In August 1941, four months before the United States entered World War II, a 26-year-old tailor named Shoichi Yokoi was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army. For about two years, he served with the 29th Infantry Division in northeast China until his superiors promoted him and transferred him to Guam in the Mariana Islands. On July 21, 1944, just over a year after Yokoi’s transfer, U.S. forces stormed the island of Guam. Admiral Chester Nimitz’s plan was to capture the Mariana Islands so the U.S. military would have airfields from which they could bomb the Japanese home islands. Yokoi and the rest of the soldiers in the Imperial Army were under strict orders never to surrender. On August 10, after 20 days of fighting, U.S. soldiers declared Guam secure. Thousands of Japanese soldiers were killed, but less than 1,500 surrendered. Many Japanese soldiers, including Yokoi, fled into the jungle to avoid being captured. Japanese soldiers were trained to fight to the death because becoming a prisoner of war was the greatest shame a soldier could bestow upon his family back home.

Yokoi and other fleeing soldiers hid in caves and foraged for food. As per their orders, they burned their Japanese army uniforms. The only thing that Yokoi kept was a pair of scissors, a waistband his mother had embroidered, and a Japanese flag, all of which he kept hidden in the cave. Finally, Shoichi Yokoi’s luck ran out when two hunters, Jesus Duenas and Manuel Degracia, came upon him just after nightfall as Yokoi was going to set out a homemade shrimp trap on the Talofofo River. Yokoi panicked and tried to attack them, but Jesus and Manuel trained their rifles on the Japanese soldier. Yokoi halted his attack, but he had another plan. As the men neared Yokoi, he grabbed one of the men’s rifles but they quickly overpowered him. Despite his orders to fight to the death, there was little he could do. Yokoi was captured. At gunpoint, the hunters led him out of the dense jungle. Yokoi cried for them to kill him because he thought he would be killed either by his captives or, worse, by the Japanese if they returned him to his home country. According to Japanese teachings, being killed on the battlefield was honorable. Being captured alive was disgraceful. Despite his pleas, the hunters marched him to a local police station.

Yokoi had nothing to fear. No one wanted to harm him. From the police station, Yokoi was taken to Guam Memorial Hospital for treatment for malnourishment and anemia. When Yokoi returned to Japan two months later, he told reporters, “I have returned although I feel shame…I want to report that I am sorry I did not serve his majesty to my satisfaction.” He pounded on a table an insisted that “Japan lost the Pacific war because it lacked arms, warships, and planes, and not because of any lack of fighting spirit.” Rather than being ostracized by his Japanese homeland, he was a media sensation. You see, by the time Jesus and Manuel captured the Japanese soldier, World War II had ended. Shoichi Yokoi had been hiding in the jungles of Guam for 28 years.

Sources:

1. “Battle of Guam” National Park Service, accessed August 31, 2025, https://www.nps.gov/wapa/learn/historyculture/battle-of-guam.htm.

2. Mike Lanchin, “Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who held out in Guam,” BBC News, accessed August 31, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16681636.

3. Evening Herald (Dublin, Ireland), January 25, 1972, p. 5.

4. The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), March 2, 1972, p. 22.

September 10 is not an especially famous date on the calendar, but a closer look at history reveals some unusual and curious milestones that unfolded on this day. From the first recorded use of the guillotine in France to a Cold War-era chicken that crossed the wrong border, September 10 has delivered more than its share of oddities.

One of the most bizarre “firsts” tied to September 10 occurred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the guillotine claimed its earliest political victim. The machine, introduced as a supposedly humane method of execution, was used to behead Nicolas Jacques Pelletier, a convicted criminal. While guillotines would later become symbols of the bloody Reign of Terror, the date marked the beginning of what was touted as a rational, scientific solution to capital punishment. Though macabre, it set the tone for the strange legacy of September 10 as a date linked to the unusual and the grim.

The 19th century added more unusual events to the September 10 timeline. In 1846, American inventor Elias Howe received a patent for the sewing machine, a device that would revolutionize clothing manufacturing and the lives of households worldwide. While not as shocking as the guillotine, the invention’s link to the date highlights a recurring pattern of September 10 delivering transformative—sometimes strange—moments in history.

Fast forward to the early 20th century, and September 10 saw a development that brought both awe and unease. In 1939, just days after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Canada declared war on Germany. What was unique about the declaration was its timing: Canada became the first nation in the Americas to formally join the conflict, acting independently from Britain for the first time in its history. The decision underscored the shifting dynamics of empire and independence, a move that surprised observers at the time.

But perhaps the quirkiest story linked to the date took place in 1956, in the throes of Cold War tension. On September 10 of that year, a chicken made international headlines when it wandered across the heavily guarded border between East and West Germany. The incident sparked a standoff between border guards, each side refusing to cross into the other’s territory to retrieve the unfortunate bird. Ultimately, the chicken’s fate went unrecorded, but newspapers of the day reported the “feathered fugitive” as an unlikely symbol of the absurdities of the divided world.

In the world of science, September 10 brought another unusual milestone. In 2008, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) powered up the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for the first time. The collider, built to smash particles together at nearly the speed of light, immediately sparked wild speculation and conspiracy theories. Some worried it would create a black hole that might swallow the Earth. While those fears proved unfounded, the date went down in history as one that sparked both genuine scientific achievement and some of the strangest doomsday rumors of the 21st century.

Taken together, these events reveal September 10 as a date that repeatedly straddles the line between the transformative and the strange. From the debut of the guillotine to runaway chickens, groundbreaking inventions, and particle colliders, history seems to treat the day as a stage for odd twists of fate.

While September 10 may not carry the same notoriety as dates like July 4 or December 7, its legacy is an unusual one. It reminds us that history is full of surprises, and that even ordinary dates can leave behind extraordinary and sometimes bizarre stories.

Have you ever wondered how many people there are in the world with the same name as yourself? That thought ran through my head one day and gave me the idea to Google my own name. Don’t ask me why I decided to act on the idea to search my own name because I have no idea! But probably due to boredom and curiosity, I took the time to look myself up on the world wide web.

What would I find? Would I be impressed or disappointed with my findings? Would I be jealous or envious of others with the same name?

If you’re not sure who you are, just Google your name and see not just who you are, but how many of YOU there are! What I found was that there are many Steve Graf’s around the globe, but surprisingly I have yet to run into myself at any point in time. I came across 100 plus people with the same name as myself. But one good thing I did discover, it appears that no one with my name is an inmate anywhere! 

Here’s what I did find. Steve Graf is a dentist, a banker, a doctor, vice president of sales, a consultant, and a neuroscientist. He’s also an engineer, retired educator/coach, and a YMCA CEO! Wow, I was very impressed with myself and the “brothers” that carry the same name.

Others with the same name were also a bridge operator, a veterinarian, an athletic director, a senior programmer, a maintenance coordinator and a pilot for Delta Airlines. So, the next time you fly Delta, poke your head into the cockpit and make sure it’s not THIS Steve Graf at the controls.  

But surprisingly, I found another Steve Graf that played professional baseball! He played for the Cardinals and Pirates organizations at the same time I was playing in the Montreal Expos minor league system. Small world!

It is amazing that after seeing how many Steve Graf’s there are, I have never come across myself. There are several versions of me that live in California, New Jersey, New England, Kansas, Denver and Wisconsin. There’s more SG’s in Massachusetts, Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota and Ohio along with one in Oregon, Iowa and Nevada just to name a few. 

I was always told as a youngster growing up, that the only thing you have that’s truly your own in this life is your name. Well, I guess that’s not true, but don’t ruin or tarnish your name by doing something stupid. This Steve Graf wants to be remembered for the good things I’ve done in life and not for the bad.

After doing this Google search, I thought how cool it would be to start a Steve Graf Club! Have an annual get together of everyone that shares the same name, or would that be a little weird? 

After reviewing a lot of these fine folks, turns out that if you are a Steve Graf, be proud! The one thing we all want in life is to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. We all want to be content with what we do and who we are. 

So, no matter how many people there are with the same name as yourself, there’s only one YOU. Be proud of who YOU are and do things that will make people remember YOU as a good person.  

In the tapestry of the Church, we often speak of the “Body of Christ”—a living, breathing community of believers, each with a role, a gift, and a purpose. But what happens when we look at this body through the lens of a quirky little family: the Body family? Meet Some Body, Every Body, and No Body. Their stories might just help us understand our place in God’s Kingdom a little better.

Some Body is always present—at the front of the sanctuary, leading the choir, preaching the sermon, or organizing the potluck. They’re gifted, passionate, and often admired. But sometimes, Some Body forgets that being seen isn’t the same as being surrendered.

Paul reminds us in Romans 12:3, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.” Some Body is essential, yes—but only when they remember that their gifts are for service, not status.

Every Body is the heartbeat of the Church. They show up, pray, serve, and love—whether they’re on stage or sweeping the fellowship hall. Every Body understands that the Church isn’t built on personalities, but on participation.

1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” Every Body knows that unity doesn’t mean uniformity. We are different, but we belong to each other.

No Body used to be involved. Maybe they got hurt, felt overlooked, or simply drifted away. Now, No Body is absent—and the Church feels it. Their gifts are missed, their voice is silent, and their seat is empty.

Hebrews 10:25 urges us, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” No Body needs healing, restoration, and a reminder that they still matter.

Are you Some Body, needing to refocus your gifts on service?
Are you Every Body, faithfully showing up and building the Church?
Or are you No Body, longing to be seen and welcomed back?

The good news is that in Christ, we are all part of His Body. And whether you’re a hand, a foot, a heart, or a voice—there’s a place for you.

I invite you, to go to church and join the Body family!

By Royal Alexander

Although the Trump Administration has been focused diligently on shrinking the size of the federal government, news this week of the rare creation of a new office is hopeful and encouraging.  The new office will be based in the State Department and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated the “Office of Natural Rights” was created “in order to reclaim America’s founding principles against globalist ‘rights.'”

Global, Leftist elites have always misunderstood or ignored the most important tenet of American government: our fundamental rights don’t come from government, they come from God.  In connection with this principle, it is critically important to remember that whatever rights the government arbitrarily gives, it may also arbitrarily take away.  That is why our Founding Fathers and the Framers of our Constitution made very certain that our fundamental rights are grounded solidly and irrevocably in natural law.  

Thomas Jefferson couldn’t even complete his first sentence in the Declaration of Independence without affirming that this new American country and its citizens would take the places to which they were entitled by and through the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”  Jefferson’s very next sentence was one that is as memorable as it is eternal: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 

If Jefferson had stopped writing at this point, he would have adequately defined the purpose and aspiration of the new nation.  He had made clear that our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and all they entail—did not derive from an act of earthly government.  They were endowed to us and instilled in us by our Creator.   

In fact, Jefferson underscores this point by stating that the only legitimate government was one that exercises its powers with the “consent of the governed.”  That is why no earthly government may legitimately deprive us of them.  On the contrary, we may “alter or abolish” with force any attempt to do so and then put in place a new government that ensures our safety and happiness.   The Declaration concludes with the signers pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor (and many of them paid dearly) to uphold this principle of natural, God-given rights of which we simply cannot be divested.  And they called upon the protection and reliance of Divine Providence to do so.

So, for the U.S. State Department to highlight and project worldwide the fundamental nature and sacrosanct importance of natural rights is critical, both as a reminder to our own American government and as an example to the world.   

I also think the speech of Vice President, J.D. Vance, in Munich, Germany, in February of this year contributed to the creation of this new office. 

One of the main things VP Vance emphasized in his speech regarding our “shared values” with European countries was the infringement by some European governments of those very values.  These include freedom of speech, expression, religion, conscience, association, and autonomy all being indispensable underpinnings of our inalienable, God-given right to liberty.  VP Vance highlighted several stark abuses of these rights by European nations.  

These included everything from digital and other censorship when government officials arbitrarily deem communication “hate speech,” to “European courts canceling elections or the backsliding in the UK away from conscience rights placing the basic liberties of religious Britons in the crosshairs, when the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an army veteran, with the crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes—not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone—just silently praying on his own on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before; Or, the Scottish government threatening citizens whose houses lay within so-called “safe access zones” to abortion clinics warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law.

This is chilling and insane. 

VP Vance asserted that when other nations, who claim to hold mutual “shared values” with the United States, act in this way they have nothing in common with us and we are going to challenge those derelictions.

The fact that an office in the State Department has put the imprimatur of the U.S. federal government on such an endeavor is very important and powerfully symbolic. 

Paid Editorial Feature – The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bienville Parish Journal.

By Steve Webb, Board Chair, Louisiana Credit Union Association; CEO, Neighbors Federal Credit Union

Recent commentary suggesting that credit unions are “draining” Louisiana communities misses the larger truth: credit unions are not a burden on our state; they are one of Louisiana’s greatest assets.

Credit unions do pay taxes

Contrary to common misconceptions, credit unions are not tax-free. Louisiana’s credit unions collectively paid more than $100 million in state and federal taxes last year alone. only tax credit unions are exempt from is income tax on profits because those “profits” are returned to the people who own us: our members and not distributed to wealthy shareholders.

Banks, by contrast, enjoy their own tax advantages. Many organize as Subchapter S corporations (45 in Louisiana), which allows them to avoid paying corporate income tax at the entity level. To single out credit unions for their long-established tax status while ignoring these bank exemptions presents an incomplete picture. Congress has debated the credit union tax exemption many times (most recently a few months ago) and they have agreed that credit unions should be allowed this tax exemption.

Member-owned means community-focused

Credit unions exist to serve members, not outside investors. Every dollar earned is reinvested in the form of lower fees, higher savings rates, and more affordable loans.

Those benefits stay in Louisiana households and small businesses, circulating back into the local economy.

Preserving access where banks leave gaps

The decline in community banks has been stark: nearly half have disappeared nationwide over the last two decades. When banks consolidate or sell to out-of-state institutions, resources often leave the community. Shareholders of a bank have the ultimate decision on which institution they would like to sell to. When a bank sells to a credit union, it’s not a loss; it’s a commitment to ensuring residents continue to have a locally governed institution focused on people, not profits.

Growth doesn’t change our mission

Some critics argue that credit unions have grown too large for their tax status. But size does not change structure. A credit union with 500 members and one with 500,000 members share the same cooperative foundation: not-for-profit, member-owned, and community-driven. Growth simply enables us to provide modern services and compete in a marketplace dominated by trillion-dollar megabanks.

The real bottom line

The real story is simple: when credit unions succeed, Louisiana families succeed. We help people buy homes, send kids to college, start small businesses, and build savings. That is exactly why Congress created credit unions in the first place.

Far from draining our communities, credit unions preserve their strength. We keep financial decision-making local, return millions of dollars in value to members, and invest in the places we call home. That’s not a loss for Louisiana; it’s a win.

Paid Content

Donald Roan Dunagan was born in 1934.   When Donnie was 19, he was drafted into the Marines where his superiors tested and retested him.  Donnie wondered what was wrong, but everything was right. Donnie had an abnormally high IQ.  After boot camp, he was sent to drill instructor school and became the youngest drill instructor in Marine history.  Then, the Marines trained Donnie to be a spy.  For over two decades, Donnie served as an in-the-field counterintelligence agent all over the world.  During the Vietnam War, he became a platoon leader.  He served three tours in Vietnam, where he was wounded several times.  He earned a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.  In 1977, he retired with the rank of major.  For most of his military career, he kept his life before the Marines a secret.     

The secret he kept for all those years was that he had been a child actor.  In 1937, four-year-old Donnie entered a talent show in which he sang and danced before a packed theater in Memphis, Tennessee.  He won first place.  Unbeknownst to Donnie and his family, a movie talent scout from Los Angeles was in the crowd.  Within a few weeks, the talent scout tracked Donnie down and offered him a screen test for R.K.O. Studios.  At the time, his poor parents, Warren Frederick and Louise Margaret Dunagan, were only bringing in about 25 cents per hour, and lived in a cheap, run down, one room apartment.  With little to lose, Donnie and his parents boarded a train for Hollywood.  If nothing else, they would have a grand adventure.  The screen test went better than anyone expected, and R.K.O. signed Donnie to a contract.  With that signed contract, Donnie became the breadwinner of the family and earned $1,000 per week, had a fine automobile, and an impressive home by any standards.  After five years of studying scripts, dance practice, music practice, interviews, and promotional tours, the seven-year-old begged his mother, Louise, to allow him to stop working in the film business because he wanted to be a normal child.  Donnie’s mother was saddened by her son’s request but agreed.  Donnie retired from acting at the young age of seven while on a promotional tour in London. 

When Donnie arrived in London, the world was engulfed in the Second World War.  London was a major target of Nazi Germany.  One day, as Donnie was in the care of his nanny, his parents were killed by a German bomb.  Well, that was the story Donnie told the press in 2001 and may have been the story that he believed.  In fact, in 1941, Donnie’s parents returned to Los Angeles and divorced.  Donnie’s mother, Louise, remarried.  She died in 1974.  Louise’s second husband, Ralph M. LeMaster, died in 1977.  Donnie’s father, Warren, died in 1980.  Donnie’s parents and stepfather are all buried a few feet apart in the same cemetery, Grand View Memorial Park and Crematory in Glendale, California. 

After his parents’ so-called death, Donnie went to live with his grandfather, Tom Johnson.  They lived in poverty in Ireland and England.  When his grandfather died in 1945, Donnie was returned to the United States and lived in multiple orphanages.  In about 1948, the fourteen-year-old boy ran away.  For five years, he worked whatever job he could to survive until he was drafted into the Marines.

The biggest secret that Donnie kept was his most notable film role.  He acted in such films as “The Forgotten Woman,” “The Tower of London,” and the title character in “Son of Frankenstein.”  His final, and most famous, role was for Walt Disney in 1941 when he provided the voice of Bambi.

Sources:

1.     Carlsbad Current-Argus, July 29, 2001, p. 38.

2.     “Warren F. Dunagan,” Find A Grave, accessed August 25, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28800417/warren-f-dunagan.

3.     “Louise D. LeMaster,” Find A Grave, accessed August 24, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28800408/louise-d-lemaster.

4.     “Ralph M. LeMaster,” Find A Grave, accessed August 24, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28800390/ralph-m-lemaster.