By Sakuji Tanaka, in English and Japanese
My visit to the Oklahoma City National Memorial made a deep impression on me. Walking through the rows of empty chairs, one for each of the bombing’s 168 victims, I thought of the families, friends, and loved ones left behind. The terrible event that the memorial commemorates happened nearly two decades ago; but in thousands of lives, there is a hole that can never be filled. It was a stark reminder of what violence does, and how important it is for all of us to work for peace.
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平和への思い
オクラホマ連邦政府ビル爆破事件跡の記念公園への訪問は、大変印象深いものでした。168名の犠牲者一人ひとりを象徴する椅子が並べられた小道を歩きながら、愛する人を亡くされたご遺族やご友人の方々を思いました。20年近く前に起きたこの悲しい事件を忘れないために、この記念公園が建てられたそうです。最愛の人を亡くした悲しさは一生埋めることができないでしょう。今回の訪問は、暴力がもたらす悲劇、そして、平和への尽力の重要性を改めて認識させるものでした。
Rotary Voices 
Honorable President Tanaka-san, Your reflection about 168 victims of bombings is very touching.
It is believed that as long as the mankind lives, there would be conflicts. Majority of people like to be away from conflicts and live, instead, peacefully with their loved ones. As such Peace is something that is going to be an everlasting requirement.
The Rotary World is already humming with the new theme for 2013-14. The new theme by itself is good but there is no word about its connectivity with the theme of 2012-13. It leaves me wondering if, come 1st July 2013, we would stop pursuing ‘Peace through Service’.
You may not like to comment on it as a gentleman& to maintain the protocol well established over decades. But it is high time that the Rotary leadership reflects seriously about creating new theme, logo and what have you every year. In today’s world, cost cutting and austerity have become order of the day for sheer survival. Under these circumstances, Rotary spending huge resources and efforts to promote a theme having shelf life of barely 12 months is untenable. Same resources could be better utilized towards promoting any one of the avenues of service.
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Pingback: RI President: Reflecting on peace | Warsaw Rotary , Club 3393, District 6540
The Rotary Peace Forum in Manhattan, Kansas, on February 23, 2013, will include concurrent sessions on conflict in our schools and communities, as well as on such other approaches to peace as peace studies, humanitarian assistance, advocacy, and other themes. This Peace Forum is being co-hosted by the two Manhattan Rotary Clubs and co-sponsored by nine other Eastern Kansas Rotary Clubs (District 5710). Approximately 170 people are registered to participate in the one-day Forum, of whom at least a third are non-Rotarians and a significant number are students. For more information, visit the Forum web site: http://www.clubrunner.ca/portal/Events/EVPEventDetails.aspx?accountid=4397&eid=28b1779f-90d6-4f80-a383-2f6932954aba&tid=1 and/or feel free to email me, William Richter (Forum program co-chair), wrichter@ksu.edu.
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