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gky: Do you have any last thoughts on being an American in Japan, or meeting up with your brother, or your brother being in the MIS?

FF: Well, I thought I was, I was very lucky. Even though I got stuck in Japan, I always wanted to get back to the States, but if I didn't go to this technical college I would be home, or I'd be drafted already. I wouldn't know what happened, but at least I was in college and it was just spring vacation I came home, and I got my orders and I went in, but if I was still in college, August is summer vacation for us, so I would probably be home and I'd probably be dead, see? But I was lucky I was in the military. Plus, I found out later, I was in Kokura, Kyushu, and the second bomb that was dropped is in Nagasaki, but when they bombed Nagasaki, their first target was Nagasaki, but their second target was Kokura. So they flew over Kokura, and the pilot, I read what the pilot said in a book, and he said, the pilot said Kokura's clear, so he went to Nagasaki. It was all cloudy; they couldn't tell, so he went beyond that and turned around and came back, and it was still cloudy when he approached it, but by the time they came above Nagasaki it cleared, so they dropped it on Nagasaki. If it wasn't for that they were gonna bomb, on the way back they were gonna drop that second atomic bomb in Kokura because there was a big army arsenal there, which we were guarding.

gky: Boy, there were a lot of coincidental things.

FF: I was lucky. Oh yeah, I was really lucky.

gky: Okay, I think that's all the questions I have for you, Frank.

FF: Thank you very much.

gky: Thank you very much.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2000 Bridge Media and Densho. All Rights Reserved.