The Land of the Rising Sun: No Longer Rising
On October 10, 1945, we were on our way to see Japan as occupation troops. First, we traveled by sea. It took us nearly a week to get there. It was a fairly good trip, although the water was kind of rough. The ship did plenty of rocking, and I remember that I had a headache the whole way. We ate Navy chow, so fared fairly well on the way up. Two hundred miles off the coast of Japan, we were ordered to stop taking our salt water showers in fear of radiation from the atomic bomb. When we reached Kure, Japan's largest naval base, the place was flattened, and not much to look at.
No one can imagine how much damage air raids cause, until they actually see the result. When you see a place that has been leveled for blocks and blocks, you begin to realize what it must have been like. At that point, when we reached Kure, I could see why the Japanese surrendered. We were only twenty miles from where the atomic bomb hit. The people in Kure said that they saw the flash, and concussion, but that the mountains shut it out, and no visible damage was done there.
From Kure, our troops then boarded a train filled with soon to be occupation troops and many Japanese trying to get home. It was the first train that I had been on in over a year. It was a narrow gauge train, but at least it sounded like a train! The train moved like a snail, as it made its way towards Okayama, only fifty miles from Hiroshima. We rode for eight hours and traveled about one hundred and twenty-five miles.
I remember being amazed at the way that the Japanese utilized the land. There were gardens everywhere. They farmed around rocks, trees and anything else in the way. They had to level off small strips of the land on the hillsides, so that the gardens wouldn't wash away. I looked at a hill, and I saw twenty levels of ground all green with vegetables. It really was a sight. I was also impressed that most of the gardening was done by hand.
The train went through a string of long tunnels that ran through the mountains. We passed farmers almost the whole way. The women seemed to work just as much as the men did. In every level space there were clusters of small Japanese houses. Although the homes were small, they were neat, and had little thatched roofs. Someone said that when you go inside you had to take your shoes off, too. They were nice little homes.
The country that we passed through was utterly destroyed. We passed through at least five cities, Kobe, Kure, Osaka, Nagoya, to Okayama. All of these cities were nearly burnt to the ground. They were leveled by bombs. There must have been many civilians killed, although, you could see that the raids hit mostly industrial areas. Everything was flat for miles where bombs had hit.
The people in the land of the Rising Sun surprised me in my first day there. They all waved, and saluted us. I could hardly see myself accepting a victorious enemy the way that they did us. I felt that they were probably glad that the whole thing was over. Bombs really do make one realize just what war is like, and how nasty it really can be. Many of the people acted as if there had been no war. I suppose that it was too painful to remember at first. They acted as if we were their guests.
I was also surprised by their clothing. They didn't dress as the Filipinos did. The women usually wore some kind of slacks, in a variety of bright colors. Everyone wore little wooden soled shoes. The men wore dress shirts and felt hats. Although, most of the men and even small boys that I saw were still wearing army uniforms, because they were so poor, and had lost so much.
When the train passed through Nagoya all that was standing were smoke stacks and railroad tracks. As we passed through these demolished towns, some of the American troops would throw out cigarettes, and I remember the Japanese diving for them in large numbers. The destruction that the war had caused was almost unbearable. It just kept coming as we moved slowly along.
When we reached Okayama, there were signs up that said "Welcome Allied Occupation Troops". That was a surprise. The police co-operated 100% with us, and things were going smoother than anyone would have dared to believe. I think that most of the police were army or navy officers in the war. They carried huge sabers around with them. Okayama had only been bombed once, but one third of the city was completely ruined.
We were stationed in a Japanese rifle barracks. It was full of guns. We stood an arms length apart passing rifles all day in order to clear the barracks so that we could stay there. About one hundred Japanese civilians were helping us, and yet it seemed as if we would never finish. There were a few thousand guns in that barracks. I handled Japanese rifles until I could hardly walk! The guns were then taken to the down town area and dumped into the ocean.
In the barracks we had running water and electricity, which we had been without for over a year! We got to take our first hot water showers, after so long. The showers definitely felt good. It was much colder than I expected. It was near freezing the first night that we stayed there. I used a sleeping bag and a blanket, and still nearly froze! It sure was nice to be in a place that actually had buildings, though. And we could hear trains too, which seemed to us jungle dwellers like the height of civilization!
There was a wood stove in our rifle barracks, and we would place long pieces of wood in it. One night, after the wood had burned, the end of a log fell off onto an oil covered floor and started a fire. I was zipped up in my sleeping bag, and had a hard time getting out to carry water, and put out the fire. We managed to save the building, but from what I have read, it later burnt to the ground after I was sent home.
As soon as we got settled, higher ranking officers took our guns from us. It was a goodwill gesture for American troops to be unarmed against the Japanese. I'm not sure, but I also think that this was in the surrender agreement. It was much more peaceful than I had imagined it would be. We had no trouble with our "captives". The Japanese performed many duties for us within days after we began to occupy their country. They worked as carpenters, plumbers, and household help for the occupation soldiers.
I was allowed my first pass in nearly sixteen months in the beginning of November, and I decided to go into town. Everything had been burned and destroyed. I couldn't see how one raid could have done so much damage. Some people in town told me that the city officials were warned of the raid, but that they didn't warn the people. There were many casualties. Apparently, Okayama had been hit by quite a few B29s. I couldn't imagine what Hiroshima must have looked like.
After the war was finished, I kept waiting to be discharged. I had been in the Army for two years. I didn't mind the Army, but I couldn't wait to get out and do what I wanted to, when I wanted to do it. I knew that I had traveled many places, many which I never wanted to see again. But some of the places were worth seeing.
I liked the camaraderie of the Army, but it is hard to be around the same fellows, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without a break. Don't get me wrong, the boys I met in the Army were the tops, but I could never get any time to myself! Without the fear and excitement of battle, I grew restless as we began training and undergoing inspections again, just like we were in the States. I just tried to take the Army in stride, while I was in it towards the end of my service.
To my surprise at the end of November, I was promoted to Staff Sergeant. I thought that I had too many points to receive a rating. I then made $125 a month. It didn't really matter, because I thought that I would be going home soon, but it was a nice surprise. I figured that I could make pretty good money if I stayed in the Army. Thirty dollars a week, plus food, shelter, and medical care was a pretty good deal. But, I wouldn't re-enlist if they gave me a General's pay!
At that same time, the seventy point men were leaving. One of my oldest buddies was going. He had been waiting for weeks, and you can bet he was tickled to go! Before they left, they received some kind of souvenir. At first they were giving out pistols, but by then most of the guys were getting sabers. I hoped that things would beginning moving faster now, and that I , too, would be discharged.
The company was setting up an educational program that interested me greatly. I was excited for it to start, as I was getting sick of drilling, exercises and gun drills. I signed up to take business accounting, arithmetic, and a course in poultry management. I didn't think that any of them would hurt me any. But I also I didn't think that I would be there much longer after it started, so I probably wouldn't get any thing good out of it.
I also remember getting a hair cut and a shave from a Japanese barber only 2 months after we stopped fighting them. I had terrible visions as the lady pulled a straight razor over my jugular vein. The oddest part was that there were women there giving us shaves! The complete package, cut and shave, cost me seven cents. That is how destitute the Japanese were after the war ended.
In early December, before the educational program was organized, I was sent out into the country on an M.P. job to an outpost, 70 miles from headquarters. It sounded some what like a vacation to me. There wasn't much for us to do besides, eat, sleep and patrol the village once in a while. At least we didn't have to train during that period. I was sent out, in charge of ten men. We traveled by train. It took four hours to get there because it was way up in the mountains.
The village that we were posted in was called Doi. We lived in what used to be a hotel.
There were beds with real mattresses, as opposed to the cots I had become accustomed to. Two of our guys did the cooking, and the other eight pulled guard at the railroad station. Our job was to check the trains to see if there is anyone on them that shouldn't be. There were about eight Japanese girls who worked for the station master. While in Doi, we taught them English, and they taught us Japanese. My only real duty was to phone headquarters everyday, and let them know that everything was okay. Although, it usually took about two hours to get the call through.
The people there treated us very well. I think that they liked to have us around. We had two interpreters, and two policemen, who stayed with us in the hotel. The policemen could not speak English. One of the boys that came up with us was not quite all there, if you know what I mean. He was a little crazy, so I decided to send him back to camp. The people in Doi were afraid of him. They wanted him to leave, and said he was insane. One night he claimed that I had burnt him all up. He also said that he was Sergeant, and that he was going home. The boys, as well as the people, were relieved when he finally left.
While at the outpost, I saw the first snow that I had seen in twenty months. It didn't amount to much, and back home, it probably wouldn't be called a snow storm. It was just enough for me though. I decided that I could tolerate heat better than cold, but the snow reminded me of where I had come from quite some time before.
One day in mid December, the station agent invited me to his home. The first thing that I had to do when I entered was take off my shoes. The floors were all covered in thick soft mats. The agent told me that they even slept on these mats. His house was very neat, and contained minimal furniture. He had a dresser, and a low table with some cushions to sit on. The house had many windows, and was very sunny.
He had many pictures, which I later discovered were screens, that reminded me of a roll of wallpaper. They were about eight feet long. They were pretty, but the agent and his family thought that they were absolutely wonderful. The station agent was an antique collector, and he showed me his collection, as well. He had a lot of old pottery. Some of the pieces that he had were over four hundred years old, and they looked it too! There was a lot of history behind them, which I have forgotten.
I was served my daily tea, as we sat on the cushions around the low table. I was surprised that the only heating mechanism in the house was a large pot, in which they burnt charcoal. I thought that they would freeze, with only that pot to warm them. The agent was sort of lucky though, in that he had a cooking stove in his home. Before I left, the agent's family gave me a small tea pot, and four tea cups. It was a nice gift, although I wondered how I would get it home in one piece.
I brought the boys down to the silk mill in Doi for a tour. It was very interesting. They employed about 380 girls there. The process of weaving silk seemed very complicated to me. It took ten cocoons to make one silk thread. The threads were very fine, and had to been spun into one continuous piece.
The girls were paid one and a half yens a day, equivalent to our 10 cents. They worked ten hours a day, and I believe that they lived at the plant in some kind of dormitory. The mill exported almost all of its product. The tour guide gave us some cocoons, and some thread, and we also bought a big skein of silk thread, as a souvenir. As far as I could tell, the mill was somewhat like a girls school. They had kitchens, where they taught the girls to cook, and held classes in sewing, and Japanese etiquette.
On one occasion, my boys wanted some Saki. So, we jumped on bikes and rode ten miles to the Internal Revenue, signed in for some Saki, and peddled the bikes and the Saki back with us. We had to cart back five big bottles, and I carried them the whole way. The boys enjoyed the Saki, but I was beat after having ridden twenty miles on that bike. That was the last great expedition that we had at the outpost in Doi.
I got back to the company around the 16th of December. I guess that I should have been rested up, but I didn't feel too peppy. I hated to leave, as we had had such a good time there, and I dreaded the drills and exercises that I had to go back to. When I got back, it was back to good ol' Army life. Drills, inspections, exercises, the whole nine yards. I didn't mind it as much as I had thought that I would. I knew that I would be going home soon anyhow, so I stuck it out.
The major remembrance that I have from my stay in Japan as an occupation troop was the poverty that the war had caused the Japanese. An average Japanese working girl would make roughly 38 yen a month, if that. The people worked long hours, and didn't get much for their efforts. The particular girl I have in mind, worked at the railroad station where my troops and I were stationed. She worked as a clerk for the railroad, and made next to nothing for doing it. This was how it was for most of the Japanese people at that point in time. The worst thing for me was watching the poverty stricken Japanese watch as some of the guys played poker with thousands of yen. They would stare from a short distance; their eyes just about popping out of their heads at American wealth.
I was at the Outpost outside of Okayama when superior officers notified me that I had points enough to go home. I was thrilled at the news, and almost didn't quite believe them. It was the end of December, and I was on my way home, after months of thinking about it. I went to Nagoya and got on a new transport, the Admiral Rodmond, and arrived in San Diego in 9 days. I spent one week on a troop train towards home, and was finally discharged on January 13, 1946.
Just a Few Lines:
The Memoirs of Keith L. Winchenbach
Submitted by Jessica Winchenbach from handwritten notes
from her grandfather, Keith L. Winchenbach.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Published U.S. Legacies August 2004
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