<Begin Segment 32>

EG: Well, and you, you are such a special person in the middle of this. Here you are, an American soldier, and back in your home country, and both sets of people belong to you and you belong to both sets of people. It must pull a heavy drain, an emotional drain on you to be in the middle, or on both sides. Yeah. I've never heard any stories of Americans in Japan in the occupation being badly treated by Japanese in any way. And certainly you, of course, being identified with both sides and speaking both languages, you would, you would have it easy. But the Japanese apparently didn't have bitterness, or didn't display bitterness to the conquering army. At least I haven't heard stories.

TM: There must have been some.

EG: I would think so.

TM: But I never seen anything like that. I never heard, but there could have been. There could have been, especially in the beginning, when even after the emperor's announcement, some of the so-called Imperial Guard soldiers were trying to barricade the Imperial castle and trying to separate the emperor from others.

EG: That goes back to your, your...

TM: That was soon after the war was over.

EG: But that goes back to your story of Japanese education in the public school there of serving the emperor, not Japan, not the government, not the upper class, but the emperor as the person to be protected and cared for.

TM: And some the Japanese soldiers, when they charged in the final battle, they used to say, "Long live the emperor," like the British would say, "Long live the king," or queen, and that's how they die.

EG: So here with the occupation there was the royal guard concerned with caring for and protecting the emperor.

<End Segment 32> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.