CALDWELL, Idaho — A Nampa man says he is done talking to the media after more than 30 years of trying to return a World War II soldier's journal to the soldier's family in Japan.
Ed Rekola has kept the journal in his possession for decades. His father, Arvo Rekola, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, found the journal in a soldier's backpack after burying him while stationed in the Philippines in 1945.
WATCH | More about the decades-long search
The journal contains the thoughts, emotions, newspaper clippings and photos of a Japanese soldier — a young man who collected postcards, wrote prayers and, according to Rekola, wanted to go home.
"That's somebody's life you're looking at right there," Rekola said.
After his father's passing, Rekola made it his mission to find and return the journal to the soldier's family.
In 2005, the Japanese Consulate in Seattle claimed it had found the family and that the family was excited and happy to receive the journal back, but wanted to do so anonymously and only through government channels.
The consulate letter did not include any of the family's information, and no family members spoke directly with Rekola.
Later, the consulate sent a second letter stating the family no longer wanted the journal back, but still asked Rekola to turn it over to officials.
The secrecy surrounding the family led Rekola to distrust the process, and he refused to hand the journal over to just anyone. He said the only way it would go back is if a family member wanted it directly.
"I don't trust foreign governments when they lie to you, and they lied to me," Rekola said.
Rekola also expressed concern that the soldier's behavior may have put him at odds with Japanese leadership. The journal includes photos of Filipino children the soldier befriended, something Rekola said could have suggested disloyalty.
"And this guy, Private Zushi, got to be friends with the Filipino people. Which you're not supposed to be friends with the enemy," Rekola said.
Rekola gave interviews to media in Seattle and Japan on and off for 30 years in hopes of reaching the soldier's family. He moved to Nampa and spoke with Idaho News 6 in 2020.
Since then, he continued searching on his own, hoping consistent media attention would reach the correct owners. No one has come forward.
Now, Rekola says this will be his last interview. His focus has shifted to educating young people about the war.
"Most younger people have no idea what it's about," Rekola said.
He wants the public to remember that the journal did not belong to just a soldier, but to a young man with a life, a personality and a family of his own.
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