CAMP CHITOSE, Hokkaido, Japan -- New York Army National Guard 42nd Division Commander Brig. Gen. Steven N. Wickstrom (left), and Lt. Gen. Hiroshi Yamamoto, commander of the 7th Division, Japan Ground Defense Forces, pose with a Red Sox t-shirt Wickstrom has just given Yamamoto on Dec. 10. Wickstrom, a Massachutsetts resident and Red Sox fan, presented the gift during Yamamoto's visit to the 42nd Division Command Post.
Wickstrom told Yamamoto that as commander of a New York National Guard unit, he was sure that the gift would shock his own staff, but it was representative of his hometown. The Red Sox baseball club is famous throughout Japan because of the performance of Daisuke Matsuzaka, a native Japanese pitcher who plays in Boston. Matsuzaka's name and number appear on the back of the t-shirt presented to Yamamoto.
The two military units are taking part in Yama Sakura 57, the bilateral command post training exercise with members of the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces. The 42nd Division provided Yamamoto and his division staff with an overview of U.S. Army command and control technologies and techniques along with an overview of the division's history with the Army National Guard.
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