In the closing days of WWII, the Soviet Union attacked and occupied Japanese-controlled northern China, then called Manchuria.
Paul K. Maruyama, Lt. Col., USAF (Retired), was born in Tokyo in 1941. Trapped with his family in Manchuria when WWII ended, he and his family were not repatriated to Japan until January, 1947. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Emperor of Japan in 2013 in recognition of his contribution to strengthening US-Japan relationship. He lives with his wife, LaRae, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.