Events Calendar
There’s almost always something going on in Seaside. From art walks and wine walks to the world’s largest beach volleyball tournaments and relay races… plan your trip around your favorite events or use this calendar to join in the fun during your stay.
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June 2, 2016 @ 7:00 pm
FREEThe Final Chapter of World War II with Rex and Keiko Ziak
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The Friends of the Seaside Library host Rex and Keiko Ziak who will discuss “The Final Chapter of World War II: Peace and Reconciliation”. Pearl Harbor survivor Ed Johann will also be in attendance. This event accompanies the photographic exhibit of images from the Obon Society depicting the story of the Yosegaki Hinomaru (Good Luck Flag) on display May 25-June 30, 2016.
Before sending their young men to serve in the military during World War II, Japanese families prepared small flags signed by family members and friends for the soldiers. Each Japanese soldier carried at least one flag with them onto the battlefields. These flags were often taken as war trophies from soldiers killed in battle. Now, 70 years later, many American veterans and their families are realizing the souvenirs are actually personal items that belong to Japanese families. In most cases, the flags represent the only surviving trace of the young men.
Ziak and his wife, Keiko, are organizing the efforts through their Astoria-based nonprofit group, OBON, a humanitarian movement that receives the flags from American veterans and their families, searches for the flags’ origins and returns them back to Japanese families at no cost. The nonprofit movement, affiliated with Astoria Visual Arts, is the first of its kind.
