<Begin Segment 20>

TI: Okay, so Kiyo, we're gonna get started again. And where we left the last one was we had just finished your training at Camp Savage and then (Fort) Snelling, and then you did some basic training, and so why don't we go to the Philippines. And first tell me, about when did you arrive in the Philippines? Do you remember when that was?

KT: Sometime in July.

TI: July 1945?

KT: Yes.

TI: So right before the war ends. I mean, this is... so July 1945, so tell me what your first impressions are? I mean, what did you see when you got to the Philippines?

KT: Hot, steamy. I thought the people weren't too tall. That's about it, I guess.

TI: How about, what were you thinking about in terms of where the war was going? You know, I guess now we know that the war was almost over, but this was before the atomic bomb and I think there were plans that there was gonna be some invasion to the Japanese islands and all that.

KT: Yeah.

TI: I mean, what did you think your role was gonna be going forward at this point?

KT: I saw some paperwork one time where it said that they were gonna make a feint in north Japan, but actually we were gonna land on Kyushu or something, and I thought we would... they sent a hundred and fifty linguists to the Philippines. I was one of the hundred and fifty, and I figured, well, they're grooming us for that invasion. I think it was a hundred and fifty, and then a hundred and something went to India. And I don't know why, they were probably gonna come through China or something. I don't know. Anyway, I ended up on the Philippines, and more practice work. We're doing translation, but it's not real documents. They're magazines and just anything in general. And then, then they dropped the atomic bomb and they said that Japan accepted the unconditional surrender.

TI: And how did that make you feel? What did you think when you heard that, essentially, the war was over?

KT: I was thinking, "Wow, pretty soon we'll be all going home." And then they said, they came over and said, "Hey, pack your bags." So I said, "Where am I going?" He said, "You're going into Manila." So I said okay, and then there were three of us and they sent us to, there was a, right along the bay there was an apartment, Admiral Apartment I think it was -- it was a seven story building, tall building -- and we went there. And later on, the provost marshal came and he looked over the situation. He said, "This is no good." What they intended to do was -- the Admiral Apartments was seven stories but there was an Admiral Apartments annex, which was a three story building -- and they said they weren't, they didn't want to quarter the Japanese there because the Filipinos would go up in the upper floors and throw grenades down in there, so they changed the building to a Rosaria Apartments, which was a two story building, other part of Manila. So that's, Frank says, "What Japanese?" And he said, "Well, it's a surrender team from Japan, for this unconditional surrender. They're coming to receive their instructions, how to, what we're, the U.S. forces expect of them." Etcetera, etcetera. So that's where they sent us, and we were there when they walked in. About eighteen Japanese came in, and --

TI: So these were, like, Japanese officers, military officers?

KT: Military officers, plus civilian ministers I guess.

TI: And these were from, like, Japan, like Tokyo?

KT: Japan, yeah.

TI: Okay. And what's interesting, so you said earlier the, earlier, the Admiral Apartments didn't work because they didn't feel like it'd be safe enough for them because they were concerned the Filipinos would try to kill them?

KT: Yeah, yeah.

TI: And so the Filipinos were, they were worried about that even though the Japanese were essentially, I guess, in custody of the United States? I mean --

KT: Yeah, they still worried. In the hotel, in the lobby and on the landing going upstairs and so forth, our forces had set up machine guns, thirty caliber machine guns to protect the Japanese, because they're there under truce and that would be a shame if they got hurt. [Laughs]

TI: Now, were these all precautionary, or did actually things happen? Did, were there any attacks against the Japanese?

KT: No, there wasn't, but this was a precaution. Had several sentries outside.

TI: Now, before the surrender team came, were there stories of, like Japanese being attacked or anything by the Filipinos, after the, they surrendered?

KT: No, I didn't hear any of that kind of stuff. I heard that there were some Japanese were trying to sneak in the mess line because they were so hungry. [Laughs]

TI: Okay.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.