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| Odysseus Kollecas |
This happened 14 years after he had emigrated. He returned to his village of Vuno, in order to get married, as almost all Albanian emigrants did. Anastas found the girl of his heart and married the Himara girl, Olga, and before long after the wedding, together with the young bride, in 1920, he takes the long road back to the continent of wonders. Upon their return, they settled in Lorain, Ohio. The new family adapted to the new homeland. There are born their three children: Kristo (Chris) Odysseus (Ulysses) and Joana (Johanna), after some years all of them returned to the birthplace of their parents in Vuno. During their stay, the two brothers continued their schooling in Himara. In 1936 Odysseus' brother, Chris returned to America, and Odysseus followed him a year later. Olga remained in Himara together with her daughter. With the departure of her sons to the US, took place the actual separation, the mother no longer saw her sons. Life turned out to be harsh, meanwhile their sister, Johanna, no longer saw her brother, Odysseus, while with her other brother, Chris would meet after many years, when they were white-haired, after the fall of communism in Albania. Olga, throughout her life, remained a mother with a heart and soul burned by longing and pain. She would remain all the time with her gaze focused on where the men from abroad were returning, waiting like a heartbroken mother. She stayed with this feeling until she closed her eyes in 1970, after a long illness. And though seriously ill her eyes were kept all the time on the two pictures she had placed on the wall, one was the picture of Odysseus in military uniform, while the other was the family picture… Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan had not taken seriously the statement of US President Harry Truman, who had sternly warned: Japan must surrender unconditionally, as the last chance to avoid total destruction.
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| Memorial service for the Borie dead |
The president's warning was concrete, decisive, and did not hide the terrible tragedy that could occur as a result of not signing the surrender sheet: "If they do not accept our terms, they must wait for a rain that will destroy them from the air in a way that has never been seen on earth," President Truman warned. The calculations were made in detail: If Japan were to be invaded by military forces, the lives of no less than 1 million people would be endangered, so it was decided that Japan should be punished with horrific bombs. Why was Hiroshima chosen? The reason was that it was considered an ideal place, probably because there were also the main supply tanks of the Japanese army. On August 6, 1945, around 8:15 in the morning, one of the bombs was dropped by the American warship "Augusta", a terrible bomb, containing 20 thousand tons of explosives. The bomb was dubbed "Little Boy" after President Roosevelt. People saw a huge cloud of smoke rising in the shape of a giant mushroom over the 350,000-strong Japanese city of Hiroshima. The sights were horrible, the damage too. The bomb destroyed an area of 13 square kilometers. Three days later, on August 9, another bomb of the same type was dropped on another Japanese city, Nagasaki. This bomb was christened "Fat Man". He is said to have referred to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This bomb weighed 4050 kg. Nagasaki was fortified by nature; it was surrounded by high mountains and the effect was more limited; only at 6.7 sq Km. Statistics show that many people were killed and maimed during the two bombings. About 160 thousand dead in Hiroshima and 70-80 thousand in Nagasaki. Many were also those who later died from the effects of the bombs.
It was a time of war when Odysseus, who was born on November 29, 1923, had turned 20 at the time of joining the ranks of the world's largest army, which would decide the fate of World War II. Exactly on October 25, 1943, at the age of dreams, he would wear the uniform of the strongest army in the world and contribute to the extermination of the Nazi-fascist plague that was threatening the world. Odysseus joined the ranks of the navy; there in the US NAVY, he performed military service in that wartime. The hero fell that day when a bomb was dropped in Nagasaki. On August 9, 1945, Japanese "Kamikaze bombers" hit the ship, where Odysseus Koleka was serving, the ship "Boria". The chronicles convey the tragic facts: It was 2:59 a.m. when their ship had a sudden blow. An extraordinary situation was created. But not everything horrible was over with that initial suicide attack. The attacks would be repeated again; The ship caught fire again at 3:26 a.m., where another suicide bomber struck like a hawk on the Boria. The American crew made every effort to ward off the evil that was threatening the ship that was being swallowed up by fire, water, and danger from the air. With the tools at his disposal, the ship "Boria" hit the plane 2700m above. But the evil had taken its course. The ship was exposed to suicide bombers who continued to spin like hawks on the discovered prey. The sky was filled with Japanese planes. Within an hour the crew hit three more planes, but what they could do more?!. The team of heroes stood up to selflessness, to the last beat of hearts. Fighting for life or death the Japanese kamikazes demanded revenge. They had filled the sky over the ocean. The war went on for a long time. Later at around 4:30 the fire in "Borie" was extinguished and many things on the ship were damaged since the first collision. The balance was tragic: 35 dead, of which 13 were never found, 34 other US Marines were injured, almost all those who survived were in critical condition. The ship "Borie" began to receive help. ” Another ship, the USS Abbot, began transporting medical personnel to provide first aid to the wounded and to care for the dead. But Odysseus was unlucky, he was cut off from the lives of the living, and even worse, like many others, his body was not found, just like 13 others.
In the diary sheets…
Browsing through the diary of those difficult moments, we stop at one of the days: Thursday, August 9, 1945: The crew of the ship Boria is severely attacked. Suicides drop bombs like raindrops. Sailors stand and respond. The attacks are endless. Some sailors have died and are swallowed by the waves. Tragedy has happened.
Friday, August 10, 1945
At 3:30 a.m. the ceremony began at sea to honor the slain, who fell on duty. The brave were being escorted as befitted them; with pain, reverence, and pride! But, unfortunately, the body of Albania's son, Odysseus, was not found. How unlucky, there were only 6 days until the end of the War… On August 15, 1945, World War II ended… And on September 2, 1945, Japan signed the deed of surrender. The life of the 22-year-old Koleka ended on August 9, 1945. The letter that sheds light on the act of the Albanian-American hero and that reconstructed the story… It was a letter sent with ordinary posts by Energjik Ndrenika that fell into my hand and that became the trigger to shed light on the act of the Albanian-American soldier. The letter read: With these documents that we have extracted from the archives, we are addressing you with full confidence that you will shed light on this story. We feel proud that in the history of America there is also the brave act of the Albanian from Vunoi, of our dear man. Based on this truth, we are sending you the real story of a man who gave his life, in the US military, during World War II. The hero is called Odhise Koleka- "Ulysses Kollecas" we are also sending you the documentation provided by the American state. For all these documents, conversations, photos, tireless work has been done by our mother's granddaughter, Enita Kushi. We believe that through this writing we will remember the one who gave his life at a young age, and many of his fellow villagers who remember him, we believe that they will feel interested in reading the life of Odysseus. Above all, we do it for our mother to fill in the gaps created for her brother. We did it for his brother Chris "Kriston", who throughout his life felt the absence of his younger brother, Odysseus. But from the first meeting with his sister after 55 years, he gave all the love he felt for the past to his beloved sister, whose heart was scorched by the absence of his hero brother. To collect these documents they helped also two of his companions, who are still alive. In his honor, in the Arlington VA cemetery, there is a memorial named after Odysseus number 36-5 MF. The letter that was sent to me was signed by Energjik, Eleni, Irakliu, Miranda, the act of Odysseus. Whoever goes into the graveyard of the heroes of America, let him stop the steps in front of the grave numbered 36-5 MF in the Arlington VA cemetery. Put a flower as a sign of honor and remembrance for the Albanian hero who fell at the time when the terrible War was closing the curtain.