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Japanese widow allowed into U.S.

A summer of crushing sadness and bureaucratic frustration for the family of a Marine recently killed in Iraq appears to be turning toward a winter laced with the bittersweet promise of fulfilling the wishes of Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr.

But it took an act of Congress — and a handful of Marines.

Robin Ferschke learned Oct. 1 that her son’s Japanese widow will be allowed to move to Tennessee to deliver her son, but only after a host of lawmakers intervened to clear diplomatic hurdles that threatened to keep the fallen Marine’s family from Michael Ferschke III.

“This is our grandchild — all we have left of Michael,” Robin Ferschke said.

But the stress of the bureaucratic wrangling has left the young expectant mother shaken, and she has opted to remain in Okinawa to be supported by family during the birth.

The family’s struggle began not long after they laid Sgt. Ferschke to rest.

He died Aug. 10, after being shot while storming a building where a dozen insurgents laid in wait in Iraq’s Salah ad Din province.

Sgt. Ferschke, 22, had been in Iraq since April with Okinawa’s 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. He had completed his initial obligation last year, but extended for another year to join his comrades in Iraq.

Born in Rhode Island, Sgt. Ferschke moved to Maryville, Tenn., when he was 9 years old. He played sports, tore up the neighborhood on his BMX bike and enlisted in the Corps soon after graduating from Maryville High School in 2003.

His mother described him as a Marine blessed with wit and intellect.

“They are supposed to be tough and rough, but every day he could make me laugh,” she said. “He was very silly when he wanted to be silly, but very serious when he needed to be serious.”

A little more than a year before his death, Sgt. Ferschke had joined a handful of Marines at the birthday celebration for one of the Marines’ Japanese girlfriend. At the party, he met Hotaru Nakama, a 24-year-old native.

They hit it off immediately and before long found themselves in love. He shipped off to war with bright plans for their future.

Shortly after arriving in Iraq, he learned she was pregnant. They married by proxy and he planned on taking her to the United States to raise their son.

He gave up plans to pursue a coveted position in special operations, opting instead to pursue a dive school instructor position offering more stability, less travel and increased proximity to home, his mother said.

“He helped her through everything. This kid had it. He was so smart. That was going to be their next step to get her visa going and all that,” Robin Ferschke said.

Then he was the first Marine to enter an insurgent trap and returned to the shadows of the Smoky Mountains in a flag-draped casket.

Hotaru placed a wedding band on his finger at Smith Mortuary and decided she wanted to deliver their son in the Volunteer State.

His family’s anguish had to wait, pre-empted by the urgency of his widow’s pregnancy. She returned to Okinawa and worked feverishly to complete the reams of paperwork needed to return to Maryville to deliver her child.

Marines worked tirelessly to assist.

“The Marines were helping Hota from day one, physically taking her to fill out every form she had to fill out, whatever it took,” Robin Ferschke said.

A few weeks ago, Hotaru called Sgt. Ferschke’s family in hysterics.

The State Department’s refused to grant her a visa because she and Sgt. Ferschke had been married less than two years.

Again, Marines leapt into the struggle.

Lt. Col. William H. Seely, 3rd Recon commander, lent his authority to the effort while Maj. Jordan Walzer also pitched in. Robin Ferschke also contacted a host of Tennessee representatives.

“I had to do what I had to do,” Robin Ferschke said. “There’s no way they are going to stop that baby from coming here.”

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander was instrumental is working with the State Department. Marine Corps Times was unable to reach Alexander.

The State Department ultimately backed off its initial stance and issued Hotaru a temporary visa.

Physicians cleared her to fly to Tennessee, but she wants to remain in Okinawa with family for now. Robin and her husband, Michael, plan to fly to Japan after the birth and bring both Hotaru and their grandson to Tennessee.

Hotaru wants to raise the child with the Ferschke family’s help, but Robin Ferschke realizes they have many more bureaucratic hurdles to overcome.

Sgt. Ferschke’s family is awed by Hotaru’s courage.

“She’s willing to leave her family and friends and everything she knows and come alone to bring the baby here because she knows that’s what Michael wanted,” she said.

Like Sgt. Ferschke for his fellow Marines, Hotaru is making sacrifices larger than herself.

“This baby is everything to her. She calls him her present from Michael,” Robin Ferschke said. “We’ll raise him in Maryville, show him the way Michael grew up.”