Dear Yuichi:

Regardless of how good a trip I have had; it is always nice to be back home regardless of all the things which must be done in order to get back in the routine of my normal life.

I flew on an AF flight to Norfork, Virginia, where I stayed for two nights before getting on a contract flight ( commercial airliner on contract to the government ) to Naples for one night. Then went to Sorrento where I saw the island of Capri ( Disappointed. The Carribbean has more beautiful islands ), Herculem and Pompeii, which I have always wanted to see since I was a child. Rome was very interesting and I got to see the Pope bless the people in the square. The cold and rainy weather in Florence was a disappointment as it limited my getting aroud the city. I had to put on my winter clothes. There is little of interest to see in Milan. I did have a good birthday dinner there. The train ride through the Aips was beautiful as the weather was sunny, but cold. Spent a night at Basel as I wanted to catch the Express train the next morning to Frankfurt where I hoped to get on the C-5 plane scheduled to return to Kelly AFB in San Antonio the following day. Unfortunately, the plane did not take on any passengers. My gamble in cutting short my trip in order to get a direct flight backt to Texas had failed. I was fortunate in getting to stay on-base for three more nights, which gave me a chance to rest before getting on a contract flight to Charleston, South Carolina. There I took a tour of the city and did a lot of walking. It is an interesting city. Instead od waiting two more days and hoping to get on a flight scheduled fo Kelly AFB, I decided to use a Delta Airline senior citizen ticket to save time. I spent some time with my oldest daughter's family in San Antonio before driving back to Austin.

It was an interesting trip which I would give an over-all rating of Good. Now that I have seen the area, I do not want to do it again. It was a rather inexpensive trip. My average night's lodging for the entire trip was only $36.16. It averaged $54 in the commercial hotels in Europe. The rooms with bath were rather small, but adequate for me. The better rooms were on the military bases.

I finally heard from Tom Wade. He had ( no news, except to say they had taken a bus trip to France during the summer.

I hope you do get to Spain and to see a bull flight. This was one of my desire since I was young. I wanted to go to Madrid to see the Prado Museum and to see a good bull flight in the Plaza de Toros as I had seen many of them in Mexico. Unfortunately, I was there before the season started, but it was a religious feast day and they had one that Sunday. It was not a good one as the bulls were not the best nor were the matadors. I suggest that you try to arrange your trip when the better flight occur. A good flight can be a thing of beauty, in its own way, and a bad one can be disgusting. The season there usually starts on about May 15th and last until October. You should have your travel agent check on the dates before you leave. I still would like to see a good one there, but I am thankful to have seen Madrid, the Alhambra in Granada, Gibraltar and Seville. I would like to see Seville again and the northern part of Portugal (Oporto) to have some more of the fine Port wine.

Congratulations upon your triple celebration. Please give your wife my congratulations and best wishes. May you have many more years of a good life and enjoyable traveling.

Now discuss Omori. Thank you for clarifying the plan ( diagram ) of the camp office. I could only remember the clinic being divided into the medical clinic and the dental clinic, the hallways and W.S office. I was never in the NCO's quarters. Neither did I know about the British officers wanting to compensate for the damage done by the British Private (Mansfield), who was a major problems for us as I said in the manuscript.

It was unfortunate for everyone in Omori that W. was assigned there because it created much hatred and left many POWs with a bad attitude ( feelings ) towards the Japanese. Some of the X-POWs still have those feelings today. I am thankful for having known such fine individuals as Sgt. Oguri, Kano and yourself. Incidentally, I vaguely remember your coming by the room to show Maher your new rank as a cadet officer. You were very proud.

W. was referring to B.J.Martin, not me. W. did not like Martin. I believe W.'s major problem was his ego. He thought he was better and more important than anyone ( POW or Japanese ) in Omori. His ego conflicted with his rank as a Corporal or Sergeant.

I have just learned of the death of Brian Pennington on September 17th. He was a Lt. in the Royal Engineers. "Tiger" Lewis also died a few months ago. I mentioned in my previous letter about George Plimer death. You and I are fortunate in still being able to enjoy life. I have learnt of the deaths of 20 X-Omori people so far this year. The list is becoming more smaller with the advancing years.

Now to briefly discuss the decision about the manuscript. It was a very difficult one for me to make as I had many mixed feelings. My strong desire to have it published in Japan so that the people there would have a better and more accurate understanding of what occurred in the POW camp was over-shadowed ( became less important ) by a matter of personal principles or beliefs. In a way, the feelings were somewhat similar to those the Japanese people felt when the war was over and which you so clearly described in your letter. The feeling of relief in that a decision had been made was mixed with the uncertainty of what was in the future for the manuscript; plus knowing how much work and effort you and others had done on my behalf made the decision process more diffcult. However, I could not justify in my mind the placing of a heavy financial burden on either you or myself; regardless of our desires and reasons to have the manuscript published. I appreciate and understand your disappointment in my decision. I agree with you in your statement that this could be considered a "cultural gap" or differences of principles ( attitudes or beliefs).

"Would I reconsider my decision?" The answer to this question is still the same, as now . However, I have learned from experience that a person should never say "never". A person should not say a decision or any action is absolutely final and unchangeable because you do not know what future events, actions or changing beliefs will cause you to change your mind.

I do want to say that I enjoy receiving your letters because they contain so much information and make me think in more detail about past and current events.

I expect to be going to California on the 24th of this month. My son-in-law, who was transferred from California to North Carolina by General Electric Plastics Division, has given me the free round trip ticket he got from Southwest Airlines. I expect to be gone for about eight days while I visit with my elderly uncle and other relatives in Sacramento. I would prefer going there after Christmas, but the ticket must be used by December 3rd. Hopefully, I can get all of my Xmas cards addressed and the necessary letters written before I leave.

My best wishes to you and your wife.


Sincerely
Bob