Thread: ‘In appreciation of Owen Agenbroad ~ O kansha shimasu’

Hi!!

I’ve never done or considered doing this so please bear with me!!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-iwo-jima.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/knive...-iwo-jima.html

If you look at these links you will see that my old Boy Scout Scoutmaster was an American Marine who survived the battle for Iwo Jima. Almost 7000 of his fellow marines did not and that was within a 33 day period!

Owen found a Japanese made Frameback Straight Razor still in the coffin box and a sharpening hone laying next to it in a pill box during the battle to take Iwo! The box had Japanese lettering which produced the soldier’s name.

Through dedication Owen has been able to find the fallen soldier’s decedents and is going to return the razor and hone in person on Iwo Jima!!

I’m asking you my friends to read the posts and then if you could Please Post to him to let him know that there are others besides Myself that appreciate his service and his determination of returning the razor and hone to the fallen soldier’s family!

Thanks to the MODS Owen will be able to view what you and your friends write!!

Thank You My Brothers IN Blades!!

Roy

Oz! Thank you for the Japanese for a 'polite expression'!

Wow, what a nice gesture. Hopefully they enjoy it as much as I know it's been cherished here on U.S. soil. Good job.

Well done Owen & you too Roy.
I'm sure the family will will be very touched to receive their heirlooms.
If any pics get taken we'd all love to see them.

Owen, this is a such a great gesture, uniting former enemies in our common humanity. A teacher of mine was in the Pacific theater on WWII and told me many first hand stories about day to day events on the islands. Thanks for what you did then, and my admiration also for what you have done at present.

What a cool story.

Thank you so much for sharing this story. For this man to recognize what the return of the razor would mean to the son of the Japanese soldier demonstrates his humanity. That simple razor will be a tangible link between the fallen Japanese soldier and his son that will be treasured.

Randy, it's been my pleasure to not only share the story but to have known Owen for about 49 years. Thanks to him I'm the man I am today. One of my regular customers knows my full name and my love of straight razors. She had read the newspaper article that mentioned me and asked me if I was the Roy mentioned in the article and I told her that yes I was. She said something to the effect that it must have been wonderful to have been part of making it possible for him to return the heirloom. I thanked her but told her that I was like a comma in a sentence of a novel. It was Owen who deserved all of the credit. He is quite a man! :

I"m glad that you have enjoyed the Saga.

I'm a bit late to the party, but WOW, what a story! As a permanent resident of Japan it's especially interesting! Thank you for sharing!

Also late to the party but did follow the original posts. All I can say is a big Bravo Zulu to Owen for his kind gesture in returning the razor to the surviving relatives. It surely meant a lot to the relatives.

Bob

Owen turned 91 yesterday; 5/30/2014.

Besides finding the Japanese folding straight razor during the battle for Iwo Jima he'd done the testimonial for the Veterans Remembrance Project at the war museum in Nampa Idaho in conjunction with the Library of Congress. During that testimonial he stated that when he was inducted he asked if he could get into the Marines. The interviewer asked him why he wanted to be a Marine and he said something to the effect of "Oh I just always did, I guess it was those pretty blue uniforms, but I never got one".

I took that statement to heart and contacted two of my oldest friends who were also Boy Scouts with me and we decided to at least fulfill 'part' of his uniform.

We pitched in and purchased a Genuine Enlisted Man's Dress Hat complete with the correct emblem.

The one friend lives about 1500 miles away and wasn't able to help present it to him personally but the two of us who did really enjoyed what transpired.

I had called Owen and told him that I would be coming up to see my friend and his wife and thought that I'd drop by if he was going to he home and he confirmed that he would be and so the two of use showed up. The curtains were drawn so he didn't see us coming up the walk.

Al rang the doorbell while I had stepped aside and when Owen opened the door and he was surprised but said Al, come on in then I followed. Owen said Roy, what are you two up to?

I told him; well I believe that you turned 91 years old today so we brought you a little something.

I gave him the present and everyone sat down including his wife Jan, Owen unwrapped the gift and then opened the box then removed the crumpled paper and when he saw the hat he hesitated then took it out of the box, removed the plastic protective bag and found the instructions on how to care for it forms etc then briefly looked at them put them aside and looked at the hat. He was silent the whole time.

He then set the hat down, removed his glasses, wiped some tears from his eyes then picked the hat back up and looked at us and in a slightly quivering voice softly said; Thank you. He looked inside the hat and said; 7 and 7/8 just my size and put the hat on. (I'd asked his wife for the hat size).

The picture is crap as my fancy digital camera once again acted up and it's the only picture that actually worked.

Besides the camera it was a wonderful time with a man who has done remarkable things for others.

Thanks for reading.