Bunro Sakaino Concentration Camp Diary

517

February 23 (Tuesday) Below is what we heard trickling down from one prisoner of war. All the prisoners of war were navy officers, and they were unfortunately captured in the Solomon Islands, Kiska or the Midway area.

The person who told us the story was fighting in the Battle of Midway and was aboard on an aircraft carrier as an engineer. The iron board of the engine room started to melt in the middle of the battle, and iron fire balls were falling down on their heads from the ceiling. I was extremely dangerous. Intensity of the damage increased, and he broke the side wall open to the next room and went up to the deck as there was no way he was able to stay at the bottom of the ship. He did not see any fellow soldiers there, and the ship started to sink with a huge explosion. They all jumped into a lifeboat and drifted in the ocean without food or water for 17 days. They were not fully conscious when they were captured by the enemy. Several of them almost died, and they finally ended up being detained here as their luck ran out. The Japanese navy only deployed old ships to attack Pearl Harbor and conducted fierce attacks from the sky and the ocean. It was a death mission of expansive attacks with expectation that not all of the ships would return, but they returned without any damages. The result was better than expected. The ship mentioned above has gone through a number of battles,

518

and it is just a regular old steamboat turned into an aircraft carrier. The Japanese government is most concerned about the safety of military pilots and their rescue instead of its aircraft carriers and airplanes. The young engineer mentioned above was extremely upset as his fellow soldiers did not do anything to rescue and abandoned him, but later on, he understood that it was due to the completely damaged communication system within the ship, and the information was not distributed as it should have.

The director was transferred, and a new colonel assured the position. We saw him walking around to check the facility this afternoon. He greeted each of our fellow citizens and was very friendly. It is reported that he has a lot of his friends held as prisoners of war in Japan, and he would not give Japanese internees a hard time. However, his new position was not announced, and he did not give us any official speech as the new director.

Young internees left the camp today for their re-hearings. Elder Yazaemon Minami who is a large-scale farmer in Southern California also received a temporary release permission as the wife of his son is sick, and left the camp with guards accompanying him. There are some rumors floating around about his temporary release. Some are observing that the reason for the wife of his son is strange. He was probably released for the made-up reason with a condition that he will be engaged in farming. This is one action for the food shortage the nation is suffering from. It is also said that the fact was revealed that someone who was granted rehearing and left the camp about one month ago is now employed as a dishwasher in Hong Kong.

519

Another rumor goes that He is just waiting for a sentence from the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. There are a number of rumors going around, but one can imagine that the above mentioned person is employed by the administration due to a labor shortage. Ladies are still detained in the immigration office located in the area.

Notice was distributed to each barracks to elect a candidate for the re-election as the term of our coordinator (secretary) os up. It does not make a big difference no matter who is elected, but we should eliminate those who would approve gift giving to an outgoing director.