| William Houston’s Special Tribute
To His Brother John Hideo Houston 1949-1984 |
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| Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sub-split clouds – amd done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soard and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.Up, up the long delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, nor even eagle flew – And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespasssed sanctity of space Put out my hand and touched the face of God.By Pilot Officer John G. Magee Jr., an American flyer who died in aerial combat on December 11th, 1941.
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Life without John Hideo Houston is incomprehensible. This world will indeed be a duller place to live. But I find solace in the manner in which he lived and in the end how he attained the ultimate goal of honor.
Duty, honor, country. They are but mere words but to my brother it was a way of life. John was samurai in the truest sense of the word. A samurai lives and dies by a code of ethics known as bushido, the way of the warrior. Nearly ten years ago on my eighteenth birthday, John wrote to me explaining the virtues which comprise the code of bushhido:
- Courage – a spirit of daring and bearing deemed worth when in the cause of righteousness.
- Benevolence – the feeling and understanding of distress
- Veracity and sincerity – essential to all other characteristics.
- Politness – the outward manifestation of sympathetic regard for the feeling of others.
- Self-control – apparent stoicism and self-restraint.
- Loyalty – a life is a means of loyalty to family, friends and country.
- Justice – the power to decide on a certain course without wavering.
- Honor – a vivd consciousness of personal dignity and worth. However, honor is attained by giving a life for a cause dearer than life.
These are the virtues my brother strove to achieve and achieve them he did. He was a samurai.Some may say John’s death was in vain. On the contrary. For you see. John so dearly loved this country of ours that he endured the supreme sacrifice. What more fitting way for a warrior to die than in service to his country. Let us not mourn John’s death, but let us rejoice, for he died as a Marine Aviator doing his duty, thereby attaining honor. I am proud to say that my brother died as a samurai. As an old Japanese saying goes “as amoung flowers the cherry blossom is the queen, so it is amoung men the samurai is king.”
“Abayo Hidechan”
