Remarkable friendship not lost in translation

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Remarkable friendship not lost in translation
A Japanese woman is reunited with a U.S. soldier nearly 60 years after they first exchanged smiles in war-torn Japan
Friday, August 19, 2005
TOM HALLMAN JR.

In the hour before the ghost from his past floated into Portland, Robert Mitchell sat in a living-room chair while his oldest daughter puttered outside, hanging a welcome sign on the front of the house and sticking a small Japanese flag next to the American counterpart on the front stoop.

Inside, the 79-year-old waited alone with his memories, dressed in a burgundy cardigan despite Thursday's heat. In his hand, he grasped the dozen red roses he planned to give to his guest, a woman he last saw nearly 60 years earlier."