As many of you know by now by following this thread of which I want to thank each and every member of FSM Forums, your support has been a healing journey for me. So thank you very much.
While living in Europe in the late 80's, I took up the hobby of stamp collecting in Amsterdam. What interested me the most was WWII history.
It was this interest that I visited sites of where Operation Market Garden occurred. I was doing a concert by a new bridge opening. Next to the new bridge, an old bridge stood and I understood that this old bridge would be replaced by the new bridge that we were a part of the dedication ceremony playing American Jazz!
Jazz, unlike the US, is a very popular and very active form of art. In the US, I was a starving musician, in Europe I was a jazz artist. On our break, I noticed a much older gentleman standing in front of the old bridge. He was crying very hard and almost seem to be uncontrolled.
So I walked over to him and greeted him in Dutch and told him that I was from Hawaii and now I'm a resident with a dual passport of the Netherlands. Could I get something for you? I asked. He said no yet I continued our very light hearted and simple chat.
As time went on, he told me a story of the importance of this very old, rusting bridge. During WWII, he and a handful of Dutch resistant fighters held off a very large German force. Many of his friends and fellow resistance fighters had pershied. The Germans were never able to cross over the bridge due to the ferocity of the Dutch resistance.
Looking closely at the bridge I notice pockets or dents in the superstructure. Realizing these were bullet holes and shrapnel damage! Wow! We both hung out, he got a back stage VIP Pass from me and I picked up his beer tab.
My most important and very first collection of stamps were of the Third Reich. I couldn't believe that there were stamps of Adolf Hitler. I was shocked by this. Out of sheer curiosity, I started a Topical stamp collection which is a term in philatelic that a topical collection is based on one subject, mines of course were anything to do with WWII.
At one point, my band Jazz Attack was scheduled to play in Berlin at the wall. Little by little this Cold War relic was being chipped up into little pieces. I was told never ever to display my Third Reich stamp in the Netherlands as it was illegal to own anything that represented the Third Reich.
So I sneaked my Third Reich collection out of the country in reading books. It was Time Life books on the Wild West. I eventually sold my entire stamp collection to McCully stamp and coin shop in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mrs. Toshi and I were relocating to the US mainland. After many years passed by, I never forgot my stamp collection and the joy of the hobby.
What you see below is my WWII topical set as it slowly but surely grows!
Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra
dell keyboard spacebar sticking
closest exxon mobil to me
where is me now
