Japanese Propaganda Archives

3 September 1945

Dear Folks:

Had a letter from Mom today telling me about your Denver visit. Quite a bit different than when we went as a whole family and had the car loaded down with everything. I sure hope you had a good time. I know Dan Gettman had been sent to the hospital and was later evacuated but I didn’t know he was at Fitzsimmons. He got deaf from the guns. I wished you could have met him – he would have told you a lot about Okinawa and how I was. He used to take a leg off me, but I usually liked to listen.

I’ll bet the corn and watermelon are ripe at home. A National Geographic magazine found its way into our tent and it had an article about Nebraska with pictures of Scottsbluff and the Valley. It really got my interest.

It looks like I will be on my way [home] very soon although I can’t say for sure just when. These last days seem very long. How I would like to fly back, but I suppose it will be by boat.

I suppose Phil is on the high seas somewhere and I can imagine Carol is anxious but she shouldn’t be worried. One of the guys in my tent had a wedding anniversary a few days ago. Married six years and been home only two years to celebrate them. We drank a beer to commemorate it. Glad to hear Nancy was going to Denver. Yes, I can hear all the giggling that must have went on.

Bill E. told me in a letter of his [illegible] when he was overseas that someday he was going to marry Helen Wood – so I guess he will. Starting from scratch I think I better snatch a young co-ed at Lincoln.

And don’t bother with any Christmas boxes. I hope to eat apples on Halloween night with you or see the sugar mills begin their fall run.

When I get back I don’t want to see many people, just stick around the house and be a lazy bum. But I probably won’t for long. You don’t know the wonderful change it will be.

Of course the Japanese radio sounds much different than it did before. Begging the people to be fixing and build for a greater Japan. I could go to Japan if I wanted to but I just couldn’t do anything to keep me away from home any longer.

My last couple of letters probably sounded like I was a little peeved but it’s because everyday seems so long until I get started back. Don’t forget if you don’t hear from me for a week don’t write any longer. Also advise Reader’s Digest of my old and civilian address.

Love,

28 April 1945

Dear Folks:

Here I am again as is usual at this time of evening. About the only diversion after chow is listening to the radio and that doesn’t always appeal, and listening to the tales from Tokyo gets irritating. This morning while gathering the news, for interest I turned on Shanghai and listened for a few minutes to a commentary on military affairs. Of course Shanghai is Jap controlled. This morning he discussed the members of the Special Attack Corps or what we call suicide divers. They harp on this Corps quite a lot. American naval and casualty losses that he gave sound like evangelistic exaggerations. Many remarks they make seem the work of a simple minded child.

I see by the bulletin board that censorship regulations here permitted more leniency in writing so I thought I would tell you about some personal experiences I’ve had. Last night started out quietly although the air raid siren sounded about sundown. After hearing a few artillery shells crunch some distance away, I managed to get asleep but woke up with a start around ten thirty by the thunder of anti-aircraft guns. Then I heard a plane swoop over pretty low so I sat up and peeked over the top of our foxhole. As I usually do I woke up my buddy. It seems better to have company at such times, although perhaps I sometimes get over excited. Whenever a Jap plane gets anywhere near, the sky fills up with red tracers and little dots of bursting shells. When I first woke up I saw a great burst of fire but I couldn’t tell just what it was. In most cases the planes don’t come too close to our position so it’s more of a sideshow for us. A round of applause always goes up when a Jap plane is hit – most of them burst into a ball of flames and crash. Finally the excitement died down and while trying to get to sleep again, the shrill shreik of a Jap shell whistled over and drove into the mud. It was a dud, thank goodness. The sound of shells heading your way, and the later bursting crunch so hard on my nerves and I think everyone feels that way. When a shell sounds it takes about 1/10 of a second for everyone to jump in a hole. But we found the Japs many times harder and it is a mystery to me that all Japs in the island are not raving maniacs. The bombardment on L-Day was the biggest and most devastating thing I ever saw. It is source of great confidence in our forces to see battleships, cruisers and destroyers lined up pounding the Japs where it hurts the most. The sky was filled with our aircraft and the Nips dared not come near. About the only time they can pull a raid is at night. I came ashore on L plus one and we were all surprised by the orderly cultivation and rolling green hills, by far more like our own, a civilized place than what we had previously seen. I think this [is] enough on this subject.

I told you before that I had been on Leyte but I didn’t’ tell you I was on Midway also.

Had two letters today – one from each of you, but not very recent. In Mom’s letter was many clippings and the pictures of Nancy and Phil. It seems to me that Nancy looks an image of Mom, and so grown-up I could hardly believe it.

I’m glad Jack paid you a visit and I hope it made you feel better. I also think he has changed for the better and Jack seemed very considerate during our visits on Saipan and Tinian.

Boy it seems like lots of babies are being born back there, Alice C. again and J. Lupher. How many does that make [of] Luphers? I wish I had some of my own and every time you write about fixing up the place, I try to hope that someday I’ll be fixing mine the same way. Dad made a lot of good comments about home and so forth and in every one of his letters, I think we get a little closer to each other.

The talk with everyone now is rotation – those planes are turning up again and I think most of the older fellows are expecting to get back in a few months. And somehow I feel the same way. Even the thought of getting home seems like a dream.

Better taper off I guess – I’m feeling fine and living careful, so don’t worry.

Love,

30 October 1944

Dear Folks:

Kind of a lazy Sunday morning with not very much to do, so a good time to write you a letter while I won’t have to rush. Church services are in the afternoon. For a while this morning watched some volleyball games and then walked up to the baseball diamond, but it was pretty hot so I came back. While many things aren’t so convenient for us it helps a lot to get some time off and to be able to relax occasionally.

Since I started this I was interrupted and now it is about eight o’clock in the evening. I received three letters just before the show and just now could read them. This was the first mail in four days and I was beginning to think something had gone wrong again. Two of the letters were from you and one from Washington, so I had a boost in my morale. You once remarked Mom how I could write so much, well you are practically the only ones I write to, and many nights it’s a relief to write rather than trying to kill time and thinking about home so much, so I start writing, and when I’m doing it, it seems like I get a little closer to you somehow.

For the first time in several years I played baseball. The battery organized a third team and today I played third base. I guess I did alright although my hands are a little sore from catching the ball. In the battalion we have two leagues, the American (and) the National set up, so there are a lot of games. I’m on the first three graders volleyball team too, but not so hot at that racket. But there aren’t many of us so I have to play.

Of course the news from the Philippines on the water and on land is drawing our attention as it must be yours. I listen to every news broadcast I can, and we can get them from all sides, Australia, Japan, Germany and London. Two nights ago I ran onto a particularly interesting shortwave broadcast while dialing around. Correspondents for UP, INS and AP were transmitting their messages to ‘Frisco from Leyte and the procedure of getting the news to their agencies was interesting. Of course the Japs are claiming victories on a larger scale than ours, and claim Task Force 58 was annihilated off Formosa. The line of rot they propagate is really something to hear. In connection with the war I happened to get a hold of some interesting stuff on (the) Saipan operation and thought you might like to read it. Some of the commentators seem to think the Naval victory may shorten the war a few months and I’m not inclined to disagree. I hope the Philippines don’t bog down into another New Guinea affair and drag on for many months. Those yellow b___’s can live like gophers and it’ll take a lot to dig them out. They use ‘em to haul garbage from camp and when I see them go by on the truck I wonder what they’re thinking about. They are still bringing them out of the hills. About a month ago three of them were seen in a cane field next to one of the batteries and after killing two of them the other gave up. One of them was almost out in two bullets.

Just a few minutes ago I opened a can of beer and even had peanuts to go with it. The PX got a pretty good supply in and after waiting in line for 45 minutes finally was able to buy a few things.

Yesterday went to the dentist and had a small filling taken care of. My gum had swollen a little but wasn’t too sore so I thought I better see what was up. Luckily it wasn’t bad and he didn’t have to drill around too much. My teeth are in good shape now, and contrary to my civilian habits I brush them regularly.

Well I think I’ve run out for this time. Another Sunday gone by and another week on the way. Time seems to be flying for me to and I hope the next year goes as fast as the last one, for then I will be eligible for rotation. And pray that when we get our next furlough quota I will walk up and draw the little slip with the magic words on it. I worry more about you folks than I do about myself and I hope you don’t upset yourselves too much. Well there’s the curtain on another act so, so long –

Love,

20 October 1944

Dear Folks:

A little while before bed so maybe I can knock out a short communiqué. Had a letter from Dick tonight – one of the longest I’ve received from him. He sounded pretty good – but said you sent him some sour letters because he didn’t tell you about his getting hurt. He thought you was a little fed up. His only reason for not telling [you] was to keep you from being upset and we didn’t expect you would receive anything official about it. Well he’s been through a lot more, and he’s a great guy, and I wouldn’t write anything to make him feel as he does. Maybe it was just the way he took your letters.

Betty Hutton’s show is coming tomorrow and it will be something to look forward to. A look at a white woman with shoes on will be a treat in itself. The boys scavenged some lumber and have built a pretty nice looking stage. The seats are dirt filled sacks. Last night at the show it rained in almost cloudburst proportions but it didn’t diter many of the customers.

We’ve been following the news pretty closely – especially listening to the events in the Philippines and around Formosa. A Jap news broadcast today said they had sunk eleven of our carriers along with two battleships and several other ships. They were painting a rosy picture for themselves and I hope it is all fiction. Such news is discouraging. I wish I could describe for you the great activity here and what I know.

It gets pretty hot here but morale is kept up partially by the fact that we get afternoons off except when something urgent comes along. Baseball and volleyball take up the afternoon. So far we’ve been unable to get PX supplies and we’re pretty disgusted about the fact – especially when other units are enjoying cokes, candy, etc. An ice cold coke would sell for a buck easily.

Well enough for tonight – not much news so I’ll quite for this time.

Love,

10 October 1944

Dear Dad:

I was all set to go to bed and call it another day but just received a letter from you so thought I’d answer it while there is still a little time before bed.

It’s about time you received the package I sent you. I mailed it about a month ago and I’m anxious to hear what you have to say about them, the souvenirs I mean. Dick is anxious to know about them. I imagine they will make quite a stir.

As usual it rained plenty again today. A guy from Nebraska would go nuts with all the rainfall here. Everything is green now and the island looks very fertile. Radio Tokyo a few nights ago answered that all civilians and soldiers had died on the island and raved about their glorious stand. But all of them couldn’t see the ‘suicide’ stand and there’s still plenty of civilians around trying to get another start with what there is left. Of course they can only move around in certain areas and of course don’t get around the military areas. I don’t trust any of them.

I’m glad to hear, in a way, that you’re not moving to Bridgeport however whatever you would have done would have been okeh with me. I’m very anxious to see the house for it must be a beauty with all the work you have been doing, and how super lovely it will be to enjoy it. You don’t know how much I think about all the little things that you probably never think about. How I’d like to pull a bottle of ice cold beer from the refrigerator and drink it with you.

I’m feeling pretty good after the dengue fever but I’m not overly fat, if you know what I mean. Boy how I could sit down to a home cooked meal with all my favorites and eat forever.

Saw an Abbot and Costello show tonight that was a stinker. You should see us at a show. We sit in the worst rain and never notice it or wait a half an hour while they change a reel or get a bug off the lens. The Aladdin at its worst was a palatial ‘Hippodrome’ beside ours. In a few days Betty Hutton will appear with a troupe. The guys will probably go nuts over her not having seen a white woman since last May. And although we haven’t seen a white woman in a long time still we have our sex morality lectures and are told the customary things. A little ironical.

Well I wasn’t lucky enough to draw a furlough but maybe my luck will change someday. The quotas seem to be getting bigger and I’m hoping I’ll soon be lucky, however don’t be expecting to see me because anything can happen and then it’s better to be a little pessimistic. But after three years it seems something ought to happen.

Mom intimated I might have somebody in mind back there – feminine I mean but that’s not the case. I haven’t written to a girl in a long time but I’m thinking I ought to do something about it. I’ll have to start from scratch when I get back.

Been playing a little bridge lately but it’s hard to find players in this outfit – they all play pinochle.

Well I’m about finished for tonight. Just wrote Gram a letter – should write them more often. You’ve been doing a good job of writing – it’s depressing to not get a letter at mail call and you’ve been seeing to it that that doesn’t happen often, so I got to keep up my end too.

Well better stop and do some more dreaming.

Love,

31 August 1944

Dear Folks:

Oh what a day rain, rain, rain. And when it rains it is a scramble to see that everything is dry and will stay that way. A few days ago my roommate and I built ourselves a home from the remnants of a Jap barn and covered the top with tin, shelter halves and ponchos. We thought we had it pretty well waterproofed but the acid test today proved differently, and before I knew it, the center of my bed looked like the old swimming hole. Later I put out my blankets to dry and then forgot to bring them in when it starting raining again. But, a few tent poles and some redecorating, patched the place up pretty well. Just after supper when it started to rain so hard, I stripped off and showered in the rain water.

Last night was a little different and for the first time in quite a while played a little bridge. We bid five twice, made it both times and was doubled once. We had a hot streak. Players are pretty hard to find and lately we haven’t found time to play much. Besides this diversion we have two volleyball courts laid out and occasionally get out to play a game, but I seem to be getting worse instead of better. A few days ago we went off daylight savings time and now it gets dark so early that we don’t have much time after supper.

I suppose everyone at home is very optimistic especially since the fall of Paris and the surrender of Bulgaria and Rumania. It certainly does look bright in Europe and probably it won’t last another ten months. Our group colonel told us yesterday he thought the war here would last probably until late 1945. If it ends that soon it’ll be sooner than I expect but I hope I’m wrong. Tokyo continues to broadcast especially for the GI’s on Saipan and calls us ‘orphans’ and ‘boneheads’. Also they have ‘Moby Dick’ who drawls along and gets sarcastic cracks in often. Tokyo like Germany is withdrawing according to plans, etc. etc.

Our mail has been delayed for some reason and haven’t heard from you in over two weeks and so I haven’t any of your mail to comment on. But someday it will catch up with me and I’ll have reading to last a week. But it isn’t so good getting along without it.

Well the boys are paging me for a pinochle game and there isn’t a lot of time. I think I’ll stop and come back again soon. The watch is running perfectly and just the thing I wanted. Well so long for tonight.

Love,

12 August 1944

Dear Folks:

If this was a Saturday night at home I certainly wouldn’t be having any time to write. A Saturday night over here is pretty monotonous and letter writing is the chief way to kill some time. We have a small generator in the battery and a few tents have electric lights. So that’s why I can write at night. The ‘Hippodrome’ closes every week at this time, and when the show is going there isn’t much to do. I walked over to the Jeep and listened to some news and music for a while but that grew tiresome so this is where I ended up.

The day before yesterday I flew to Saipan in a Liaison plane to see Dick. You know I am now on Tinian and I believe I told you all about that if it wasn’t censored. It is only a ten-minute ride but it was a nice one. We landed on Aslitho airfield and then I went right to see Dick. He’s very well and looking fine. I think he’s even getting heavier if my eyes don’t deceive me. The mud is about ankle deep all over the island and the hitchhiking was bad. I hadn’t seen him since about the last of July, so I thought I better get over while I had the chance. Of course I took all the letters that I had received from you so he could read them. After I left Dick, stopped in at Jack’s outfit and spent a few minutes with him. I didn’t have much time but thought I better stop. I don’t think I’ll be seeing him for a long time to come. He was running around in shorts helping put up a building. He gave me the picture I’m enclosing. It was taken on Oahu just before I left. He took several others but this one is the only one he had time to develop. He said he would forward the rest as soon as they are done. I guess we both look kind of ‘goony’ in it but otherwise it’s pretty good.

The war news sounds increasingly good each week. We hear most of the world news and from both sides. According to our version we are going great guns in Europe and I guess the Pacific is rolling too. Tokyo radio the other day announced that all Jap civilians would be armed to defend the country – if that is the case it will be a bloody slaughter. But that isn’t so much different than here. Most of the civilians go with the soldiers and take part in the ‘banzi’ zero hour attacks. I hope you read in the July 24^th issue of Time about the last attack of the Japs north of Garapan on Saipan. That is the place I visited and that I told you about in one of my previous letters. The more you see of them the more you become convinced they are mad, unreasoning 20^th century cannibals.

I suppose by now that you have heard of the Army’s new rotation plan. The time is now three years overseas, after which you become eligible for return and reassignment on the mainland. Well that’s another year to wait before there is even any hopes of getting back, and even then much is still probable. There is a furlough plan in effect but the quotas are so small I think it must be more of a morale builder than anything else.

Well there isn’t much else I can think of to write, although it isn’t very late. I’m still getting along very well and feeling good. In this weather skin diseases and ailments seem to be common and coral cuts take a long time to heal. It seems like all little scratches and cuts don’t heal up like they used to at home.

Guess I better peel off, and go to bed and for the Nth time think of you without being able to say goodnight to you.

Love,

15 July 1944

Dear folks:

I should have much to write about this time for the censorship regulations have [been] cut down and now I can tell you some of the many things I have wanted to. As you guessed I am in Saipan on the Mariane Islands, about 3200 miles from Hawaii and I don’t know how far from the house. [illegible] which is the capitol and most heavily populated of the Mariane group. Looks much like the islands of the Hawaiian group. The island is about fifteen miles long with a mountain of 1500 feet in the center, and which was the most fought for point in the battle. Three miles to the south is Tinian which is still swarming with Japs [the rest of this sentence was blacked out by the censor]. The boat ride from Oahu was a long one and a hot one. Each day as we progressed nearer the objective the Chaplain gave a short talk about the islands, the makeup of the naval forces, the enemy strength, the battle plan and so forth. We didn’t know where we were going on leaving Oahu and when we were told it was Saipan I think we were all pretty surprised. I was myself for I thought we wouldn’t take such a big hop quite yet. On our boat were mostly Marines [the rest of this sentence was blacked out by the censor]. Aside from a few submarine alerts and unidentified aircraft warnings the voyage was quite routine. I remember the night before D-Day when we first caught a look at the island. It was about three o’clock in the morning and we could stand on deck and see the battleships, cruisers and destroyers bombarding the island with their big shells. About a half hour later we had breakfast and it was a big one. Ration and a half for each man including steak, potatoes and the rest of it—more like a Sunday dinner. About this time H Hour was coming around and although the artillery doesn’t go in as assault troops, I really said a prayer for the Marines who hit the beach first. The Chaplain also had the boat quiet for a minute and said a few words. From our position on the boat we could watch the battle although we were quite a ways out and could only guess as to how we were making out. A few hours later rumors began to fly—we were going right along, then we were taking a beating and all versions were having their round. Almost every evening on the boat the Japs would send over a few planes and that began my first war experience I guess you’d call it. On the boat you go below and sit in the hot holds listening to the announcer give the location and speed of the enemy planes over the loud speaker and hope to hell they will miss you. One night I remember I was sweating more than usual, our own pom-poms and anti-aircraft started a barrage and I thought if they ever hit us we would go straight to the bottom. The first day after D-Day some of troops were ashore. I wasn’t among them and secretly I wasn’t disappointed. The scenes of battle were everywhere, the effect of the naval shells, the Japs own mortar fire on our troops and many bodies lying around, in all positions and all stages of decomposition. Sights that you hope you will never see again. Along the beach, in and out of the water, were wrecked tanks, alligator debris and a thousand things necessary to the campaign. The smell was terrible and the dust from tanks and vehicles was so thick you could hardly breathe. Well the first thing for the night was dig a foxhole and that first one I built was a stinker. I thought it was all right but when our artillery began to fire the thing almost caved in and the sand was all over me. I couldn’t hardly get out of the thing for fear of being shot and I wasn’t feeling too brave anyway. About the second day after I landed Dick came into camp looking dirty and disheveled. I knew he must be having it pretty tough in his outfit and I was pretty worried, but he had a big grin and I felt better. He had a lot to tell me, he gets up close to them and sees the Japs firsthand. He said he killed two Japs the day before and he had a nice flag taken from one of them. Well a little after dinner he had to leave, and that was about ten days before the battle was over and I felt anxious again, and kept hoping the thing would be over in a few days. Can you imagine Dick doing what he is doing? Every evening without fail the Japs would send over a plane to drop flares and keep a line on the situation, and who came to be known as “Bedcheck Charlie”. Later two began to appear and he was called “Bedpan Charlie”. One night they were circling over and dropped a few bombs, and I was laying in the foxhole hoping he wouldn’t get any closer when we opened up with our anti-aircraft and in a few minutes he was hit squarely and caught fire immediately. He dove to the ground and set off a mighty explosion. When he was hit you could hear the dogfaces for a mile or two around. All gave a big cheer. The guys that knocked him down were big favorites after that. About an hour later they bagged another Jap plane and he made a big flame too. Our jeeps have a radio that can get Frisco and at six o’clock we would listen to the news especially anxious to hear what they had to say about Saipan and hoping you were listening too. But when it came time for the GI programs, an air raid would sound and we would hit for the foxhole. Radio Tokyo is easy to get also and of course we always heard their version too. The reports would be exactly opposite and their reports of casualties about four times what we thought they should be. Tokyo also has a night program called the Zero Hour and dedicated to the American soldiers in the south Pacific. The nerve of the guys. Tokyo Rose speaks perfect English and tries your patience by recalling for you how nice it would be to be home and that sort of stuff. But the music is pretty fair and we don’t mind listening. Well the battle went on and I hadn’t seen Dick for about eight or nine days and I was hoping he would show up. He was in the front lines about five or six miles from our positions and it wasn’t too easy for us to get together, but he showed up with a lot of souvenirs and more dope. Said he killed two more one of them a Jap officer, and from him he got his bayonet, a pretty good one. About this time we were pushing the Japs back over the mountain and getting them cornered in the northern point, and Dick thought it would be over in a day or two so I thought easier about him. In our battery we have a shower and that felt damn good to Dick who hadn’t cleaned up for sometime. Our rations were mostly K-rations, single boxes one for each meal and pretty good. We had plenty of them and nobody lacked enough to eat. Cigarettes and toilet supplies are also issued gratis. On the fourth we celebrated by eating a first meal from the kitchen. By this time Aslito airfield was well in our hands and many of our Thunderbolts were already based there, and they looked mighty good. During the night the Japs from Tinian would send over a little artillery fire but it did not damage [anything] and I believe we knocked them out in short order. The report of the Jap navy being around didn’t make me feel better although I was sure we could stop them. Jap opposition from the boats in the sea was practically nothing as far as Saipan itself is concerned. The Jap soldiers were interned in stockades or wire enclosed areas and separated. I wanted to see them so one day we took a walk down and had a look. There are about forty thousand civilians on the island I believe and there were plenty of them crowded in the wire. The women had nothing on above the waist and they had no modesty at all. They were dirty, thin, bewildered and there was more small children than I ever saw. The Koreans were separated from the Japs. Later we saw the two Jap prisoner soldiers. I get a hell of a hatred when I see them, and I wish they were all dead. About 85 percent of the population is Jap with the balance, Koreans and Chamorros, who are a half Filipino and [half] Spanish. Later things began to quiet down and the battle was coming to an end. At this time the Japs got saked up and made their last ditch stand and were successful for a while. Dick was in on that and told me that he was caught on the beach by the Japs and had to be taken off on an alligator. He has had some close shaves and told me of times he thought sure they would get him, but he just laughs about it. He killed a Jap officer with a grenade and then shot the hell out of him to be sure. He looks very good, and now that the campaign is over we’ll have it easy at least for a little while. He was down yesterday and the day before and it’s mighty swell to have him around.

Well the campaign for Saipan is over and now the island is humming with repair work and defensive installations, but each night we can see flares on the mountain where the Marines are rounding up small pockets of snipers or civilians. Many Jap trucks have been put to use and one of them is a water wagon and that has helped to hold the dust down. One Jap truck was caught in our area, a repair truck and pretty well equipped. Some of the dark boys fixed it up and used the motor for a pump. The Japs had plenty of bikes and you can see them everywhere, many wrecked ones but many in use. Most of the civilian cars are Fords and in Headquarters the boys got a 1940 model in good shape. They have it running in good order now.

It looks like the Japs kept the other nationalities in pretty much servitude from the stories they tell and the looks of their homes. All of the houses I have seen are grass and tree limbs but everyone has a reinforced concrete cellar and stocked with Jap array supplies. In Chalan Kanoa the buildings are thick concrete. Apparently the Japs were making every house a strong point.

Well the biggest part is over now, and twice in the last week have seen a movie—old ones but they looked good. And we even have a little time for a bridge game. Doesn’t seem to add up does it? We are pretty close to the Jap homeland and are set for big things now—from now on it will be the clue chips.

I have written quite a bit (probably the censor is using every profane word in his vocabulary on me) but I know you will be interested and perhaps there are many other things you wonder about. Dick and I are fine and not the least bit worried. The main topic is when will we get home. The rumor is that President Roosevelt made a statement that a surprise was in store for the Saipan soldiers. Have you heard it?

The mail has been coming in good but we haven’t received any papers or packages since leaving Oahu but I can understand that. I am anxious to take those dozen back Free Presses and get together with Dick about that. I think I had best stop now—this has been quite a job.

Love,

10 July 1944

Dear Folks:

Oddly enough right now I’m sunning my feet after a refreshing shower. Sounds like I’m relaxing at a winter resort or something doesn’t it, but that is far from the case – you should see the place. Feel better today knowing Dick is alright and will have it easy for awhile – but I guess I told you about that yesterday. Had a letter from you today and you asked about my books. I stored them on Oahu believing I wouldn’t be gone too long and will use them upon my return. They are in a safe place. The watch or the seeds have not come yet but I’m sure they will come no matter where I go.

There are many things to say but no way of saying them. We get the latest news and GI press from ‘Frisco and always listen especially to the news as reported about our own area. And then I hear the enemy version also. Very interesting and often amusing. Well so much for this time. Mention the letters you receive so I’ll know you are getting them all.

Love,

11 February 1943

Dear Folks:

Here it is another evening about through and no letter to you yet. There isn’t anyone around just now so maybe I can get the job done. Last night was the regular meeting and the time when the local talent gets up and does their song and dance. But last night there was something especially interesting—anyway it was for me. One of the officers has a powerful short wave radio and he brought it along to listen to a nightly broadcast direct from Tokyo. Since Guadalcanal has fallen into our hands it was especially revealing and contained the usual abundance of propaganda. Perhaps you would be interested in a few of the minor details. In the first place the announcer had a very good command of English and aside from the announcement and the tainted propaganda it sounded like any state station. Yesterday was the anniversary of the birth of the Emperors and subsequently the broadcast was full of the glory and promising future of the Nipponese. On the capture of Guadalcanal he said our losses in ships amounted to 117 (177?) while the Japs lost only 17. Among our casualties, they gave 7 aircraft carriers. The whole text was full of the invincibility of their forces. What was equally interesting was a short program of transcriptions made by American war prisoners and broadcast to relatives back home. The prisoner’s voices and the context sounded very much like a well worn set of phrases. In all cases they were entirely happy and talked of the splendid treatment from the Jap forces. Among other things the announcer orated on the happiness of the people relieved from British oppression, the poor job an American representative did of explaining our lack of success to the House of Representatives, and the great advances made in controlled territory. At the end of the broadcast he reiterated the Japs promise of complete domination over Anglo-Saxon peoples and lands everywhere. I was very interested in the whole program and finally had a first hand chance to hear some of their fantastic baloney. A little later, ironically, I returned to my billet and heard the US version of the fight and a stranger or anyone unknown to the action could never have guessed they were both on the same topic. Well so much from the mouths of Tojo’s hopheads.

I hope by this time you have received the small gifts I sent some time ago, and I’ll get the others that you wanted soon.

I hate to stop here because every time I write I feel like it’s sort of gas stove chat, but tonight I can’t find much to talk about. Instead of talking I’d like to sit down and work on the mountain of popcorn that was so frequent at home and the apple supply that never diminished. Believe it or not, our household conventions during the winter are what always stand out more vividly than anything else when I get to thinking what makes a home more than walls and a roof.

I guess I’ll have to shut off the faucet here—

Love,