I was shocked to learn that we were of the same age born only 6 days apart in the same month of the same year.

History does not allow for the word "if" On the same planet, sharing the same span of time, many people are in completely different circumstances. "What if I had been born not a Japanese, but as him, this Karen from Burma? To ponder thus indicates my arrogance; it shows nothing more than the fact that my position is merely that of an onlooker.

He, who did not want to fight, took on the Burmese army just before the dawn of the new century.

The weapons at hand were outdated and did not work well. Five dead, 13 wounded. A heavy defeat in guerilla warfare. To him I asked a cruel question, "considering the lives of the five who died, what do you think about fate?"