Nineteen Years after Leaving His Home Country (by Sanzoh-Shiroh)

　
Nineteen years after leaving his home country --- a memorandum by Mr. Tamio Yoshida, a returnee from Vietnam

As mentioned in the opening of this memorandum, Mr. Yoshida was drafted into the 44th Infantry Regiment, and afterwards battled in southern fields, New Guinea, Malay Peninsula, and Philippines. He had a narrow escape from death in Vietnam when the war ended, and lost his family after getting married there. On March 26th, 1959, as a member of the first batch of returnee from Vietnam, he came his home Kochi Prefecture after nineteen years' absence. He was then 39 years old. The memorandum was written one month after his return.
The memorandum is being posted for him with his permission by Sanzoh-Shiroh, namely, Mamoru Okada

(1) A bugle call in the middle of the night --- southward without knowing the destination

In February 1940, I was drafted into the 44th Infantry Regiment and transferred to the 55th Engineer Regiment to serve as a medical orderly.

Next year, late in October 1941, at around one o'clock a.m. in a chilly night of late autumn, a bugle call woke me up. We stood in a row in battle dress at an open space of the camp, waiting for the order to take the field. Glittering bayonets emitted weird lights into the night sky and strained the midnight atmosphere.

The corps soon left the gate calmly and passed the street of Zentsuji. We reached the port of Sakaide when it was faintly dawning. Shore patrols with a red armband were sternly watching. Black-painted troopships were waiting at the pier.

We knew the purpose of taking the field unconsciously. Some soldiers spoke in an undertone that we would fight with USA soon, but no one could imagine the place and the destiny we were going to encounter. How many people would ever be able to return to the port?

"Once a man goes to the front, he shall not return alive without victory." were the words of swearing when we were taking the fields. We were not allowed to ask the purpose of the war and if it was in the cause of justice. We only believed blindly that it was for peace of the East, the greatest desire of Japanese people, and a serious mission assigned to us. Looking back now, how miserable the destinies that kind of thought brought to the future and nation of our homeland were!

The convoy of troopships took the course to southeast through Kii Channel, having been reluctant to leave mountains and rivers of the homeland finally. Landing exercises were conducted on the way at Hahajima, and winter clothes were changed to summer ones. We navigated further to the south with escort ships and on 8th of December, heard while floating in the Pacific Ocean the report of declaration of the war and victory of the Battle of Hawaii, which raised our morale very much. On 10th of December, we carried out landing on Guam.

We who were as if going through matchless fields became on board of the troops early in January 1942, passed through the equator as the first Japanese troops, made landing on Rabaul at the end of the month, and stayed in Rabaul City for defending. After the days of about two month's occupation, we were attacked from the air almost every day by enemy planes. Retaliation of the enemy seemed to be strengthened day by day at that time already.

In May 1942, we were again on board of the troopships to capture Port Moresby of New Guinea. Here we encountered big battle with the enemy fleet retaliating to us. Our troops were awaiting our fate of death for seven days in the Coral Sea, but fortunately could return to Rabaul again.

Failing in transoceanic operations, our corps stayed for a while in Rabaul until we landed with the troopships in July 1942 on New Guinea(Giruwa) and started marching forward by land. The battle was desperate and a little over three hundred among tens of thousands people in the troops survived and returned to the base. As a survivor of the battlefields, I was deeply affected by the fact how tragic wars are.

Thus the southern corps having failed in the first capturing operation of Moresby again began attacking Moresby by land. The operation, which spanned more than five thousand kilometers by land and required battles in high mountains of four thousand meters above sea level, was indeed foolishly bold. Wearing thirty kilogram equipment, clearing jungles, and crossing rivers under the strong rays of the equatorial sun, our walk a day away was only ten-odd kilometers, and the battle was commenced after we proceeded for more than ten days.

The enemy pitched camps at strategic points of mountains to stop forward movement of Japanese army. As we entered mountain areas, the battles became severe such as two days' march following three days' battle and three days' march following four days' battle. Our fighting power was consumed gradually and goods became scarce. Five cups of rice a day decreased four cups, and three cups afterwards. However, we then believed final victory, advancing across mountains and fields and continuing hard fights. The operation expected for one month was prolonged to two months and to three month. The battle seemed to become increasingly hard.

(To be continued)