For a while the group sat silent; perhaps pondering whether Hunt or Creamer would carry on. Mrs. Brown took this opportunity to ask, after rising, each of us in turn if we wanted coffee or water along with perhaps a homemade cookie or a piece of cake, and several, including me, took advantage of the offer. During this interlude, I had time to reflect upon the fact that Creamer and Brown were still, after the passing of so many years since this event, usually adhering to proper military terms when referring to their officers, and always when addressing Hunt directly. Of course, Hunt was also the oldest of the three.
After we had refreshed ourselves while stirring around a bit, and were again seated, Hunt began by describing the rescue, "Before I begin my recollections of how we were picked up, I would state that at best they are hazy. Joe was obviously groggy, if even conscious; all of us were in pretty bad shape. The ship looked like a giant towering above our little raft. A bunch of sailors were gathered along the deck railing and a rope ladder was being lowered, which I managed to grab onto and begin climbing. Grabbing on wasn't easy because even though the ship cut the action of the waves way down, it was still a matter of several feet and only seconds between high to low.
"Some sailors helped pull me onto the deck when I neared the top. I probably couldn't have made it on there by myself. Then, hearing the sailors along the rail shouting while pointing down, I looked over. Carl knows more about what was going on down there, so I am going to let him take over."
"Well, I finally managed to grab onto that ladder and had started up when I looked back down and saw that Joe had somehow slipped off the raft and was floating away from the side of the ship. I was too far gone to go back down there in the water, so I hollered at him but nothing happened. Then a rope came tumbling down and I managed to hang on while throwing a coil of the rope toward him while yelling, 'Grab that rope, Brownie!'
" It wasn't easy because that ladder was slamming back and forth against the side of the ship. The rope landed on top of the water alongside him and I guess what some would call a miracle happened right then. He raised his arm and clamped the rope tightly enough against his body that I could drag him over to loop it around under his arms and put a half-hitch in it to hold it there—that's all, just a half-hitch, which any sailor knows isn't very secure.
"While I was climbing back up, those sailors were hauling Joe up out of that water. He was big, the biggest of us, and his clothes were saturated with water We were told later it took all that four of those sailors could do to hoist him aboard."
Hunt broke in, saying, "Yes, that was later, when that Japanese lieutenant used to come and talk to us sometimes. He compared it to pulling up a whale. If you don't mind, Carl, I will add something else. They helped me to a shower room of some sort, took off my clothes, and turned on the water. At first I didn't feel anything, but maybe because my skin was thawing out that water began feeling like it was scalding hot. Do you two remember me telling that officer about it and him laughing while saying, 'We do not have hot water showers.'?"
Carl replied, "Yes. I remember that. After they showered me they took us down a passageway after giving us some pajama-looking things to wear and long coats with fur around the collars. We ended up in a little compartment that turned out to be at the very back end of the ship and was above the water line because there were two portholes, covered, on each side.
"Canvas sheets had been rigged to divide the compartment into three parts of roughly equal sized parts with a couch-like bed in each. We had been ordered to not talk to each other, and the sheets prevented us from seeing or sending signals. However, something to eat was carried in three times each day and we ate together at a table placed near the center of the compartment, but no talking was allowed. Two guards, armed with bayonet-tipped rifles, always stood, one to each side of the entrance door—twenty-four hours a day, watching us with 'eagle' eyes glaring from impassive looking faces.
"They brought Joe in a while later, on a litter carried by four sailors, and put him on one of the beds. He had on pajamas. They covered him with a heap of blankets—I'd guess as much as six inches deep.
"I remember when Joe came to. That was the next day. The sheet that would have been between us had been left drawn back, probably because he had been unconscious. I noticed his head move; then he was looking at me and started to say something. They had told us that we would be severely punished if we tried to talk to each other, so I put my finger to my lips and shook my head side to side. He seemed to understand, but one of those guards at the door came over quickly and told him, 'No speak! No speak!' I think all of them had been told what to say, in English, if we did try to talk to each other. Joe, do you want to tell your recollections upon waking up?"
"Yes I will. I recall starting to say something to you and what you and that guard did. The first thing I noticed was the weight of those blankets, and then saw how they towered above my chin. I looked to the right and saw what appeared to be two man-like creatures standing with what I took to be long spears at their sides. My vision was quite blurry and I thought they looked like those devils the old-time preachers in the swamps were always describing, standing around with the spears they used to prod sinners into the fiery furnace, and I thought, 'Sure enough, I've ended up in hell.'"
This sparked peals of laughter around the table; I couldn't help chuckling too. Brown even chuckled a bit.
"Then I looked again, and my vision must have improved because I saw right off they were really Japanese sailors. Then is when I looked the other way and saw you, Carl. After that I began examining myself. Having already noticed that my neck seemed stiff—even hurt when I had turned my head, I pulled an arm from under the blankets; not easy because the joints were stiff. When I moved a finger, even, I had to concentrate to get it back where it had been and when I doubled my hand into a fist, had to bring the other hand out to push the fingers straight again. I tried moving my legs and they behaved the same way. I felt quite well until I moved.
"After a while a little Japanese sailor came in, approached my bed and asked, in fairly good English, how I was feeling, my name and what state I was from, and then carefully repeated his name, Yoshio Sato, until I could say it to his satisfaction. He didn't stay very long that time, but on succeeding days came in often to spend time trying to teach me some commonly used Japanese words, how to count in Japanese, and even write the Katakana alphabet. If any of you are interested, I would say more about that later.
"My next visitor, as I recall, was a Japanese officer who said he was a doctor. He spoke good English and examined me very carefully by having me move all my joints and apparently even tested my memory and reasoning capabilities. He seemed quite astonished to find me in what he concluded to be good health, even telling me that before departing.
"All this seemed pleasant enough until, maybe only a few minutes later, a pair of armed sailors came along, had me get up, and motioned that we would be going out of that compartment. That's when I found out how stiff I really was; able to only shuffle along a passageway for a considerable distance before one opened a door and we went in. The room we entered was much longer than wide. Directly ahead was a table perhaps five feet wide with a row of about a dozen chairs on each side. They motioned me to one on the right, about halfway along, then stationed themselves at each side of the door, inside, facing me.
"Within a minute or so, a man who appeared to be a high ranking officer entered briskly, followed by several others. He seated himself to my left and the others in seats to each side of us. The first, on each side, laid a notepad on the table, pen or pencil in hand, as if ready to take notes. More and more filed in then until the seats were filled and the room was jammed with standees, all staring intently at me. Through my mind passed recollections of having seen, long years before, a bunch of buzzards grouped about the carcass of a dead cow.
"The high ranking officer turned to me and asked my name, rank, and home address, which I noticed the scribes to each side seemed to meticulously enter onto their pads. Then he glowered at me while stating, 'If you do not tell the truth I will kill you, by order of my commanding officer! Do you understand?'
"What a rude awakening! My thoughts raced—'His commanding officer?—Who, then, was he?—What do I say now?'
"I must have hesitated too long to suit somebody because I felt a sharp rap on the top of my head, and turned to see that an officer behind had tapped me on the head with a pencil. He spoke sharply, 'Answer the question!'
" I turned to the 'big shot' and said, 'I didn't understand it very well', to which he responded by carefully and more loudly shouting the same question but ending with, 'Do you understand now?'
"'Yes,' I replied.
"The very next question told me, as the old saying goes—'which way the wind was blowing'—'Where did you land after leaving Dutch Harbor?'
"Again my thoughts were racing—'How did he know we had come from Dutch Harbor?—Why does he think we landed anywhere?—They must have already questioned Mr. Hunt and Carl—Did either confess to having landed at that secret army airfield soon after having left Dutch Harbor?—and answered my own question by reasoning, 'No, they didn't because these "birds" obviously don't know where it is—they are bluffing,' cut short by another rap on the head and a louder, 'Answer the question!' "I did—'I didn't know we landed anywhere.'
Then he wanted to know what time we had left Dutch Harbor. Wow! That was a puzzler sure enough! Too soon and it would look like we must have landed somewhere else; too late and maybe we couldn't have flown to where we were, wherever that was, in that amount of time. I reasoned he was naming Dutch Harbor as where we had come from as there was no other PBY base in the area, that I knew of. I finally said it had been dark and I was sleepy but thought it had been about midnight.
"There were many more questions, most of which I answered with, 'I don't know,' which for the most part was the truth. Some were the same as before—to try to trip me up, I surmised; all of which, I noticed,those guys with the pads were scribbling down like crazy.
I'm guessing that this had gone on for half an hour when the officer glared at me and yelled, 'You are very stupid!'
"I do not recall ever knowing or even asking what occurred when either of you were questioned, which had undoubtedly happened before I was questioned. Would either of you care to comment on that?
Creamer and Hunt looked at each other until Hunt straightened up and stated, "That's about the way it went with me. How about you, Carl?"
"About the same, only I was accused of lying a couple of times. Brownie, did they accuse you of lying?"
"Not that I recall—just the 'big shot' saying I was stupid, so I'm guessing he thought I was too ignorant to lie."
Carl went on then, "I remember that sailor coming down there, sometimes almost every day, for a little while at least, and helping you learn to count in Japanese and how to write some. I've always wondered why you did that. I sure wasn't interested in being friendly with any of them."
"Well, I had always been a good student in school. By that I mean usually knowing the answers and getting good grades. Looking back, I think that was because we had a considerable number of books at home that weren't available to most kids around, and I read those things a lot. I don't recall learning much in school; I already knew about most of that stuff. I was always interested in knowing about things, no matter what they were.
"Yeah, they were the enemy, but it was something to do. We were just there. They didn't ask us, or even try to make us, do anything—not even wash our clothes or anything else like that. I suppose both of you remember that officer, Lt. Shiraishi, coming down there now and then to spend sometimes an hour or so. I remember Mr. Hunt asking him what time we were pulled out of the water and the lieutenant saying it had been about eleven o'clock. He also said he had been the one who had spotted us first and had suggested to the captain that we be picked up, which the captain had then said was too risky but finally did after he, the lieutenant, had argued that we might be a source of valuable information.
"I also recall him saying that when there seemed to be some question as to whether we could climb that rope ladder, he ran down the deck, had a small boat lowered with him in it and paddled around the rear of the ship to help us. Then, seeing you two had climbed up and the sailors were pulling me up, he paddled back around; also claiming he had an awful hard time doing that because of having to buck the wind and big waves.
"I was suspicious of him at first, thinking he was doing that to trick us into saying something to give at least a clue as to what they wanted to know, but he never asked anything, or said anything, about the war or our situation. Unless one of you wants to comment on that, or something else, I would move on to the day they suddenly separated us. That was the day after I was questioned, I think."
After looking from Creamer to Hunt, and seeing them shake their heads, Brown continued, "I was escorted forward by two sailors armed with bayonet-tipped rifles to the same room in which I had been questioned. I had been counting the steps made to get to the benjo—toilet—to arrive at some idea as to how big the ship was, and even asked for extra trips to the toilet at odd times to see more of the activities, like how they took their meals and slept. The count this time was a little farther—about 270, but they would not have been the full strides I was ordinarily capable of making.