The Miscellaneous Notes of a Repatriate Born in Korea (by Shinroku Hasegawa）

　
This record is reproduced in part from "The Miscellaneous Notes of a Repatriate Born in Koreathe" written by the late Mr. Shinroku Hasegawa with permission of his bereaved family.


The call and Enlistment

From September, 1941 to November, 1942

I received a Red Note for draft in September, I don't remember which day it was.　I think Mr. Toyoda, a pediatrician, also received the note, but I was alone when I went there, where I was told not to show I was drafted when I go out of home. The staff of hospital held a send-off party for me. The entertainment was the plate of cods. All of us sang When we go to the sea, for my departure, but I had no actual feeling that I myself might become a corpse which the grass grew on.

When we go to the sea, we dont mind to become corpse in the water,
If we go to the mountain, we dont mind to become corpse on which the
grass grew,

Since I had finished the first army surgeon training course carried out for the first time in January, 1938, I would serve as a sergeant of the reserved Army when I would be called for.
In the year I graduated from the college, I took a conscription test at Yongsan in Seoul, and passed it as a first B class man. The men passed the A class test would be almost regularly recruited within a year. The B class men were divided into two types and the next was the C class men. In those days, it was said that all the people would be soldiers, and we would be summoned whenever emergency happened. Because we did not know what time the draft notice (Red Paper) comes as for the tendency of the times, most of us in the first B class, received the military training.
After the World War II started on December 8, 1941, the call for draft spread through the C class men and boys who had thought the call would never come and had not received the training, were drafted as private and served as a regular soldier for a year and could not become a surgeon immediately.

My military career confirmation.
　 1938, March 9: Given a rank of the medical corporal. Entered the 78th infantry regiment as a candidate of the Army surgeon reserve.
Ditto 23: Promoted to the medical sergeant. Ordered to be a surgeon reserve.
Ditto 24: The period of my military service was ended to be discharged.

1941, September 16: Entered the 73rd infantry regiment as a medical sergeant, by an emergency call-up. Attached to the Ranam Army Hospital.
Ditto, October 15: Moved to the Hoeryong Army Hospital as attached.
1942, October 15: Promoted to a medical second lieutenant, attached to the Hoeryong Army Hospital.
Ditto, November 30: Discharged form the military service.

　 I had made this military career confirmation based on a certificate written by Takamaru (had been one of my college classmates, recruited and assigned to the Ranam Army Hospital with me) and another certificate written by Fujimoto (one of younger students of the same college, and had assigned as administration officer at Hoeryong Army Hospital), because I had planned to resign from the Yokohama prison in 1986 and thought the certificate would help to receive better pension later on.

(To be continued)

　
　The draft notice was on a red paper a little larger than a postcard which said that you have to report to so on so company on what time, of what day of what month. When you received the notice, you had no choice but just go to the indicated place at the exact time of the ordered day. You did not need to have anything but the red paper placed in a so-called service bag. If you did not show up as ordered, you would be searched out on the charge of draft evasion and punished by a court martial (at a special military court.)

　　When I reported by a red paper, I remember that I had a sword wrapped with a furoshiki (square cloth made for wrapping and carry articles) but I dont remember what else I had with me. The sword was one made of Bizen which I had bought at Ssangpo with a help of Mr. Imaizumi and made for a military gear with leather sheath. (Mr. Imaizumi, known as His Highness at the rank of reserved major general, was the director of a factory training school and served as a military commander of the district at the time the war ended. I heard that he and his unit were disarmament at Seongjin and taken to the USSR, then he fortunately he returned home. But, I have had no chance to meet him yet.)
　　I had made up my mind to be drafted soon or later and had prepared the sword to take with me, but I had never thought I would go to the battlefield and I might not returned home alive. I had informed that Michiko was pregnant from Tanaka, gynecologist, I had no doubt to be able to meet her when I returned home.
　　Fortunately,　my call was　cancelled within a little later than a year. But, many of fellow men had been kept in the army until the war was over or had received the draft note for the second time to be taken to Siberia or to the south, etc. Their fate were varied, and five of those taken to New Guinea and Philippines were killed in actions.
The call of this time was one for so called Kanto-Gun Special Grand Training, and the 20th command in South Korea also drafted many men. I heard it was a check of the German vs USSR, but I now think it would be a preparations for the war against UK and USA. In the 73rd unit for the call, there were men I had known as classmates such as Hayashi, Niwa, Takamaru, Mizobuchi, Matsuoka, and Yoshino. Fortunately, I was attached to the Ranam Army Hospital with Takamaru. Since this call was the second one for Takamaru (he had his first call in 1939 and had been in Nomonhan where Japanese army was defeated by a Soviet tank unit), I was largely helped by him because I could learn so much from him what to do in military life which I knew nothing about.

　　　The men called up for war were divided into two units, one for field corps to be given the hard physical trainings and another for caretakers to be given some lectures about combat medicine and where to place the field hospitals in case of open battle had occurred but without physical trainings.
The drafted for the hospitals were so many but not so much of medical examinations. There were five or six cadet officers given wide office for each with nothing to do but SHOGI or GO. Then, by October, we finally received the placement order, and one cadet doctors and I were assigned to the Hwenyeong Army Hospital.
Hwenyeong was a small border town in mountains located on the riverside of Tumen River, looking at Manchuria on the other side, and on the route of a railroad come from Keijo and goes to Harbin, the new capital (Changchun). It was late autumn, and north wind of the winter was already blowing. I imagined there were many combat units other than foot soldiers, engineer gunners, and flight units.
The director of hospital was an elderly lieutenant colonel, who was soon placed on the waiting list and replaced by a colonel who had been the director of a field hospital at the continent. The chief administration officer at the hospital was a first lieutenant, whom I could depend on largely even though I never seen him before because I learned that he had been a student three years younger than I at the Keijo Medical College. There seemed not so many medical officers exclusively attached to the hospital　other than us, the specialists such as the ophthalmology, the surgery, etc had been called from the army units, and the night duty had been done by army surgeons by turns.
Later, a second lieutenant in active duty of newly college graduate came as assigned officer, who had full of self-confidence and seemed fearless. And，there came was a second lieutenant of medicine in active duty, whose rank was higher than an officer in training. The director of the medicine department was a calm lieutenant colonel of the age. For dentistry, the medical practitioners of the town had been invited.
　　As my work, I was just to take care the patient of the internal medicine department.　The coworker, an officer in training, was an obstetrician graduated from the Osaka University, and entrusted me for the leadership. The chief of the inpatient rooms was to be administration officer, but he entrusted me to take care of them. The most of patients were soldiers, but there were officer patients as rare case and the chief of the inpatients rooms was to take care of them.

There might be various restrictions in the armed forces, but I dont remember I had any restraint on my medical treatment. What I recall was only that he told me how to write technical terms on the patients charts, for examples, not チンキ but丁幾 for tincture and not ピカ but　重曹 for sodium bicarbonate. The first director gave instructions in many ways, but the next director came to my office two or three times for the first times, then later he just waited for my reports.
As my work, other than medical examination and treatment, I had to conduct training of new medics. But, for something I did not know such as poisonous gas, I depended on medical sergeant majors and I was watching their training.
There were also some service called week duty. When there came a time of the week duty, I wore a cord of the week duty and went to see every barracks with one of the noncommissioned officers. And, this would not have any problems when I could hear the unit leaders said we have no abnormality. If any trouble had happened, I, as a duty officer, would be totally helpless, but fortunately nothing had been happened.

I sometimes had to work outside leading some soldiers. In such times, troublesome were action of salute. When persons coming toward you were those of under your ranks, you did not worry about. But, if their ranks were above yours, you had to take a command ordering your soldiers to salute to him (or to them) Keep steps, attention right, (In those days, we kept left side of the road to walk.)
Whenever you see officers, you had not worry about but just take a command because I was an officer in training. But, troublesome were to meet warrant officers coming toward you. By the ranks, the officer in training came above warrant officers, but their uniforms did not show their ranks, but badges on the neckband.
　　（Note） I should not take a command to salute before he (or they) did. So, whenever I had to go out with soldiers, I walked alone but depended on a noncommissioned officer to walk with them and command salute.

(To be continued - in translation)