INTERNATIONAL SCOUTING
Japan, has many temples. Among those temples stands a statue somewhat different than its surroundings. It is a statue of a scout, and a wall-monument showing two young men, an American Scout, and a Japanese Scout, clasping hands.
This statue is a memorial of a true story of a fierce battle in World War II, which happened on an island in the South Pacific Ocean somewhere. An American soldier was seriously wounded, and he was lying where he had fallen. The sound of gunfire stopped, and the surroundings quieted down. He heard someone's footsteps approaching him. A Japanese soldier who had a gun with a bayonet was standing over him when he opened his eyes, bayonet at the ready, poised to strike. He said afterwards he did not even know himself why he did what he then did. He was weak from blood loss and blacking out. But he raised his right hand in a familiar sign - the universally recognised Scout sign. Then he lost consciousness, expecting never to awake.
He did wake, though. When he came to, he was in an American field hospital. His wounds had been dressed. And in his pocket was a note, written in Japanese. He was able to find someone to translate the note eventually, and this is what it said:
"When I was about to kill you, you made the three fingered Scout salute. I am a Scout. A Scout is a brother. Therefore, I could not kill any person who lost the fighting spirit. I tended to your wound. Good luck!"
After the war the American soldier and his father visited the Boy Scout headquarters in the United States, and told this story. They donated money for the Boy Scouts to put up a monument to the Scouting Spirit. The American soldier's name is not known. The Japanese soldier had been killed later in the war. This monument is to the Unknown Scout Soldier. This is an example of the Scout Spirit.
It is a monument to our shared humanity - that in the midst of war and violence, of hatred and bloodshed, two young men found that they were in fact brothers. It is a monument to the ideals of Scouting - that even when thus deeply divided, Scouting is a link that joins us and encourages compassion, mercy, understanding, and peace.
The statue stands as a monument to the spiritual values of the world-wide movement known as Scouting. It is also a monument to hope - the hope that if we can only recognise our common bonds, the world would be a better place.
Source: (Roger is seen in the 2nd photo)
The memorial is believed to be in Kodomonokuni Children’s park in Yokohama