L. Tom Perry served as an LDS missionary in the Northern States Mission during 1942-1944, after which he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. During his military service, he was sent to the Pacific, to the island of Saipan and later to Japan as part of the occupation force. His recent passing has prompted me to share the following story:
I was among the first wave of Marines to go ahsore in Japan after the signing of the peace treaty following World War II. Entering Nagasaki was one of the saddest experiences of my life. A large part of the city had been totally destroyed. Some of the dead had not yet been buried. As occupation troops, we set up headquarters and went to work.
The situation was very bleak, and a few of us wanted to give more. We went to our division chaplain and requested permission to help rebuild the Christian churches. Because of government restrictions during the war, these churches had almost ceased to function. Their few buildings were badly damaged. A group of us volunteered to repair and re-plaster these chapels during our off-duty time so they would be available for the holding of Christian services again.
We had no command of the language. All we could accomplish was the physical labor of repairing the buildings. We found ministers who had been unable to serve during the war years and encouraged them to return to their pulpits. We had a tremendous experience with these people as they again experienced the freedom to practice their Christian beliefs.
An event occurred as we were leaving Nagasaki to return home that I will always remember. As we were boarding the train that would take us to our ships to return home, we were teased by a lot of the other Marines. They had their girlfriends with them saying good-bye to them. They laughed at us and indicated that we had missed the fun of being in Japan. We had just wasted our time laboring and plastering walls.
Just as they were at the height of their teasing, up over a little rise near the train station came about two hundred of these great Japanese Christians from the churches we had repaired, singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers." They came down and showered us with gifts. Then they all lined up along the railroad track, and as the train started down the tracks, we reached out and just touched their fingers as we left. We couldn't speak; our emotions were too strong. But we were grateful that we could help in some small way in reestablishing Christianity in a nation after the war.
Source: Saints At War: Experiences of Latter-day Saints in World War II, Robert C. Freeman and Dennis A. Wright (Covenant Communications: American Fork, Utah, 2001) pgs 380-381.
