"Never
talk about strangers around you--even if the remarks are cloaked in
Japanese. John learned that--the hard
way-Friday night. While waiting for the
bus he commented on the large number of captains and commanders standing near
us--in Japanese, of course. Spotting a
scrambled-eggs man eyeing him with an amused smile, I said to John, 'Be careful
what you say' in Japanese; whereupon the commander responded with a "Hai,
ki wo tuske nasai', meaning: 'Yes, be careful'.
He got a big kick out of the incident; then told us that he had taken
the course under Naganuma, himself, (author of our textbook) while stationed at
the embassy in Tokyo....
"The
office was brightened up considerably last Thursday, when the WAC nisei
translators moved in. We've had women
around, but they were all women of 30--WAVES who are now being discharged. Judging from the stir the younger army girls
created, Cmdr. Steele may have a fraternization problem on his hands."
--
Letter from my father, Washington, D.C.,
to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Saturday, April 6, 1946.
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