Dear Yuichi:

I regret the delay in answering your letters of August 14th and 28th, which arrived while I was gone.

My trip to California lasted longer than I had planned to be there. Then when I got home I had to go to see my daughter about a family problem. Consequenly, I am again late in getting to answering my correspondence.

One of the letters I received from Australia and New Zealand informed me of George Plimer's death. This was not a surprise to me because he looked in very poor health when I saw him in Scotland last November. I am very glad I had the opportunity to see him at that time. You and I can be very happy in having good health so that we can enjoy living for so long.

Now, I am worried about Tom Wade as I have not heard from him for a number of months. He has not answered my last two letters. Usually, he is very good in responding to me. I was hoping ( wanted ) to get to England this month, but the Air Force has only one flight going to Germany on the 24th. I am trying to decide if I should try to get on that flight and hope to make a connecting flight to England or to wait to see what may be going there in October. My problem, or decision, is complicated by the fact that I have a gift certificate, from my youngest daughter, for a free round trip airline ticket to anywhere in theU.S.A. that Southwest Airlines flies. It must be used by mid-October. This is a difficult decision for me because I would like to get to the U.K. to see Tom and some of the other friends in Scotland, but I do not like the expense or cost of two large trips at this time. I must make a decision within the next week or ten days. I have told you about this problem so that you can be aware of (know) what I may be doing soon.

It will take me several days to complete this letter because of the limited (little) time available for writing and the many questions you wanted to be answered to be answered. I will reply to your letters first as they are the most important ones and will take the most time to answer. Several letters from researches, who want information, will also take time to answer as I will have to go through my files for the facts or information. I may have to go to the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg ( 80 miles from here ) in order to get the information to answer a letter from Australia.

Now I will be very honest about my views regarding your questions.

1.I do not approve the adding of your comments or views to the manuscript. This decision is based upon the recommendattions of a number of professional writers because it will weaken and distract from my story. It would tend to confuse the readers in regards to who is telling the story. The addition of your comments and views would make you liable ( responsible ) to possible law suits or retaliations. Therefore, it would be letter and safer for your protection not to make any additional comments to my manuscript. Let it be solely (only) my responsibility. I would not like to be responsible for your additions;especially, when I do not know what they are in Japanese.

2.I will not pay a publisher ( American or Japanese ) to publish my manuscript and I will not approve of anyone else doing (paying) it for me. A manuscript should not be published by a publisher who believes it will not sell enough copies to make money or is unwilling ( does not want ) to take the financial risk of it's publication.

3.The translation should stop until an initial (first) agreement has been reached between a published and myself. This is to save you any unnecessary work and time in case an agreement is not reached. You should be traveling and enjoying life. I do not want anything done on my behalf which would interfer with your (or mine ) enjoyment of the life we have left.

4.Do not make any binding ( firm ) agreements with a publisher, or anyone else, concerning the translation and/or publishing my manuscript until after I have seen and approved ( or disapproved ) the agreement. An agreement must be given to me in English so that I can have an attorney (lawyer) here to read it. This is to protect you and me. Although I have stated my position ( feelings ) on the above topics in previous letters, I am doing it again so that you know exactly what my positions are on these matters. This should make it easier for you to convey ( give ) them to a publisher. This should also anewer, or make unnecessary, some of your questions. I will answer your precise questions on a separate page /s as it will be easier for me to write them and for you to have them altogether.

If you go to Spain in October, please give me your itinerary because I may try to get on an Air Force flight to Europe and I could end up ( arrive ) in Spain. I never know what will happen whern flying on a military plane.

Thank you for telling me about the location of W's apartment being so close to the New Sanno. That was a surprise. I will not tell anyone the location of the apartment or where I got the information. I would like to go to Japan and see the country away from the big cities. Modern cities do not interest me. I prefer seeing the old historical locations and the beauty of the land. I do not know when, or if , I will go to Japan. I would want to have a need ( reason or required to go ) to justify making the long trip. I could go there on military plane or use some of the free miles that I have accumulated on Delta Airlines. Going to Japan is no problem.

I still have some mixed feelings about seeing W. If I did see him, I would prefer that it be a private meeting and not a news event. Now that the son knows about his father's background during the war, I would not be surprised if the son does not permit his father being interviewed by the news media ( TV ).

Thank you for the information about Richard Gordon and W. being at Mitsushima. I have been uncertain about W.'s being there , because I had heard or seen references about his being assigned there , but I could not get confirmation or proof of it. Tom Wade and others were of no help. I may try to contact Gordon in order to get more details about this matter.

I am going to end this letter now because I will be gone for two days and I want to send it to you as soon as possible so you will know my position ( thoughts and feelings ) about the important matters. I will continue answering your other questions as soon as I return. This letter has taken me longer than expected to answer.


Sincerely
Bob

P.S. (Post Script) You do have my permission to continue the the translation, if you want to do so. An official permission to translate the complete manuscript will be given after the publisher makes a decision.