001528117 001__ 1528117
001528117 005__ 20240630081246.0
001528117 02480 $$aMSS 116-01-01-doc-092
001528117 037__ $$aDA
001528117 041__ $$aeng
001528117 245__ $$aLetter to June Meyer and Morgan Meyer from Owen Hamilton in Japan
001528117 260__ $$bUniversity of Southern Indiana$$cOctober 1, 1945
001528117 269__ $$a1945
001528117 347__ $$a300-600 dpi
001528117 520__ $$aCorrespondence from Owen Hamilton to his sister June Meyer and brother-in-law Morgan Meyer (June E. Hooe Hamilton Meyer, 1919-2010 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81471045/june-e_hooe-meyer) and (Morgan G. Meyer, 1916-2000 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43119273/morgan-g.-meyer). He addresses this letter to Dear Folks, but it's a near certainty that this refers to his sister and brother-in-law. In the 4 days he's been there he's seen so much. He feels like Tojo, Hirohito, and all the boys in one as he walks down the street--the soldiers salute and the ordinary people step out of your way and bow. It's hard to believe how bold they were a few months ago compared to this. He feels like looking over his shoulder when he passes someone, to see if they are going to knife him in the back. They are still stationed on the beaches and it is miserable. We came in looking like they were ready to fight and they were there saluting and bowing. He could not believe his eyes as they seem to have no defense against invasion. If the war had gone on he thinks they would have had less trouble taking the home island than the others, but thank God they didn't have to fight. After seeing the bomb damage, he's grateful the war never came home to his family. The people are starving; his division is living like dogs but they are far better off. Japan has been so thoroughly beaten that if they handle this right now, they will never again be a threat. It's an insult to a country as big and powerful as the U.S. that the Japanese thought they could lick us. The kids are really cute--he gets his Japanese book out and calls them over and gives them candy. They eat it up so that it seems like they've not eaten before. The way they smile and thank you makes you feel like you've done a good deed for the day. Even though they were the enemy, it would be a sin not to give something to these starving kids. He says he's never been so miserable in his life, but that he wouldn't take $1 million for the experience. When he thinks of how big a baby he was in civilian life he's ashamed of himself. He used to gripe when his eggs were overdone or his blanket not tucked in at the bottom. Now he sleeps in the dirt with the ants and the bugs and gets up and eats meat and beans out of a can. They are to remind him of this if he complains again. The hardest thing is to bathe in half a helmet of water. You're no cleaner than when you started but they all smell dirty so who will notice. They hope to move to their permanent station in Osaka in about a week, so conditions will improve. About the time they get if fixed up he'll be discharged, but he's more than OK with that.
001528117 542__ $$fhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/
001528117 6531_ $$aPersonal Correspondence
001528117 6531_ $$aRelated Materials -- 1901-1950
001528117 655__ $$aDocument
001528117 691__ $$aJapan
001528117 7001_ $$aOwen Hamilton
001528117 8564_ $$91dda4ed3-79ef-410e-9a42-b41c933fe838$$s1318141$$uhttps://library.usi.edu/record/1528117/files/26535.pdf
001528117 909CO $$ooai:library.usi.edu:1528117$$pGLOBAL_SET
001528117 914__ $$ap17218coll2
001528117 980__ $$aSpecial & Regional History Collection
001528117 984__ $$aOwen Hamilton Collection
001528117 985__ $$aText