マーティンデール氏と八藤雄一先輩の手紙
| マーティンデール氏と八藤雄一先輩の手紙
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| July 11, 2002 |
| Dear Yuichi: Your long and very interesting letter of 6/27 has caused me to do a lot of thinking in trying to recall or remember some of the events which happened in Omori so many years ago. Several new facts have been remembered about Maher and Yoshioka. I was especially glad to learn about Yoshioka's secret cache ( store ) of sake because it helped me to make a more possible identification of the Japanese who gave me some sake to celebrate the end of the war. On page 232 in my book, I mentioned that a Japanese soldier offered me some sake while I was attending to the delousing of the clothing of the in-coming prisoners. I could not remember anything else about his identity when I wrote it. I now recall that he was not wearing a uniform jacket ( therefore he was not a guard ) and that he was one of the cooks who often gave me some burnt rice when I went to the kitchen to get it and the hot water so that we ( Maher and I ) could have it with our afternoon tea. Although I could not recall his name, it must have been Yoshioka since he had a supply of sake. I wish that I could visit with him and hear his stories about working in the kitchen because they would be worth recording. The name "burnt rice" is really not correct because it was the rice which had adhered ( stuck to ) the sides of the cooking kettles and was crisp and brown. It was not good when it was burnt. Jam from the Red Cross parcels made it a special treat for afternoon tea. I do not recall knowing anything about Maher and the other officers having sake with Yoshioka nor about Maher being intoxicated. I do now recall that there were nights when Maher would leave our room and when he came back he seemed to be much more relaxed and quiet. Sometimes he became more talkative and would tell me more about his family. I must have presumed that he had gone to the benjo or that he had been called to visit with Watanabe after Tenko. Your questions about my relationship with Maher are not objectionable to me. I do not mind telling you what I can remember about how we got along with each other. The differences in rank ( Commander and a Second Lieutenat ) and in ages naturally effected how we reacted to each other. I had a lot of respect for him and I believe that he respected me because I cannot recall that he ever critized the way I did my duties as barracks commander or as the camp work officer. I do not recall that we ever had any arguments or significant differences of opinions. This was perhaps due to my respect for him as being older and as the Senior POW Officer. We got along very well together which may have been because we were both rather quiet and not very talkative. We did have many discussions about various topics and about current events; but we both tended to keep most of our personal feelings to ourselves. This is why I have said that I never really felt close ( understand or know ) to him as I did with some of the other younger officers; such as with Wade or Wimer. There was no friction between Maher and myself. I will admit that there were a few times when I may have thought that he should have been more forcefully in his actions towards the Japanese. I do know that some of the other officers, especially the British, felt this way. I hope these words will help you in understanding our relationship. Maher took his duties and responsibilities very seriously. Your visits to our room are remembered by me. The first time I stayed and listened to the two of you talk; but the conversation seemed very boring and uninteresting to me. Therefore, I would usually leave the room whenever the two of you began talking. That is why you do not remember me very well during those times. Now,back to Maher. I feel that there is one thing that I should try to explain a little more fully about Maher in order to understand why he was not more forceful in objecting to some of the action by the Japanese : especially, in regards to the mistreatment of the prisoners. He was well aware of the captor/prisoner position in which we were in with the Japanese and that he was limited in opposing or objecting to any Japanese actions. He knew that he could go only so far ( limited ) in his objections or demands; otherwise, the Japanese authorities would become angry and try to retaliate by making the situation more difficult for the prisoners. This was especially true in dealing with Watanabe, who was quick to react against a prisoner when he felt that his authority was threatened or being opposed. ( I had to learn this fact the hard way as shown on page 151 of my book.) Maher knew that it was better for the prisoners to maintain a calm attitude ( get along together ) with the authorities in power than to object to or oppose their authority too much ( excessively ). Some prisoners may have wanted him to be more forceful because he may have seemed to have been too cautious on some occasions. However, I believe that Maher's beliefs prevented more confrontations than would have occurred if he had been more forceful or aggressive in opposing the Japanese authorities. My aggreement with him on this subject was a significant factor in our relationship with each other. I had a difficult time in writing the previous paragraph ( this was the third rewrite ) and I can only hope that it will help clarify what I was trying to explain in the earlier paragraph. Although I am sorry that you will not be going to the Fulbright reunion, I can understand your lost of interest in it. I would feel the same way if I had to make the decision. It is rather difficult for those of us at our ages and in our physical conditions to accept the fact that we must limit our traveling. I have to keep reminding myself about this fact. I still keep wanting to make trips which would now be more difficult or not as pleasant for me now. The security processes at the airports since September 11th, especially the added time there, make travelking less enjoyable. Taeko has told me about her manuscript and I hope that she is successful in having it published. I also wish you the best in winning your essay contest. I am anxious to hear the final results for both of you. I am particular happy to have the identity of the "Marionette " confirmed. His walk was more of a bounce than being "jerky". It was a pleasure to show Nori around San Antonio and through the Nimitz Museum. I wish that I could do the same thing for you. I want to thank you for sending me the interesting stamps. They are always enjoyable to view. Our stamps are not as beautiful as yours. The clerks at the post office also enjoy seeing them. I save them for my grandsons who collect stamps. Recently, our domestic postage has gone from 34 cents for the first ounce 37 cents. One of the new stamps is dedicated to the firemen who did the rescue work at the World Trade Center the 9/11 attack. I am enclosing three of them. I apologized for the delay in getting this letter written and in getting it sent to you. This has been due to my schedule of working on correspondence only in the mornings, the need to spend time in thinking and remembering more about how to answer some of your questions, and the various interruptions. The big event in this area has been the rains. At the beginning of the summer it was forecast that this would be a hotter and drier summer than usual. However,during a four day period a few weeks ago, the central Texas area has received a tremendous amounts of rain. Some areas have received over 24 inches during that time. San Antonio and the hill country to the west of Austin had a lot of flooding in the rivers. All of our reservoirs are full and over-flowing. I recorded 9 inches in four days here. More rain has occurred since then. It is a rainy day today. I was very surprised to learn from you and in a letter from Barrette that Tobita was coming to Philly on August 1st. It is regretfull that his wife died before she could make the trip. I know that this will make it a more difficult time for him. Please express my condolencess ( sorrow ) to him for the lost of his wife. As of now, I cannot say that I will be able to make the trip to see him. There are a number of complications ( difficult decisions ) for me at that time. I was planning to go with my son and daughter's family ( San Antonio ) down to South Padre Island ( southern tip of Texas ) for the four days of that weekend while they were on vacation. I have been trying to contact Barrette by telephone in order to learn more about Tobita's visit and if Barrette would be there. Evidently, he must be on a trip because I have not been able to contact him during the past four days. I would like to talk to him before I make any final decisions. Please give your family my best regards. Sincerely Bob Robert R. Martindale |
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如水会 実務英語研究会
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