"The
Language school will fold up in September according to the navy. It's being whittled down right now. All but 8 of the 30 Japanese instructors have
received notice of dismissal in March.
That's right after our class of 22 goes out (half the school.) Some of the teachers are giving up their jobs
with regrets. $3000 to $3500 per year
seems to be an average salary. It'll be
a blow to go back to running grocery stores, being chauffeurs, or underpaid
college instructors as some were before the war....
"My
ex-roommate Jim Allen who transferred out in September has a high sounding job
now. He's head of the department of
welfare and labor in Jinazu Province of Okinawa. (Knowing Jim as I do and his immature
attitude toward life I'm just a little worried about the laboring class over in
Jinazu Prefecture). He says the chances
to use Japanese are limitless. The
second day the island commander used him as an interpreter - with 'horrifying
results'. Things like 'When did the pump
break down' and "Do you have a lock for the jail' stumped him."
--
Letter from my father, Boulder, Colo., to his family, Bloomington, Kans.,
Friday, January 5, 1945.
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