Dear Yuichi:

I will bring you up-to-date on my activies before I reply to your letter of 7/18, which arrived several days ago.

The desire to get away for a few days caused me to make a rather sudden trip to San Francisco over the 4th of July weekend. I had intended to stay there for four nights and then go on to Vancouver or to Portland, Oregon, to see the mouth of the Columbia River. I was fortunate in being able to get into the Marine Memorial Club for the entire time. When I checked into the Club, I found out that six tall sailing ships had come into the bay that afternoon. I immediately walked down to the Embarcadero ( waterfront) to see them because I have always been interested in the old sailing ships. I walked over four miles that afternoon. I stayed an extra night in the City in order to see The Eagle( Coast Guard training ship ) leave. By that time, I decided I had enough exercise to last me for a very long time ; so I came on home.

This year marked the 150 anniversary of the California Gold Rush and the creation of the state. California had invited all of the tall sailing ships in the world to attend the celebration, but it had to cancel the the(?) invitation due to the lack of financing. Six ships came at their own expense. They were - The Eagle (USA), Gloria (Columbia ), Dewa Ruci(Indonesia ), Guayas (Ecuador ), Kaiwo Maru (Japan), and the Concordia
from Canada. Their appearance was a very memorable event for me and I was glad I had made the sudden decision to go there at that time. The weather was clear and beautiful during my stay. Only one night with some fog.

When I returned home Helen McDonald had called me to invite me to a party at the Museum the next Friday for the volunteers who worked there. It was sponsored by a local Public Broadcasting TV station. Only a few members of the museum were invited. I enjoyed it. I then went to San Antonio to visit with my daughter and her family.

Last week, I had to have a skin cancer removed from the edge of my right ear and one on my lower left leg. This was done by micro-surgery. The doctor removed one thin layer of skin at a time and examined it under the microscope until there was no more infected layers. A small piece of skin was removed from the right side of my neck in order to fill in the space on the ear. I feel fine now, but I will have to go in on the next three Fridays to have the areas checked.

About a month ago, I received a call from a man in Dallas. He had been a Pharmacist Mate ( seaman ) aboard one of the ships when the Allied Fleet entered Tokyo Bay and had come to Omori when we were released. He said he would call me the next time he came to Austin to see his son. He called me yesterday and we will visit with each other on Wednesday. I will delay sending this letter until after I have seen him.

I am very happy you had a good trip to Norway; regardless of the long flights and delays. It is becoming more common for a good trip to be marred or ruined by the difficulties in going or coming home. This is one reason I am becoming more reluctant to fly commercial on long trips. My older body is not as willing to take the exhausting experiences of airline travel. Although travel on military planes has its down side ( uncertainties ), I find that the stop-overs, which are oftenn over-night,have the advantage of giving the body a chance to rest and adjust to the time changes. I feel much better when I arrive at my final destination.

Your visits with Johan and Kristian appeared to be very good. Both men are interesting and knowlegable individuals. I would have enjoyed being able to listen to the stories they told. Although I knew about the Norwegians being captured in the Atlantic and taken to Japan, I could not remember which ones in Omori had that experience. I found talking with the two Norwegians to be a refreshing and enjoyable experience. It was better than talking with most of the Americans I have interviewed. That is why I enjoyed my visit with them. I have noted a difference in what Captain Karlsen told me about his ( and Johansen ) ship and what was told to you. I was told the help was sunk by a Japanese submarine ( which I thought was strange at the time ) after it had left India. Apparently, the ship had made a stop-over in India while enroute from Capetown. I believe the submarine must have been German because the German submarines were active in the Indian Ocean at that time.

Thank for the clarifications about the "mystery" letter. I had felt that I had guessed correctly what was said in the missing parts. I also feel that the difference between Joe Alexander's and my account of Tojo's visit is largely due to the confusions between the two different visits. I do not worry about it any more, but I will talk to Joe the next time we have chance to visit with each other. The ADBC meeting in San Antonio was not a good time to do so because he was very busy with the arrangements of the meeting. Incidentally, Joe was not on Bataan. The ship he was on was diverted ( rescheduled ) from the Philippines to Java when the Philippines was invaded. He is a member of theAmerican Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Association because it includes anyone in the South Pacific during the specific time period. I am not a member because I was shot down shortly after that time period. I believe you will have a difficult time in locating any Japanese veterans who were there.

I am now more sure that I was wrong in stating Tojo was in civilian clothes when he came to Omori in 1944.I do remember now that when I first wrote about the visit many years ago, I was unsure of what he was wearing. I have given it a great deal of thought during the past six months and I have come to the possible conclusion that my mind had been influenced by several earlier accounts and interviews which indicated he had been in civilian clothes. Apparently, they were incorrect. I accept being corrected. Incidentally, Watanabe did escort one Japanese man in civilian clothes through the camp at a later time. Some of us were out-side and bowed as they went by us. I do not know the identity of the civilian.

I was surprised to learn that you had met Pres. Bush when you were a Fulbright scholar. I enjoyed reading what you said about him and the baseball players. It would be nice to have a visit with him, but this is nearly impossible because the Secret Service is very protected with him. I wanted to give him a copy of the book and I asked Adm. Gojean ( Director of the Nimitz Foundation ) to give it to Bush. Grojean said the Secret Service would not allow it and had already rejected other similar requests. I did feel honored to be invited to the luncheon; although I was just one of several hundred there.

It was good to learn that you, Johansen and Ottosen were able to clear-up the questions about when they visited Japan and the shrine.

　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　

(Thursday)

My meeting with John Camp was a big disappointment for me . The only things I learned was that he had been a Pharmacist-Mate aboard the South Dakota and he was on the first landing craft with Commodore Simpson and Commander Stassen when it came to Omori. He could not recall any details about what he saw or did there. Consequently, I could not get the answers to a number of questions I wanted to know more about in order to clarify some conflicting stories which have been told to me. He had kept a diary, but it was of no help to me because the entries were too brief. I was of more help to him than he was to me; which was not very much.

Tuesday night I saw a beautiful sight when the Space Shuttle Colun(m?)bia passed near Austin on tis way for a landing in Florida. The enclosed newspaper clipping illustrates the event better than I can describe it.

I almost forgot to thank you for the photo of Johansen. It looks like the same cafe by the waterfront where we ate.

My best wishes to you and your wife.


Sincerely
Bob
Robert R. Martindale

*新聞の切り抜き写真が添付されています
スペースシャトルの"飛行機雲"がたなびく夜空の写真でしょうか

One more look at Columbia/David Kennedy/AA-S

Austin was treated to an amazing sight Tuesday as Space Shuttle Columbia left a glowing tail of plasma -- hot ionized gas --in the night sky at 10:03 p.m. Traveling at more than 8,000 mph on its way to a landing in Florida, Columbia made the trip from Texas to Cape Canaveral in about 17 minutes. A camera exposure of 4 to 5 seconds from the south bank of Town Lake captured the shuttle's path over Austin's own not-so-shabby light display