Remembering Ward Wallach
TBS’s “The News” takes a look back at the life of an American resident of Japan who died in a plane crash this week in 1985:
The man was 26-year-old Ward Wallach, an American who had come to Japan to attend graduate school. He taught English to pay his tuition. He planned to spend his whole life in Japan.
Unfortunately, he was one of the passengers on board Japan Airlines Flight 123 when it crashed on August 12, 1985 in Gunma Prefecture. The first to find out about his death were his Japanese host family, whose phone number was written on a damaged piece of paper found in the plane’s wreckage.
In accordance with Ward’s wishes, his remains now rest on the grounds of Ryoan-ji, a Zen Temple in Kyoto. His name lives on through the Ward Wallach Memorial Scholarship, which was established soon after his death and has since helped 24 American students pursue studies in Japan.
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