25 members of War Bereaved Family, an organization based in Tokyo arrived yesterday to visit the places where their respective fathers stayed and were killed during the World War II.
The group headed by Yokoyama Masuro proceeded to the Civic Center yesterday morning to donate one wheelchair to the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs.
Tobias Marbou, Director of Bureau of Youth, Sports and Recreation received the wheelchair on behalf of Minister Faustina Rechucher Marub.
A short ceremony was held where Masuro expressed their gratitude to Palau and thanked Palauans for their kindness.
Masuro said the donation is a symbol of Japan and Palau’s strong friendship and diplomatic relationship.
Marbou thanked the family members for their donation and said that the wheelchair will be used by handicapped children.
The group will visit Babeldaob and Peleliu to give tribute to the dead soldiers.
One of them Sogo Chieko, 74, said she had sad and happy memories with Palau during the war.
Chieko in an interview said that she and her family had to stay in the jungle with no food at all during the war.
Chieko said she was eight years old when her family lived in Koror. She, her four sisters, grandmother and mother moved to Yamatomora village in Babeldaob when danger started to arise because of war.
She said her father was killed in Ngatpang in 1944 and in 1946 her family returned to Japan. She was 11 years old when her family left Palau.
She said she and her family were very happy in Koror before the war and considered Palau as their second home.
