THE MAN WHO COULD SPEAK JAPANESE Bv WILLLAMMANCHESTER

Fur sheer pn:foor2nl b~n l ado in t/9c-fncc of st+jy*liu!/r odk , W/~itf:?~ k p f @man, oir t11c fnntnil of' t l fc U.S.S. Mort011 en 1'01,tt~ t o Gzrnhlcannl 117m a p n z ~ i ? epic of World War II

I n t l ~ c spring of 1944 rhc Urlitcci Statcs Marine C:orps formed its la riHc rcgui~l l t of World War 11, the 29th Marines, in Ncur hver , Non

Carolina. The first of its thrce battalions n r n s alrc;~J!r ovcrscas, havin been builr around es-IXaidcrs and parachutists ~ ~ h o had fought a Guaddcanal. Taraura, and Saipan. Grcat pains werc bcing taken to mal the other niro battalions wonl1!f of them. Thc troops assembling in Ne Ri\fer \ircre picked mcn. Oificcl-s a1c1 kcy noncoms had already bee11 tcste in battles against the cnem!; sncl though feiv riflemen in thc line comp: nies had been under tire, thr!~ tcndcd to be hu lk l~~g , deep-voiccd mesc 111orphs nfhosc records suggested that they \~.ould perfom1 \\?ell \vhen the too, hit rhc beach. Tl~cl-c was. ho\vc\?c~+, onc sm;~ll hand of exception 'I'hcsc \\,ere thc nineteen c~~l is tcd men comprising the intelligence sectic of thc 2 9 t h ' ~ sccol~ri btlttalior1. All ninctccn ivcl-e Officer Candida~ \\.ashouts. I, also a \\rashout, led thcm. M!. rank \itas Cor.pora1, actin I'latoon Sergeant- Acting John.

We \\tcrc, cilcrv one ot' us, military misfits, collcgc students who in fe\vr of patri~tisnl l~ad rushed to thc Marine Corps' Oficcr Candidal School at Quantico, Virginia, alld had subscqucntl! been rcjected becaus, for \.arious rc;~sons, ulc did 11ot confi~rin \zit11 the established concept c ho\ir ofticers should look, speak, and act. Chcr Prg.sr;x\vski of' Colgatc, fc cs,~mplc, had a builri likc Charles Atlas bur a \.oicc likc Lily Pons: when t \~cllcJ a conlmar~ci, tile etti.cr was that of ;III ccric shriek. Ace Lij~ick of tk ~nivcrsity of Virginia had no scnsc of direction; at Quantico he ha Hunkcd map rca~iing. Jc1.l-y Collins, J YJIC man. \\!as painfully shy. Sta Zoglin, a Cantah. had poor posture. Mack Yates o f OIc Miss wol

/spectacles. Torn Jasper of Brown and I had been insubordinate. I had jrefuscd to clean a riflc on the ground tlmat it was already clean, and I 1 suffered the added stigma of being scrawny. I've forgotten the order Jasper ldisobe)rcd, though I knew that he too had anothcr count against him: he ' admired the Japanese enormously.

Sy Ivicc of Chicago christened us "the Raggedy-Ass Marines." T h ~ t was about the s i x of it. Love had died bctwcen us and the Marine Corps. The rest of the battalion amiably addressed us as "Mac"-all enlisted Marincs wcre "Mac" to their officers and to one another-but there w7as a widcspread awareness that we were unsuitably bookish, slack on thc drill field, and generally bc~lcath the fastidious stateside standards established in the Corps' 169-year history. If there had been such a thing as a Military Quotient, the spit-and-polish equivalent of an Intelligcncc Quotient, our M.Q. would havc been pegged at about 78. It is fair to add that this rating would havc becn confined to our parade-ground performance. We were regarded as good combat prospects. All of us. I belicvc, had qualified o n the Parris Island, South Carolitma, riflc range as Sharpshooters or Expert Riflemen. I t was thought (and, as it provcd, rightly so) that we ~s~ould bc useful in battle. Our problcnl. or rathcr the problem of our leaders, was that we lacked what the British army cdls Quetta manncrs. We wcrcn't properly starched and blancoed, weren't martially prepossessing-wercdt, in a word, good for thc 29 th '~ image.

We were rarcly given liberty, because our company conu-nandcr was ashamed to let civilians see us wearing the corps uniform. Shirttails out, buttons nissing, fore-and-afi (overseas) caps down around our cars-these were signs that wc had lost our drill-field ardor in OCS and wcre playing our roles of incorrigible eccentrics to the hilt. We looked like caricatures from cartoons in the The Leatbemeclz, the Marine Corps cclui\r~lcnt o f Tank, and the onl?. reason our betters allowed us to stav together, setting a bad csaniplc to one anothcr and damaging bartalio~i elan, wew a prolei- sion in thc official Table of Organization for an intelligcnce sectio~l ancl our q~~aliticntiotms for membership in it. Hctwccn Quantico and .~ssisn- mcnt to the 29th we had d l atterlded something called intelligence school. Thcoretically wc were cxpcrts in identi@ing enemy units by searching Jap corpses, recognizing the silhouettes of Zero fighters, reconnoitering bc- hind the lincs. ctc. It was all rathcr vague. If wc proved uscless in thcsc tasks, our cornnlandcrs knew t11'1t we coulci always be ~ s c d for odd jobs.

Mca~mwhilc we carried out e s l ~ ~ ~ u s t i n g training cxcrciscs in the Carolina boondocks, inflating rubber boats, getting snarled in bales of conmmunica- tions wire, car?.ing out simulated patrol missions at night. Whcnc\lcr it was L~i~ick's turn to kccy thc mcIp, ~r.c \r.ould van~sh into the yincJr \\roods, subsisting on K and D rations fix hours until wc wcre found thr,~shing

THE MAN WHO COUI.L> SPEAK JAI'ANESI:

ity. For the most part it \\.as an uneventful time, however. Nothing int e s t i g secnled likel\r to happen before we were shipped o\vrseas.

Then one morni;lg the battalion adjutant sununoncd me. "Mac." "Sir." "You will square a\\,a\. to snap in a ncw rnan." Marine Corps orders \rfrrc al\\*a!,s given this \\.a!,: LLYoiou will scru

bulkheads," "You \trill police this area." "You will hold a field dav." The was onl!. one permissi blc response.

"Avc, aye, sir," I said. "He's n Japanese-language interpreter," hc said. "A alhnt?" In 1944 \*irtuall\l no onc in the M ~ r i n c Corps spoke Japanese. Unli

the ETO, \rfhct-c plcnn- o f GI's \ircrc hilingu;~l. A r n ~ r i c ~ ~ n s were i t a seve linguistic disadvantage in the Pacific. It was \vorscned bv the fact th many Japs spoke English; thcv could eavesdrop on our combat tclcphoncs. As a rcsult, b!~ the third !!car of the \v'u the hcadqu company of each Marine battalion carried on its roster a fill-blo Na\.aho nrho could conlmunlcate o\.cr radiophorles in his o\\.n t ivith the Na\.ahos in other battalions. After the outbreak of thc war ingt011 had set up se\.cral crash courses to teach Japanese to bright voung Amcrica~s, but the first graduates \ \70u ld~~t emerge until the spring of 1945.

"We'll be the only outfit v.ith its o\\'rl tr,~~~sl,ltor," hc said. "Sir." "Pri\?atc Harold Dumas \\-ill be coming d0~t .n fronl post headquarten

at fourteen hundred." That \\*as too much. "Hc's only a plr'l,ntc?" "Knock it o f ! " "A\.c, ,l!.c, s i r." A noncom mtasn't supposed to question higher \tcisdom, but clearly

thcrc lvas something odd hcl-c. Back in our p\.rarnidkll tent I passed the \ \ r o ~ - ~ i .ullong rn! pcoplc. \ i~l~ose :~stonishrncnt inatchcd mine. Their first reaction \\;as that I was sno\tring them, but within an hour thc dope was confirmed by thc scrgcnnt major, 3 bright little sprro\v of '1 man named John Guard. Guard had s o n ~ c intrigui~lg dctails, including an csplanai tion for the rr~~nslator's lo\\. rank. Until rcccntly-nvo d a y ago, in' t;lct--Hnrold 1)umas h.ld bccn locked up in Portsmouth nn~tal prison. Thc nature of his o f insc \\CIS unknown to Guard. but the sergeant major kncn. \\.here Dum'ls nras bclic\~cd to haw lcarncd Japnncsc. Hc was a ndti\.c of Calitbrnia; his neighbors had bccn Issci (first-generation

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J

Willtnrw Mn~rchcrtcr

Japanese-An~cr~cans) mid Nisei (children of Issci) . The fact that the ncwconler was a Californian is important to an under-

standing of what happened later. The Marinc Corps maintained a rigid geographical segregation. Every man enlisting east of thc Mississippi was sent to boot camp at Parris Island and shipped to New k v e r after his recniit training. West of the Mississippi, boots went to the San Dicgo base and, once they had qualified, to nearbv Camp Pendleton. Virtuall!, none of us in Tent City knew anything about lifc on thc Wcst Coast. We had neiVcr sscn a giant rcdwood, o r the Grand Canyon, or Holl~?\-ood. We had ne\.er even met anyone from California until Harold Dumas ar- rived that afternoon at two o'clock.

He made a great entrance. H e %.as wearing a saln- barracks (visored) cap, a field scarf (necktic) so bleached that it \vas almost \\,hitc, hca\.il\, starched khakis, and high-top dress shoes. The shoes \\.ere cspcci'~ll!. impressive. The Marine Corps had stopped issuing high-tops afres Pearl Harbor. and the!, were thcrcforc a great status symbol, signitj-ins mcm bership in the elite prewar Old Corps Dumas \\.as the only post-Pearl Marine I ever knew ~ ? h o had them, but then, he \\.as unusual in lots of\va\s.

Prcposscssing is the word that best describes him. though it is sc;dl,. inadequatc. The nlorncnr he strode into Tent Cih. mith his elbo\vs swing- ing widc, evet71 eve was on him. Six foot two, with a magnificent phvsique. he carried himself like Rxldolph Scott in ?b thc Shorcr o f Trpoli, thc movie that had conned thousands of Marines into joining up. His face was freckled, his c y s were sky-blue, his cxprcssion was n.holly uithout guile; he was a man !.ou tr~istcd instinctivcl\; whose c\lcr! \\,orci \ l o ~ ~ believed, tor whose reputation you would fight. and whose friend lrou longed to be. When hc removed thc barracks cap, he was a towhcad; and even befbre wrc met him-before that firm, hearty handclasp that charac- terized all his greetings-he was known to us simplv as "Whitcv."

"The namc's Dumas," he said in a rich, manly baritone, looking strc~ight at you \iith a11 expression that, in those days bctore Madison Arcn~ic had corrupted the \\lord, a)uld on11 he callcd sincere. Sinccrigr c ~ n a n ~ t c d tiurn him; so did L\n air of achic\~cmcnt. White!, \\*as in his micl-t\\~cnr~cs, years older t h a l thc rest of us, and it de\,clopcd that hc had uscd his time well. No one could call him a braggart-he ivas in fact conspicuousl~. modest-but o\,cr the nest f c ~ i \\reeks particulars sbour his b.lckgrounc1 slipped out naturally in normal conversation. He had bccn a ncwspapcr- man and a profcssional boxes. The fact that 11c had rnadc monci in the ring had been his undoing, accounting fix his imprisonmentl he h.~d slugged a bully in a San Francisco bar, and under C~lifornia la\\., hc explained, a bl&v bv a professional fighter \\,as regarded as assault \\,it11 a deadl~ wrcapon. If i; hadn't bccn h)l- his kno\r,ledgc of Japancsc, \\.hich llc

-7 I

had chsclosed to the authorities in Portsmouth, hc would still be i__ dreary exercise yard therc. r d

"Isn't it typical of the Marine Corps to keep him a private?" Yates.! scornfully. "In the Army he'd be at least a major." :-.j

The more we saw of Whitev. the more we admired him. H c was evi thing wc wanted to be. He ivcn had a sexy wife, a Paramount sm After much coaxing he was persuaded to produce a picture of her, eight-by-ten glossy print of a beaming blonde in a bathing suit; it signed "With all my love-Laveme." Even more impressive, Whitey, like most of us, was a combat veteran. He had been a machine gunne the 1st Marines during the early days on Guadalcanal. This was a ma of special interest to Sy Ivicc, who had landed on the 'Canal later with 2d Marines. Sv wanted to reminisce about those davs with Whitev. Whitey po~itel-~ declined. He had lost two of his best buddies in &; fight along the Tenaru River, he told us, and he didn't want to talk aboul

-whitey's greatest achievement, of course, was his mastery of the ex language, the attainment that had sprung him from Portsmouth, was far too valuable to be confined to mv section. Shodv afier we cros the countrv bv t roo~ train and encarnkd at Linda ~ i i t a - north o f , Diego, preparatory to boarding ship, our gifted ex-con attracted the an tion of the 29th '~ commanding officcr, Colonel George F. Hastings. t tings was the kind of colorful hard-charger the Marine Corps has ah valued highly. Reportedly he was a native of an Arimna town nar--- Buzzard's Gulch. Myth had it that his middle initial stood for ''Flytad which was absurd, but it was quite true that between the wars he I designed the Corps' standard MlAl flytrap. Until the 29th was f o r m a this device had cxisted only on paper, but over one weekend in trainingfl had ordered one built. It didn't work. Not a single insect ventured into-$ Nobody had the courage to tell the colonel, and on a Sunday of pi ishing heat the first sergeants had turned everybody out to tlics by hand and put them in thc trap so that Hastings wouldn't fie crushed.

The colonel was a great gray weasel of a man who always worc a bleac khaki fore-and-aft cap pushed to the back of his hcad. He was also tf! hoarsest and most redundant man I have ever known. His normal s p d ing voice can only be described as throaty, and hc was things in it like "Here in Dixie we're in the Deep South," "Keep fit healthv," and "Eat lots of food and plenty of it."

on; sunlit morning-heavily handsome as only southern nian weather can be-I was surnn~oncd bv the scrgcant major into

cers' Country, slaking his thirst. c 0's august presence. Hastings was standing beside a Lister bag in O@

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Willinm Mnttchcst~r

1 "We're going to sail aboard ship tomorrow," he barkcd after draining a men cup.

I "Sir." "The first day out I want Private Dumas to hold Japanese lcssons. Just

,ome fundamental kev phrases. All officers and staff N.C.O.'s will meet J L

In the fantail in rhe stern. I'm requisitioning a blackboard from ship's kores. Make sure Dumas is ready"

When I passed the word to Whitey, he gave mc what wc called n ousand-yard stare-a look of profound preoccupation. Then, while wc

k r e mounting the gangplank of the U.S.S. Geneval C. G. Morton, lugging bur seabags on our left shoulders and saluting the ship's colors as we boarded her, word was passed of our voyage's destination. We were hcaded

r junglc rnancuvers on Guadalcanal. "Oh. Christ, not that goddanned bland," Ivice groaned. As Acting John I had bcen the first to reach the kck, and I happened to be looking at Dumas when thc news reached him. He gave me a two-thousand-yard starc. I The ncxt morning all designatcd hands fell out aFt. with notebooks and

tncils in hand. First the coloncl pointed out that the blackboard was there, with lots of chalk and plenty of it, and that we were about to get korne dope that would improve our efficiency and competence. T h m he hnoduccd Dumas. It was, I later thought, one of Whitey's fincst hours blrms akimbo, head high, with just thc trace of a srnilc on that rugged kce-thc look of the learned teacher addressing eagcr neophytes-he broceeded with such assurance that one momentarily forgot hc was out- b k e d by everyone else there. Like English, he observed, Japancsc was two languages, the written and the spoken. We would be chieflv con-

C. u '

with the second, but it acqui rcd broficiencv with the first. Turning to thc blackboard he chalkcd with steno-

i

: speed:

5-

1 "That means 'Put your hands up, Nip!' " he said easily. "The best pho- I . I J * . . - 1 - - .. - 1.. c v - - : -:-A *--. f '> can give yuu is

We wrote it down. The next phrase was:

b a n szn zy j v r ~ j :

/ " 'Boohi-fai biz rqy?' " said Whitey "It rncans 'Do you surrender?' "

h e Japanese are very sensitive about bodily functions. You have to yur it l.*& -:el.- >)

Hc said: " 'Song fby suki-subi baa moy-ah.' " The Bn-3 shot back. "What about saying to a Nip girl 'Vo/onlcz-volts rcher avec mi?' "

?at was hilarious, and once his g~ joincd in lustily. Everyone, that

~ffaws had is, csccpt

b i t ey . Nursing his elboks and roclung back on his hecls. hc gave rhcm a le. Slowly it dawned on the rest of us that

be had not understood the operations officcr, that his foreign languages was much coughing and shumi,

en the Bn-3 said in the subdued voice ofonewhosc joke had been lapprcciatcd, "What I mean is-how you say you want your ashcs ~uled?" Now Whitey beamed. He nirned to the blackboard and scrawled:

I "How do vou say it?" shouted the quartermaster. " Waka-naka eedu koodu-sai,' " Whitey said slowly. There was a long luse while we all made sure we had that one right. Thim. years later I n read it ckarly in my yAlowing notes, carehlly printcd in block capitals. The colo~~el stood up, yawned, and prepared to shove off He was bushed, : said, and he looked it. Doubtless this was his most intense cogitation ~ c e thc invention of the flytrap. But then, we wcre all stretching oursclvcs. lthough Marine Corps routine can bc exhausting, it is rarely ccrcbral. he only man there who looked fresh was Whitey. Of course, he already lew Japanese. The colonel was nothing if not dogged, howevcr, and every day thereaf- ,r we asscmblcd on the fantail for more skull sessions. By the end of the :cond week wc werc jabbering at each other with rcaa~nable flucncy, and ie more enterprising platoon leaders wcre drilli~lg their rncn in the basic iioms. Hasrings, now wcll into his third notebook, was a bottomiess Iurce of questions. ("How do you say 'Put down vour weapoll' and tell irn to do that?") We all felt that the 29th had a distillct cdgc on thc other

t\ircnt!f-cigllt Marine regiments. E \ r n the j,lJcd mcmbcl-s of' intclli- gcncc section \\.ere roused to pride- Jasper, a particularl!. apt pupil, mar- \ cllcd at thc exquisite nuances of tht. tongue, ~t its Oricnral precision and dclicac! of phrasing-though Znglin dampened our cnthusias~n some- \\.hat b\- pointing out the unlikelihood that nrc ~ i fou ld c\-cr have an oppor- ninit\ to use our nc\v sklll. Japanese soldiers \\.ere notorious for their rcfi~sal to sur-rcndcr. The!' considcrccl it an honor to dic for their cmpcror and a disgrace to he taken a1ii.c; \\,hen dctcat loomed for t h c ~ n at the end of 311 isl,~nd b,lttlc, their officers n.ould rouncl them up h r a tradi- tional bn7izni (hurrah) suicide charge, and our pcoplc obliginglj. moived the111 do\\.n. (BanzL1i, LVh~tc!. csplail~cd in rcsponsc t o &I question, was

On the morning of the se\~entcenth da!. 1i.c climbed topside to find ourscl\.es lying off the 'Canal, that lush, i~~crcdibl! green, cntircl!. repul- s i \ r is1~11rl t11,it f i ) r 111ost of LIS 11.1ci existecl o111!. 111 legelid. I \ . I C C Ilad a lot to sa\ about its ban\-an trees ~ n d kunai grass, but White!. co~ltinued to be rcriccnt about his ~ecollections of it. Tou.ard thc cnd rhc journe)r had bcci~ n grcat s t t i n for him. Of' course, Ilc had ,I lot o n hls millii. Rising in the night for a trip to the scuttlebutt or the hcLld. 1 \\*auld scc him lving a\\ldx on his bunk, s\\rating in his ski \~ics , prcpi~ring the nest day's lcckrr.

Slinging our 782 gear o\.er our field packs. \iSc scrambled down the cargo nets thro\~,n o\.cr the side of the Mo~turz, landed in thc \\-aiting Higgins boats, and raced in them ro\\.ard thc shore. l71~crc \\.c found that \\.c \\.ere to makc our training camp 011 the banks of 3 ri\-cr. And there Whitey committed \\-hat sccmcd to he .I peculiar h l u ~ ~ d c r . As he looked cloi\,n o n the srreiull his c,cs nlisted o\.cr. LLS\\rect Jesus." hc said feelingly, picking up a corrorlcd olrl c.~rtridgc c,~sc. "1 ilc\,cr thought I'd see the Matanikau again."

I\,icc looked at hi111 in ciisbclicf. "The Ilfntn~libntr!" he saici. "What the ** C " arc t,llking bout? This is the Iimk~onl~orin. The Matnnikau's four 11lilt.s to the cast!"

Mrhirc.\. hesitated .l~irl nrct 111s lips. It u..~s the first t i l i~c ~II!. of us had seen him shook. Finall\, he bli11kc.d and said, "Man. I I I ILIS~ be Asiatic." He shrugged. "All these goddamncrl ri\.crs look the s.unc to rnc."

The rest of LIS .~cccptcrl thnt-this t ~ n g l c d 1sl.lnd hc\r~ililcrcd us too -hut I\ficc said nothing. ~ h r o u g h o ~ ~ t that da!. I caught him e!rcing Whitey str,~ngcl\r tiom time to time. and the follo\i-ing morning, \\,hen I hitched a ride to Lunga Point on .I 1)UKW .und cn,sscJ the c ( ~ o n ~ l t - l o g bridge span- ning tllc h l~t .~nik .u~. 1 unrlcr-stoocl \\h\.. l 'hc t\\x) I-i\,crs \irere entirely

different. Compared to the mighty ~Matanikau, the K o k ~ ~ r n b o l l ~ ~ \\r'~s a shallow brook. Whitey's error was incsplicablc.

Ii~icc \\,as the first to entertain doubts about the star of our intclligcncc section, and I \isas the second. One c\*ening o\.cr a joc-pot I ~ncntioncd to the sergeant major that Mrs. Dumas \vas a mo\.ie starlet. The sparron- chirped, "There ain't no Mrs. Dumas. I t thcrc \\.as one. thcrc'd be an allotment for hcr o n the books, and there airl't none. I keep the books. I

: know.'' Shortly thereafter I saw a pinup of Betty Grahlc in n slop c h ~ ~ t c ncal- Henderson Field. I recognized the style immccliatcl~~: an eight-b\*- tcn gloss!. print. Wlint White), had been passlng off as ,I photograph ot' his \\.ifc \\,as n publicit!, shot of s o n ~ c Holl!wr)od aspirant. Probably he had Ilc\-cr mcr Iicr. I nc\.cr Icarncd for sure.

Bit b\v bit the cl,~bor.ltc structure he had ct.cctcd so ,~ciro~rl!' and 50

succcsst~~ll\ \\,.is beginnins to come unstuck. Work~ng o n the l 'o~nt ( ,-LIZ

dock, Yc~tcs ~ n c t a port L > , ~ t t ~ l i o ~ ~ ofticcr ~ . h o had bccn 311 Oc~kl ,~~lc i 1,1\\ \TI-

j bcforc the \\.ar and m.ho hooted at the idea of' California la\\. defining a boscr's punch ,IS Jn assault \trith ,I dcadl\ u+capon. Then :I gullncn scrgc,Int. arri\,~ng '1s a ~~cplaccnic~lt from Pcndlcton, recognized \Yhitc! and rc- vcalcd the true reason he liad bcen stripped of rank and sent to prison. While still in boot cmip. it nirned out. hc had bcen arrested for impcrson- ating ,111 officer in do\\.~lto\t,n Snn 131cgu. Since he h.1Jn't hccomc .I I-c- cruit until the f i l l of 1943, White! h ~ d been n ci\.il~an during the barrlc for the 'Canal. I\+icc \\.,IS confirmed; our prodig! had ncirer sccn the islancl

I before hc had landed \\.ith us. There nTas another thing: White! had told

1 us that he had bccn a reporter. Journalism \\.as something I knell about-in college I liad bccn an Amherst stringer k)r the Springhclci / Repnblicmr-and \+.hen I started a camp newspaper, I invited him to con-

/ tribute to ir . H c tricd; he really tricd. For da\.s lie struggled \\.it11 ,I pcncil. ' but \\+en the rcs11It canic in, it \i.as fu~~ctionaII\. iIIitcsc~rc, ,lIlnosr incornprclicnsiblc. I t he had c\.cr hccn J reporter, the paper hacin't hcc.11

i published in thc English language. I Of course, ~t might have bccn '1 Jn[)ancrc nc\\.spapcs. Wh~tc\, 's cl.um t o

I be n l ingu~st \\.as the l ~ ~ s t of his s t ~ ~ t u s s\.nihols. ,und he clung to i t I despcratcl\r. Looking hack, I think his in~pro\-isations on the MOITO~Z t ~ n -

; tail I ~ I L I S ~ lia\+c bccn o11c of the most heroic achic\.cn~cnts 111 the histot:. of I confidcncc men-\\,hich, as !.ou ma!. ha\,c gathered h ) no\\, \\.;IS \.I7h~rc\.'s 1 true profession. To\\.a~d the end of our tour of duty o n the 'C'lnal he \\,.IS

tot,~ll\r ct~sc~.cd~tcd \\-it11 us ~ ~ i d tr'~nstc.rrcd n t h ~ s o\ \ ,n r c ~ ~ u c s t t o t l ~ c 81-m~llimctcr platoon. wherc our disregard for h ~ m as no stigma. since thc XI-millirnctcr m~~sclcmcn rcg.~rdcd us as a bunch of eight halls an\?\ .I\.. Yet c \ r n tllc11. c \ rn after \ire had bcconlc complctel\ disill~~sioncd \\ 1tI1 him. he sc111.111icd .I tig~11.c of \\~olidcr .Inlong us. We coul~t sc~r-ccl\ bclic\ c

that .In ilnpostor could bc c l ~ \ ~ c r enough ~ c t ~ ~ ~ l l ! ' to 1711)c~lt ,I language -pl~c)nics, calligr.~ph!: 'lnd ~ l l . It 11~1 looked like J~pancsc and sounded like Japanese, and during his se\rentccn da!rs of lecturing 011 that s h i ~ Whitey had carried it all in his head, remembering e\.cqr \yariation. every subtlch; evenr syntactic construction.

Whitc!f sta!vcd ou t of jail, and in the 29t11, because the one Inan whc ne\rr lost confidcncc in him \\,.IS Colonel Hasrings. Tlic colonel contin-

thing happened tiom time to time in thc Pacific nrar, u sua l l~ under freak- ish circumstances. A Jap \\*.IS dazcd b!. a shcll o r othcl~visc rcndcred un- nblc to kill himself. Seizcd hy our troops. he \\!as pl~!~sicall!r restrained

1 from making anlends to the emperor. Fi\fc months afrcr their capture these E~ilcd suicides \\.csc ferried to the '(:an,ll from thc First's base on the Ilusscll Islands. Clad in loincloth and pcnnc~i hchind rnasimum-security conccrt in;~~ of barbed ivirc. passi\~el\~ a\vaitcd tlic plcasurc of their conquerors. But nobod!. \\.it11 j~;risdictiol; lu~c\\l clui tc hen. to disposc of them. Then nard of h e i r prcsunce reached thc C.O. of rhc 29d1. Hasti~lgs

T l ~ e POW stockarle \\.as at Roli l'oint. and one mor~i ing ~t 0800 hours urc set out for it in J con\.o!; \\.ith Colonel Hastings a i d his pril~ate transla- tor leading in a jeep .lnri the rest of us trailing in .I g1-cc11 cn)codile of 11UKW's. six-b\r trilcks, n d \larious other military vehicles. This was a big. dai. for h e colo;lel: he lvantcd cvcnr ofh'ccr ant1 qr.3f-T N C O t o rrrnrrnh~r

L'

the trip. and I l;a\rc no \fray of knoitting 11o\\, he bcha\~cd. t l i ~ u g h I'm s u z 11c retained his poise. An!.bod!. \\111o had the guts to sno\\ his dlrough tliosc classes on the Mortun \\.auld be equal to a ln~ost any crises: it was not criscs. but day-to-da\: round the-clock testins that had led to our disen- chantment with him. Whcn I arrived at Koli. H;~stings's iccp was already parkcd bcsidc thc huge barbed-\\ire coils. The a)loncl nSas outside, glar- ing in ~\,rntl~filll\.. The prisoners \\.crc squatring miscrabl\r on their li~L~nc.hcs, and \\.l~itc!: ~lrcsscd ill Marine ciung~sccs ;ui~l .I raidcr cap, was 1 s q u n t t i ~ l ~ alongside them. I coloncl tlioupht so: his ~ \ ~ e s darted alertly from white) to the ]aps1 and

-.:s

t his right car was cocked, tqring to pick up a thread of scnsc by using the vocabulat-y hc had learned on the voyage fro111 San Dicgo. It M-as, of

/ course, impossible. Whitey was ad-libbing ufith his brillia~~t doublc-talk, I which, ho\vc\rcr Oriental it sounded to us, \{,as utterly dcvoid of real

meaning. What the Nips \\rre saying is a matter of coniecturc, since no 1 one therc was cquippcd to understand them. My own bclicf is that they 1 wcrc repl!,ing to White!; "We only speak Japanese." All that can bc said

I with an): ccrtainqt is that thc POW'S and thcir i~lterrogator Ilad rcacllcd an impassc. Aftcr a long lull in the non-con\.ersation White!. came out with a hangdog look.

1 "What's happening ?" the colonel askcd anxiousl!: "Sir, I goofed," Whitcv said wretchedly.

' "What? WII\~? How?" Wit11 a s\\ubping gesnire Whitey swung out his right forefinger and

pointed to the Marine Corps emblem printed on thc left breast of his dungaree jacket. "I should ncvcr ha\.c \vorn this," he said i l l his guilclcss voice. "Yo11 see, sir," hc csplaincd, looking dircctl~f at Hast~~lgs , "tl iq kno\\* \\*hat the globe-and-bulcd-anchor means. They know \\.hat t11r 1Mi-t- rinc Corps is. The!' realize that the corps is destroying thcir emperor and thcir hon~cland, and they just M-on't ansucr my questions."

For 'I long moment the coloriel stared back at White!: Thc~l he squared his shoulders, and his poutcr-pigeon chest s\~:cllcd. "Goddam right," hc grated, his ~foicc like a coarse file. H e pccrcd contemptuousl!r into thc pen - and said, L L T h o ~ ~ sons of bitches are a bunch of bastards."

With that 11e stnltted back to his jeep and soon, it de\~cloped, out of our lives-Whitc\r's, minc and the 29th'~. That week the battalion boarded thc APA (attaik transport) G ~ M ~ E C. C[vmcr for Oluna\va, \\?here the colo- nel lcft us ~ f i c r the first fcw da1.s of battle. Hc was rclie\.cd of 111s com- mand on Motobu peninsula aker the divisional commander askcd h ~ m the ~~~lierc,~boiits of his first and third battalions md received no satistic- tory repl!: I 11~1ppcncd to be thcre when the question \\.as rdiscd, and I can still scc the look of utter bc\vildermcnt 011 I-Iastings's facc. He had al\\~a!s been v ~ g u c bout the rest of his regiment; his hcnrt had belonged to our sccond battalion; he had do\ved his lieutenant colonels to run the others, and in the cxcitcment of combat he had neglected to update his ~ i t u ~ ~ t i o n map. "Inexcusable!" said the general, clearlv outraged. "I'm sol-n: I regret it," the coloncl croaked brokenly. Latcr I hcard that he had becl; shuntcd back to the corps stat?', \{.here he \+,as a\\varclcd the Bronzc Star "fol- cxccl- lcncc in kccp i~~g rccorcis during con~L>at."

White\ had \lnnishcd at about the s,une time during ,I sick call. Q u ~ t c apart from gunshot afounds. therc \\.as a pattern of bizarre ~'~sualtics In thc isl,~nd b.lnlcs of' World W<lr 11. S o n ~ c poor bast,~rd \ \ ~ ~ ~ i i ~ i g to\irarc! tllc

hc.lch \\.c)~rld stumhlc otl .I sect; .lnd \\.ith erglit\ pounds ot h,~rdwnre on h ~ s h,~ck lie \ \ ~ o ~ ~ l r i s ~ n k likc .I s tone A BAR man i l l Ens\ ( i ) m p n ~ ~ v disap pc.u.c~t tI1;lt \\,.I\~ in tIic earl\ hours of I.o\,c I)a\: .IS Ok;n.l\\..i's l,-dav was cl~r.~ititI\. c,lllcct. Or11c.1- pcot~lc \\.elit ~.ock Ii.1~y~\.-- "co111b.lt Iitigirc," it was c,lllcci. 'l'hc scsgcant m;l~or did; hc \\,as casricd off cnckli~ig nonscnsc evcn less intclligi hlc tha~ i tl1.1~ of I'si\.ntc Durn.1~. T h ~ n tllcrc \\.as nl\\.a!es some sad clo\\-n \\.ho, the first night on the bc.1~11, \\roi~ld forget that he lzad to s t a r in his hold ~inti l da\\rn. or "morriing t\\.iliglit." b e c ~ ~ ~ s e the Japs were ingenious at night infiltl-'ltions. b'c scratched onc Fox Cc~nipan\. 60-milli- IIICTCS mortnsm,ln ; ~ t 2 .\.A\ t h ~ t April 2; lie \\-as 11p relic\,ing Ilin~self over a slit trench \\,hen a sclitn. drilled him tht-o~igll one check. ("A good shot i l l the hr~ll's c\~c," said our c.~lloi~s colonel the ti)llo\r.ing mor~iing, just hcfosc he \ \ * ~ s eicpri\~cci of his c o m m a ~ ~ d . ) l:in~ll\; thcrc \\.c~-c the back c~scs . Whitc\v bccanlc onc of them.

E\rc~-\* s ~ l t klicn. tll.~r ).OII c( ji~ld get su~-\.c!~zei if ) O L I ~.ompl.~incd long e ~ i o ~ ~ g l ~ , ~ b o i ~ t c l i so~ i i~ luck p .~i~is . l3.1ck o r 1 tlic ' < : . I I ~ ~ I I l lost .i l'l~iladcl- phim \ \ h o h.1~1 cnlrstcd nt rhc .13c of t\\*cnt\~-c~~lit-\\.c c.~llcd him "Pop" - ,ltid \\,lie, fed 1113 \\,it11 jr~ilglc t ~ - . ~ ~ ~ i i ~ i g , I I S C C ~ tli,lt CSC.LISC t o get st,ltcside. \.\'hltc\ tollo\\rcl his isnoble c s ~ m p l c . To the disgust of the gung-ho 81- ~li~llimctcr mort.irmcn, hc kcpt insisting t h . ~ his spine \\.as lulling him, and t i~ l~l l \ - thc skytied n~cdic.ll cc,q,smcn sigl~cci .lnd tcxk I~irn . i \ \ ,~\ . for n check.

It \\ .is mo~irhs betuse I 1c.11.ncd \\ h ~ t lic~ppcncd to him ,ificr that, bc- c.1~1sc .iftct- the h.lttlc began in clrncst. pcoplc hcc.~~nc cstremcly active. Okin,l\\~,l turned out to he the bloodiest cngi-tgcmcnt of the Pacific war, cclips~ng c\.cn I \ \ , o . hfrct- ~t \\..IS ,111 o\.c.l; a Pscsidcnti.ll c i tn t~o~ i coinnlcndcd tlic di\isron "fol- cst~-.losciin.ls\ Ilcro~sm i l l .letion pin st enemy J.~panese forces" .111d till. "g'~ll~lntn. iri o\.crcoming ti11'1tic cncm\ in thc face of c s t ~ - ; l o r d i n ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~ d ~ n s c r , " h ~ ~ t .dl 1 rcmcmbcr is n1uJ and tct-1.0s. Years later I 1c.lr11cd fron; rc.~~iing S.~n~ucl Eliot Morison that the 29th h ~ d sustained tile hc.~\-icst c,lsu,iltics of all\, r c g i t ~ ~ c ~ l t iri the his tot.\^ of thc Marine COI-ps-2.821 o u t of some 3.300 riflcmcn. M\. section \\.as cut to pieces. 011cc thc slaughter begall, \iVc \\.crc ~lsccl &is runners, cnsr!,ing mcssagcs bct\\rccn h.itt,llion s t ~ t t ' ofticct.~, compclll\b co~i i r i i~~idcrs , rid c\.cn pl.ltoon lc~clers \\,host \\,nlkic-t.llkics h.1~1 conked out . I r \\,.ls cxccptionall\, perilous \itork. In 1918 a)mconc conip~ltcci the life cspcctancy of J Gcrman ma- cliirlc gunner o ~ i tlic \ircstcrn f n ~ n t ,lt thi~-t!. niinutcs. '111el I don't bclieire t11,lt of ,I Marine runner along Okina\\.,l's M,~chinnto line could 1 1 ~ c been m~icli longer. Wc \\,ere s.lrcl\ i l l dcfil.ldc. LISLI.III\. C S P O S ~ ~ I , .111d oftc~i had to spcnd long pcrio~is Iincci L I ~ 111 some J,lp snipcs's sights. I n~\,sclf was hit nricc. The first time \ i r ~ s M J \ ~ 17 on the norther11 slope o f ~ u ~ i a r Loaf Hi l l It \\!.IS on11 .I Hcsh \ \ . o ~ ~ n d . ,111d I jumpct.1 1iospit.il t o rujoin the h.lttali)~l, hut 01; June 5 1 \\..is ~icckcci ng.lin. T h ~ t one \\,,IS i~lnlost for

1 I keeps, .I in.lssi\,c chest \r,ound tn)m fourteen-lnch rocket-niort.lr shrapnel, I For l i \ r months I \\'as o n and off opcrlting tables o n a hospi t~l s h ~ p . o n

Saipai, in Alc\\.a Hcights Naval Hospital o\~crlookilig Honolulu. 111 San Fr,ll~clx.o, .11i~i i i l ~ . ~ l I \ , . ~ t SJII l>icgo's II,I\ ,II IiospIt.11 111 13,~11~0.1 I'JI k,

i A Icttcr from J ~~spcr-\ i~ho sii~-\f~\-ccl the ifcar to 111a1.1.\~ ,I Niscl-rc,~cllcct ' mc i i i Rnlboa that Octohcr, filling ~ n c in on Whitc!.'s I ~ s t ad\.ci~turc in the 1 29th. I \\,as \\*caring J buck sergeant's s t r i ~ c s b!, then. or rdtlicl- the \ \ \ C I - C

1 se1t.n to the slce\,cs of rn!. greens. for I \\.as still bedridden. I ha \ r n Ii,iz\, mcmor\- of church bells tolling the prc\ious August, and rn!. asking a chief p ~ t t ! ~ officer \\,hat it mcnnt, and his a n s n ~ c r i ~ ~ g , "The \\.al-'s o\pcr,"

I and III\? s'l\.ing "Oh," just "Oh." Within a fc\\ months the 2 9 t h ' ~ pcoplc bcgnn hcn~i i ng home. White!: hoi\,e\-cr, \\,as not among tlncm. His com- plaint bout his h ~ c k hadn't dccci\,cd the 11lort.u-~ncn. hut tllcn. rhc\ . like us, llad kno\\.n him. The physicians at t11c rcgirncntal i d st,itlon, on JII

LST oEslioi.c, 1i,1d l~ccn scd~tccd his earnest charm. though the ultirn~tc rcsillt \\.,IS 11or clllltC \\'ll.~t hc I i ~ d I1,lci i l l n ~ i ~ i d . - 1 ' 1 1 ~ docs pllr 111111 111 .I

Higgins 17oat and sent him back to .I corps clcari~ng 1lospit.il. . i l l h ~ d g c s of' I - , I I I ~ I~.l\.ing bcc11 rcrilo\~cd before hit the bcac h-NIP sh,irpslioor crs liked to pick otf otficcrs and N.C.O.'s-thc hosp~tal's mcciii.ll cor.pslncn had n o wa\, of lillo\\ri~lg the militan' status of i a s u ~ l ~ i c ~ . so rhc!. us~~all!. askcd tlicn; The!. askcd White): and hc rcpcarcd his bootc.lrnp Ilc Hc said hc \\*,IS ,I first licutc~iant, seasoning t11;1t lifi \ \ . O L I I L ~ bc 11101-e comfo~tablc, and the cho\iv more cdiblc, on run officer's \fr;~rd.

H e \\.as right, but therc \\ere special hazards for hi111 tllerc. 4 capt.111i in thc nest hu~ ik nskcd him \\,hat his job in thc Marine Cosps \\.,is. " J,1[7,incsc- langu.lgc ~ntcrprctcr," said White\. T h e \ shot the brcczc for .I \\.hilt. ~ n d then tlic cLlptain asked LI'hitc\. l0r a lesson. E\cr oblig~ng, ~ L I I - m.in i..~ttlcd off ' L~ tiw plir.~scs , ~ n d jotted cio\\fn some of' his 01-icnc.~l I i i c~ .o~ l \*ph~ i s 0 1 1

a slip of paper. "Ire?- intcrcsting." the real ofticer said slo\\l\. Tllcn hc !,elled: "C:o~.psm'~~i! Put this man u~idcr 31-I-cst!" I t cic\-~Iopc~I tIix tllc captain \\.,is one of the first gr.lduatcs of the J , i p a n c s c - I J ~ ~ L I , I ~ scl~ools that had been set up aficr Pearl Harbor. The\. urcrc arri\.ing in the I'ai~fic too I ~ t c to d o rn~lc.11 to\\*:lrci \\inning the \\*ar, 17i1t this o ~ i e 11.1~1 t~11.11e~l C I ~

at csactl! the right time to nail M'liitc!.. Our confidcnic m u 11,l~t tried to dupe one mark too man!: Hc \\!as shipped s t r i g h t bdck to Portsrno~~rh.

I ilc\cr SJ\\. l i i l l ~ ag'liil. h ~ ~ t I heard from him oncc Fi\r \.c.u-s ~ f i c l tlic \\-31-, \\.he11 mir first storlcs \i.crc ,~pycari~ig In nation,~l m,lg,lzlncs, I rc- cci\~crl a letter. postmarked Holl\*\\~ood ~ n d \\,I-ittcn in .I f,~rnili.lr scr.n\ I It \\.;IS on MGM st,ltioncl-\.. God k~lo\\,s \\.here Iic Iiucl p~ikcd it LIP, hilt I I C certninl?f hadn't acquireci it legall\. 1,etrcrs horn studio czccuri\~cs-for t h ~ t is \\-hat it clai~nccl to be--arc n p c d . The! arc also spcllccl co~.~.cc.tl\ and propcrl\ phrased. This onc \\-as ncithcr I ha\c lic\cr seen a ~ I C J I - C I .

illustration of Whitcy's own aphorism that we have two languages, one. we speak and one we write. He was entirely verbal; when hc lectured, it was with easy assurance, and an impressive vocabulary. On his pilfered' MGM stationery he was another hustler. Gone were his casual references td conjugations, modifiers, inflecrions, and thc imperative nlood. Not since his stab at journalism on the 'Canal had he been so incoherent.

His n~issivc ran:

Dear Bill,

Caught vour artical in this months Harpers. Real good. Always knew you had it in vou.

Look-could you give yours truely a break? Am now doing PR for Sam Goldwyn & Co and am trying to promote to stardom a rcal cute chick, name of Boobs Slotkin. (Boobs-ha! ha! I gave her the namc & when you glim her knockers you11 see why.) Give me thc work and I'll shoot you some pix. Some for the public and some for your prii-are a r c if vou gct my meaning-ha! ha!

Surc miss the old gang on the Canal and all the good times we had. I don't hear from any of them, do you?

Let me know about Boobs. This is a real good dcd and I can put you next to her roommate whosc no dog cither next time your in this neck of the woods. Brunette 37-24-30 and hot pants. A real athalete in the sack. kbu won't regret it believe me.

Your old ******* buddy,

Harold V. Dumas Chief of Public Relations Metro-GoIdu??n-Ma\w Studios

ES. Dont writs to me at the office as this is hrld of personal. Just sent it to me carc of Grncral Deliver). I..A. and it will get to me Okay.

I never rcplied, but 1 found the note strangely moving Whitey had clinlbcd the Parnassus of' his calling, and evidently hc had nou. slid back down all the wav. He was pathetic on paper, and his assessnlent of the kind of material that interested Harper's was unbelievable. (How on carth had he cvcn seen dlc magazine?) He had cntcrcd thc shadows; for ,dl I know, he never emcrgcd again. It is of coursc quite possible that hc staged a stunning caper under another name-as G. Gordon Liddy, say-yet somehow I doubt it. His big sting with us had a onc-shot air about it, like the flight of an exotic bird that dazzles for a single season and is never

; seen agaln. But on thc Murton's fantail, and outsidc that POW stockade at / Koli Point, he had been magnificent. And to this day I feel a tingling at i the base of n y scalp when I think of that towheaded prisoner in his 1 Portsmouth cell dreaming up what must have beell thc most imaginntivc ; con of thc war, saying in that straightforward voice. "Guard, I \rfant to

speak to the C.O.," and then, "Sir, I know I desene to bc here, but my 1 country is threatened and I want to do my share. I can really help in an unusual way, sir. You scc, I speak Japanese."