001528204 001__ 1528204
001528204 005__ 20240630081253.0
001528204 02480 $$aMSS 116-01-01-doc-094
001528204 037__ $$aDA
001528204 041__ $$aeng
001528204 245__ $$aLetter to June Meyer and Morgan Meyer from Owen Hamilton in Nara, Japan
001528204 260__ $$bUniversity of Southern Indiana$$cOctober 22, 1945
001528204 269__ $$a1945
001528204 347__ $$a300-600 dpi
001528204 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 says he's disappointed not to have received the clipping about him, and if they haven't tossed it, to send it along. He's going to try and answer their questions. First, his health is great, but with only 46 points his morale is low. He doesn't know how soon he will be able to come home, but with 18 months overseas and 2 years without a furlough, it shouldn't be long. There's nothing to do but sweat it out--he doesn't feel like he can do this, but there's no recourse. The 98th division is in the first corps of the 6th Army and he's stationed about 2 miles from the 6th Army HQ in Nara. As for the trip over, they left Pearl Harbor on Sept. 6 and made an amphibious landing in Japan on Sept. 27. They stayed at the harbor at Saipan for 3 days, 2 of which they were allowed to go ashore. Being the sight-seeing type, he bummed his way around the island and saw the sights of interest. His first 3 weeks on Japan were spent in miserable conditions, so that explains his negative outlook in some of the letters. But the pain is forgotten and now that seems just like a bad dream. In town they have several geisha houses. A geisha house is a place to go for sake and a girl to entertain you. It made him smile to try to talk to someone who doesn't understand you. They sing and dance, and after hearing their music, he knows why they lost the war. The houses aren't put together ""worth a damn"" and all you have to do is lean on them and they collapse. You can just imagine what happens when an American GI has a little sake under his belt. When he gets home they should ask him about the battle of Nara. He went into Osaka and saw the Danny Kaye show, which was held in a theatre and was nice. They should see Japan because it is an education in itself. Osaka is about the size of Chicago but the B-29s have done a number on it. It was a modern town, the best he can determine. They don't go in for skyscrapers due to earthquakes, but the buildings cover wide areas and are as modern as ours. There is a part of town that reminds him of Michigan Blvd. in Chicago. It's funny to see the Japanese running around in their wooden shoes, cheering them. He thinks they're amazed at the strength in equipment which they have. We have the best equipment in the world. They should have seen the convoy they were in when they hit Japan. It was just like a moving picture with miles and miles of ships--aircraft carriers, battleships, troop transport ships, etc. as far as you could see. This was only one landing, and when you multiply that by all the landings in different places, you can see that no one could defeat us. It was hard to believe how little the Japanese had when they went ashore. Two Japanese. man for man make one good American, and if they didn't already know this, they will before the Americans leave. Their next assignment is to disarm certain parts of town. They will go from house to house searching for weapons and it should be interesting--stay tuned for some good stories. The town is about 100 miles away and they'll take a train so there will be some sight seeing. This is what he expects to do for some time--he didn't think he'd end up an M.P. He's glad to be doing something as just sitting around drives you crazy.
001528204 542__ $$fhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/
001528204 6531_ $$aPersonal Correspondence
001528204 6531_ $$aRelated Materials -- 1901-1950
001528204 655__ $$aDocument
001528204 691__ $$aJapan
001528204 7001_ $$aOwen Hamilton
001528204 8564_ $$9f73d8be4-949c-409f-b8f7-ea0da9531ec8$$s1617232$$uhttps://library.usi.edu/record/1528204/files/26276.pdf
001528204 909CO $$ooai:library.usi.edu:1528204$$pGLOBAL_SET
001528204 914__ $$ap17218coll2
001528204 980__ $$aSpecial & Regional History Collection
001528204 984__ $$aOwen Hamilton Collection
001528204 985__ $$aText