Ulrich "Rick" A. Straus, Died Aug. 25, 2017

Ulrich Alexander STRAUS, a retired Foreign Service officer and author, died on August 25, 2017.  He was a resident of Northport, Michigan.  “Rick” Straus was born in 1926 Germany, to German Jewish parents.  In 1933 his family moved to Japan and lived there until 1940, when the family immigrated to the U.S.  Rick served as a Japanese language officer at Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters where he was a member of the prosecution staff at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. 

He was a Foreign Service Officer from 1957 to 1987.  Rick served primarily in Japan and Western Europe.  He was U.S. Consul General in Okinawa where he fostered cooperation between the 50,000 United States military and the Japanese and Okinawan authorities.  He also served as Director of the office of Philippine affairs during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos and the assassination of Benigno Aquino.

Rick researched and wrote The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II, published in 2002.  It remains the only book on the subject.  During the controversy in the U.S. over the use and efficacy of torture, he was pleased that his book was cited, since it demonstrated that torture was not required to elicit truthful information.

An internment will be held at the East Leland Cemetery, MI on November 11, 2017 at 10:00; followed by a memorial luncheon at 11:00.

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