-two at the time....

Matsumoto looked like he was on the verge of another coughing fit. He picked up the bottle of water on the table and took a few sips. Then he put it down and continued:

—According to Jay, his grandfather’s unit took control of a peninsula in the north. After that, they were stationed in some village doing mop-up operations against the Japanese hiding in the mountains. So one day, Jay’s grandfather and some of his buddies were swimming to a small island across from the village. And while they’re swimming, this young guy from the island comes out of nowhere, and stabs him with his harpoon. It was only like a month after the start of the battle. You know, the Battle of Okinawa. Ironically, Jay’s grandfather survived the war as a result. You see, he was hospitalized, and right after that, his unit was relocated. And wouldn’t you know it? They suffered heavy casualties during the fighting.... Apparently, the guy who made the pendant was from the same unit. Just before leaving for the front, he visited Jay’s grandfather in the field hospital. He was joking about it being a good luck charm, and said something like this: Yeah, lots of guys make charms out of bullets or shrapnel, but you’re gonna be the first with one made from a harpoon. Sad to say, the guy who made it was killed in action. And after Jay’s grandfather heard about his buddy’s death, he wore the pendant all the time....

I took a swig of beer and looked over at the clock. It was one in the morning, but I felt wide awake.

—The Okinawan who stabbed Jay’s grandfather was caught hiding in a cave in the woods. After that, he was interrogated. Nobody knows what happened to him. And nobody knows why he stabbed Jay’s grandfather. It couldn’t have been a personal grudge, so he must’ve been one of those crazy kamikaze types. Too bad for Jay’s grandfather, he ended up being the unlucky target. That’s not my theory, though. It’s what Jay heard from his father when he received the pendant. Apparently, Jay never heard anything from his grandfather directly.... As for Jay’s father, he was given the pendant when he enlisted in the Marines. Unbelievably, he signed up right in the middle of the Vietnam War. I suppose Jay’s grandfather thought the pendant saved him, so when his own son was about to head off to war, he gave it to him as a good luck charm. And that’s when he talked about his experiences in Okinawa. Apparently, the one thing Jay’s father never forgot, was how his father praised the man who stabbed him. Even said he was brave. Can you believe that?... Now, I doubt that pendant had magical powers or anything, but Jay’s father made it home safely from Vietnam. And shortly after that, Jay was born. Many years later, Jay graduated from college and got a job in New York. Just before he headed off, his father gave him the pendant. By then, Jay’s grandfather had been dead for many years. But like I said, Jay’s father passed on all the stories, too....

Matsumoto coughed several times, and then continued:

—Well, let me give you a little bit more detail about Jay’s grandfather, okay? To begin with, he died when Jay was about seven. Apparently, the guy reeked of alcohol all the time. Really stunk. And all he ever did was sit around watching TV or locked up in his room. And here’s the real shock: he died in a car accident, while he was still in his fifties. Supposedly, his car went off a cliff. Well, at least that was the official story.... Looking back, Jay suspected that it wasn’t really an accident. So one time on a visit home, Jay brings it up with his father. Asks him if something happened in Okinawa. Well, Jay’s father gets really annoyed and says something like, There must’ve been things that could only he understood by those who fought in combat.... Up until then, Jay’s father had never spoken about his experiences in Vietnam. But about a month later, Jay gets a