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PB: But right after the surrender ceremony in Timor, there were other things that happened. For instance, one of the orders that people might be interested -- because it was in the paper the other day -- is that my orders said that before I send the Japanese troops back on the ships that I should send back the comfort. And I met a lot of comfort girls that were brought along by the Japanese troops. And they were, in Timor they were mostly young ladies from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. And I saw to their getting back to their homes first. But as I say, there were many instances down there. One of the first ones that I met in that area was a man named Sukarno. And Sukarno was a young man that was very anti-Dutch. He says, "Holland and, has had an influence upon this country." So when we had gone down there, he asked that there be no Dutch troops. We had a few Dutch troops on board. He says, "I don't think I would want them to land." So only Australian troops. So it didn't make any difference. We asked them to stay aboard ship. But Sukarno later became a very important individual to rule the country of Indonesia. But when I met him originally he was just a -- well he wasn't a nobody. He was a soldier for the troops there. So it was kind of interesting that some individuals of that type later on became leaders in the country that when we went down to take the surrender, he was not part of the ceremony or anything, but he did help us out.

AI: Yes. And he eventually became the leader of Indonesia.

PB: Right. He became a big leader, and I understand, I didn't know, but he eventually married a young Japanese girl and was very influential in the government of Indonesia.

AI: And now, the surrender ceremonies. These must have been taking place in around September of 1945? Would that be about right?

PB: Yes. Right after the war, they were held in Singapore. And they were held in various areas because of the troops. We would, the troops would know that they had given up, and we would , we would disarm them and make preparations for their going back. We didn't want any incident to mar the close of the war. Now, as soon as I left there, I went to, flew to Manila. And up in Manila everything was all over with. I think that I told you that one of the reasons when I went to Manila is that I had been notified when I was with the Australian troops that I was given a commission as a lieutenant in the United States Army. One of the provisions in the written memo they gave me is, "You must be sworn in by a United States officer." Well, there were no U.S. officers with the Australians. So when I went to Manila, they said, "You can be sworn in now as an officer." And I said, "Well, can I wait and go to my unit in Tokyo?" And they said, "Yeah, that's fine." And I went out to the airfield in Manila and wanted a ride to Tokyo. And I met a Air Force officer, and he says, "Do you speak Japanese?" And I said, "Yeah." He says, "Would you go with us because we can use your help. And one of the things that we would like to do is to have you stay with us when you go to Japan, and we're also going to Shanghai." I said, "Well, the war's over, whatever it is, I need a ride up to Japan, so I'll go." Well, we stopped in Okinawa, and the reason was that we stayed a few days there, and they accumulated cigarettes from the navy and army, and all that. They used that, they were going to use this to trade for souvenirs in Shanghai and in Japan. So that's why they wanted me to speak Japanese. So when we landed in Japan -- we landed first near Osaka, and at Atsugi Airport -- they asked me if I would go with them to trade the cigarettes for souvenirs. I asked if I could be relieved of that and report to my unit, which I did in Tokyo. I never checked in at all, because when I went there they told me that, "If you check in, you are going to be sworn in as an officer, and you would have to waive your rights to go home."

AI: Home to the U.S.

PB: [Nods] I was more concerned about my family. They were still in Manzanar, my folks were.

AI: And had you had any word of how they were doing in all this time...

PB: No.

AI: ...that you were in the Pacific?

PB: But only through rumors of people that came over...

AI: I see.

PB: ...I knew that they were still there. And because of my concern for my family more than myself and what good is it to be an officer in the U.S. Army when my family is in camp? So I stayed, and I went to Camp Zama, where they used to send people from Japan back. And I was able to get a ship. I landed in Vancouver, right above Seattle. I guess Vancouver, it must have been Oregon maybe or somewhere.

AI: Oh, Washington.

PB: Yeah.

AI: Vancouver, Washington.

PB: Washington. And from there I found out about my family. Being concerned, I said, "I will stay. I will not go back." And when I went down to the Los Angeles area, I went to Fort MacArthur. I asked if I could be relieved of duty, and they said, "Well, you would have to leave the army." Well, what happened is that if I did, then I would lose my rights to travel and to take care of my family. So I asked that I be, stay in, and I re-enlisted for one year only with the hopes that now that I had my family cleared up -- I found a place for them, a trailer in Long Beach and all that. And so that's why I stayed in the army one more year.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.