The War Ends

We went out to work on the morning of the 14th to the dockyards and just after lunch two guards came out and said, “Sinsuarary!” we’re going back into camp because we gotta rest, we’re going to carry firewood in from the hill behind the camp that the fellas, the sick fellas were cutting firewood on. And back we go. The next morning we got up and we were carrying in logs and my recollection of it is the guards were friendly, they said, “Sinsuarary!” and we used to laugh and we would say ya when, “Sinsuarary, American number one, America Itchibon,” and they’d say, “Hai!, yes America Itchibon!” And this went on so long somebody went over, one of the fellows went over and told Rance and Major Fellows, the American officer in charge of the camp, and they went over to the camp commandants' office and he said, “Yes, the fighting has stopped!” Well the fellows took the camp over right then and there. Disarmed the guards, left them with their rifles but no bayonets and no ammunition The camp commandant felt the civilians, he didn't’ tell us about the bombs but he said the civilians might take repercussions against us and he wanted the guards left with their rifles. Well, within two days even the rifles and the guards were gone. We took over the City of Niigata, the area we knew.