Dear Yuichi:

Last Thursday, I received a surprised telephone call from David Hurt, Jr. in florida. He was reading my book and he wanted to talk about his father, Commander David Hurt, who had also been in Omori. He had a very long conversation. He is very interestd in learning something about a Japanese interpreter named Georege Enamoto(Enomoto) who was in Omori and then went with his father to a camp at Ashio. I do not remember Enamoto(Enomoto) and I can not find anything about a camp at Ashio. I wonder if he spelled the names correctly? I told him that I would ask you about Enamoto(Enomoto). Did you know an interpreter named Enamoto(Enomoto) at Omori? I will try to find out more about the camp at Ashio when I go to the ADBC meeting in Virginia on the 15th of May.

Commander Hurt, the father, and Commander Blinn shared a room in the front of Barracks No.7 at Omori. His submarine (Uss Perch ) had been sunk during the Java Sea battle.

Nori Nagasawa has told me that she and Takeo Sasamoto will be at the ADBC meeting in Virginia. I am looking forward to having the pleasure of meeting them in person.

Toru Fukubayashi wrote me a long letter and told me how happy he was that he finally had the opportunite to meet you when Hap Halloran was in Japan in October. He included several photos. There was a good one of you and Hap. Toru has been very kind in providing me with a great amount of materials which have been helpful and interesting.

I told you in my last letter that I had finally received a video copy of the TV show which included our interviews and that I was sending a copy of it to my Japanese aunt in California so that she could give me a translation. I received an audio cassette from her son,Coe. He gave a rough ( general ) description of what was happening in the show. Unfortunately, he did not give me anything about what we had said in the film. Therefore, I cannot make any comment about how you or I were portrayed ( pictured ) in the film. I now believe that he may have been wrong when he referred to the prisoners making preparations for the play ( Cinderella ) and that it should have been making preparations for a Catholic Mass without Watanabe's knowing about it. Perhaps, he may have made an accurate translation and that the producers of the film had been wrong in referring to the preparations as being for the play instead of a Mass.

Although dental work and a medical problem have interfered with my work and have kept me from doing any traveling, I am still keeping busy, but at a slower pace. It seems to take longer to get things completed. I guess that I must admit that I am getting older and that I am finally feeling my age. However, I am still looking forward to doing some more traveling and keeping at active as possible. I am planning to go to the reunion of my old Bomb Group which will be in Greenville, South Carolina, about the 1st of September.It will be the first time the other pilot of our crew ( Jim McMurrita ) and I will see each other since I was sent to Japan and he had to remain as a P.O.W in Rabaul. I am also hoping to be able to make an overseas trip sometime in October.

Although I have not heard from you since my last letter to you, I presume all is well with you. Please give my best wishes to your family.


Sincerely
Bob
Robert R. Martindale