Joseph Svinth
19th April 2002, 01:22
http://www.geocities.com/mikekarren/augustschanze.html
It's a long article, on a variety of topics, one of which includes service with Eighth Army HQ in Occupation Japan. A couple sample anecdotes.
1.
In 1946, the American President Line brought the first U.S. passenger line into Japan. They prevailed upon Emperor Hirohito to come aboard for lunch. The Emporer was confronted, for the first time in his life, with a buffet line. He had always been served. He paused and paused. No one knew how to get the Emperor started. Finally, the little fat, former GI chef saved the day – “Hey, Highness, can I get you a plate?”
2.
Suzuki and I went looking for a location for two headquarters. As we drove along the Bund, a boulevard along the waterfront, I looked to the offshore side. There was a three-story apartment house that was very modern with all large glass windows. Girls filled the entire side of the building, five or six to a window.
“What is that?” I asked. “It is a Japanese apartment house,” he said.
“Mr. Suzuki, what are all those girls doing there?”
“That is a present from the Japanese Government to the officers in the United States Army.’
I told Mr. Suzuki to have the driver stop. I went back to the squad of infantry and told the sergeant in charge to surround that building and not allow anyone to go in or out until I returned. I got back in the car and started off again.
We went to the NYK Building, the head office of the NYK Shipping Company, one of the largest in the world. Suzuki said this would be available as would the Custom House. The NYK Building would be Gen. Eichelberger’s headquarters.
The office walls were all filled with bundles of paper, each sheet about the size of a department store charge ticket. The bundles were about two feet long and about five inches high and tied together with a string. I told him we would have to have those removed. He gave the instructions and by the time we left they were already starting to remove the records.
We went to the Customs Building, which is about a block square and three stories tall. I told Suzuki we would take this building. Gen. MacArthurs’s headquarters commandant arrived and I told him this would be General MacArthur’s office. Then I went back to the Grand Hotel.
Things seemed to be going all right. Our adjutant general had established an office and my secretary was there. Gens. MacArthur and Eichelberger had arrived and were in their rooms. Gen. MacArthur’s staff was housed in the Grand Hotel. The 8th Army staff was housed in an apartment hotel, the Helm House, run by the Swiss. The 11th Airborne staff was in the Sun Oil compound.
Yokohoma is an island. It wasn’t originally, but it is now surrounded by canals crossed by many stone bridges. The canals are walled with stone and are 50 to 75 feet wide. The carry the sewage from Yokohoma to the bay. The 11th Airborne had placed a squad of men on each bridge.
About 6 or 7 o’clock I went in for dinner. We were served a meal of fish, cold boiled potatoes, apples and a quart of beer. The same meal was served three times a day until our food arrived by ship from Okinawa, three days later.
About 11 o’clock the Army Engineer, Col. Dave Dunn, came in. “Where do I sleep?” he asked. “Dave, I have a little apartment on the second floor of the Helm House with two beds. Let’s go over and hit the sack, I’m pooped,” I told him. Dave took the bed by the window.
The Helm House was in the same block and back-to-back with the modern apartment house we had seen earlier. There were bright lights in the apartment from top to bottom. In one all-glass windowed room a U.S. soldier and four Japanese girls – naked as jaybirds – were having a party.
“There’s your guard,” Dave said.
3. (Not Japan, but still amusing)
It was 2 o’clock on a very hot day. The Second Armored demonstration was on a sand and red clay terrain. The folding metal chairs for the observers were very hot until the body carried the heat away.
The adjutants general had been brought there ahead of time and they broiled in the sun. About 40 feet in front of the observers was a map board with markings on the map showing the intended maneuver.
The tank carrying Gen. Patton arrived exactly on time between the map board and the observers. The tank driver made a quarter turn bring the tank parallel to and close to the front row of generals. One track of the tank remained stationary while the other track churned a trench throwing a huge cloud of dust over the generals.
The tank door opened and Gen. Patton jumped to the ground. He was wearing a special, self-designed uniform. It closed on the right side, buttons ran up to the shoulder, along the shoulder to the neck, then up the standing collar. He wore two white handled pistols and a steel helmet with a general’s star. I was certainly not in keeping with Army protocol. One of the visiting generals brought the house down when he said, “my God, a man from Mars.” Whether it led to a change in Army uniform regulation, I cannot say. However, shortly after the incident, general officers no longer designed their own uniforms.
It's a long article, on a variety of topics, one of which includes service with Eighth Army HQ in Occupation Japan. A couple sample anecdotes.
1.
In 1946, the American President Line brought the first U.S. passenger line into Japan. They prevailed upon Emperor Hirohito to come aboard for lunch. The Emporer was confronted, for the first time in his life, with a buffet line. He had always been served. He paused and paused. No one knew how to get the Emperor started. Finally, the little fat, former GI chef saved the day – “Hey, Highness, can I get you a plate?”
2.
Suzuki and I went looking for a location for two headquarters. As we drove along the Bund, a boulevard along the waterfront, I looked to the offshore side. There was a three-story apartment house that was very modern with all large glass windows. Girls filled the entire side of the building, five or six to a window.
“What is that?” I asked. “It is a Japanese apartment house,” he said.
“Mr. Suzuki, what are all those girls doing there?”
“That is a present from the Japanese Government to the officers in the United States Army.’
I told Mr. Suzuki to have the driver stop. I went back to the squad of infantry and told the sergeant in charge to surround that building and not allow anyone to go in or out until I returned. I got back in the car and started off again.
We went to the NYK Building, the head office of the NYK Shipping Company, one of the largest in the world. Suzuki said this would be available as would the Custom House. The NYK Building would be Gen. Eichelberger’s headquarters.
The office walls were all filled with bundles of paper, each sheet about the size of a department store charge ticket. The bundles were about two feet long and about five inches high and tied together with a string. I told him we would have to have those removed. He gave the instructions and by the time we left they were already starting to remove the records.
We went to the Customs Building, which is about a block square and three stories tall. I told Suzuki we would take this building. Gen. MacArthurs’s headquarters commandant arrived and I told him this would be General MacArthur’s office. Then I went back to the Grand Hotel.
Things seemed to be going all right. Our adjutant general had established an office and my secretary was there. Gens. MacArthur and Eichelberger had arrived and were in their rooms. Gen. MacArthur’s staff was housed in the Grand Hotel. The 8th Army staff was housed in an apartment hotel, the Helm House, run by the Swiss. The 11th Airborne staff was in the Sun Oil compound.
Yokohoma is an island. It wasn’t originally, but it is now surrounded by canals crossed by many stone bridges. The canals are walled with stone and are 50 to 75 feet wide. The carry the sewage from Yokohoma to the bay. The 11th Airborne had placed a squad of men on each bridge.
About 6 or 7 o’clock I went in for dinner. We were served a meal of fish, cold boiled potatoes, apples and a quart of beer. The same meal was served three times a day until our food arrived by ship from Okinawa, three days later.
About 11 o’clock the Army Engineer, Col. Dave Dunn, came in. “Where do I sleep?” he asked. “Dave, I have a little apartment on the second floor of the Helm House with two beds. Let’s go over and hit the sack, I’m pooped,” I told him. Dave took the bed by the window.
The Helm House was in the same block and back-to-back with the modern apartment house we had seen earlier. There were bright lights in the apartment from top to bottom. In one all-glass windowed room a U.S. soldier and four Japanese girls – naked as jaybirds – were having a party.
“There’s your guard,” Dave said.
3. (Not Japan, but still amusing)
It was 2 o’clock on a very hot day. The Second Armored demonstration was on a sand and red clay terrain. The folding metal chairs for the observers were very hot until the body carried the heat away.
The adjutants general had been brought there ahead of time and they broiled in the sun. About 40 feet in front of the observers was a map board with markings on the map showing the intended maneuver.
The tank carrying Gen. Patton arrived exactly on time between the map board and the observers. The tank driver made a quarter turn bring the tank parallel to and close to the front row of generals. One track of the tank remained stationary while the other track churned a trench throwing a huge cloud of dust over the generals.
The tank door opened and Gen. Patton jumped to the ground. He was wearing a special, self-designed uniform. It closed on the right side, buttons ran up to the shoulder, along the shoulder to the neck, then up the standing collar. He wore two white handled pistols and a steel helmet with a general’s star. I was certainly not in keeping with Army protocol. One of the visiting generals brought the house down when he said, “my God, a man from Mars.” Whether it led to a change in Army uniform regulation, I cannot say. However, shortly after the incident, general officers no longer designed their own uniforms.