I was lugging around two big duffle bags filled with clothes, boots, cigarettes, candy, soap, cheese and much else. I had lived for so long without anything that I just could not bring myself to part with such supplies. At the airport we scrounged around for souvenirs as I had given away the Japanese money I had to the sailors on the ship. I found a Jap helmet and stripped the breech mechanism off a machine gun of a Jap plane. These I added to my already heavy load.
I came across an unexploded bomb, while prowling around the airport which had been bombed many times. I informed the military guards and a soldier was placed over the explosive pending its removal.
Soon we were aboard a C54 and headed over the broad Pacific towards Guam and landed there the following morning. We continued over the Marshall Islands and on to Honolulu where we transferred to a luxurious flying ship equipped with reclining bunks and a stewardess.
As we flew through the darkness towards San Francisco the stewardess came and sat beside me and said, “ You have been away a long time.” I replied, “ Yes will have a lot of catching up to do. There are bound to be quite a number of changes in four years. You know I don’t even know the popular songs that are sung in America and Canada.” She smiled. “ I used to be a singer. I will sing some of them to you if you like.”
As the motors roared and my companions snored I listened as she sang, “Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer”, “White Christmas”, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”, and others. What a wonderful country is America and what a wonderful people. Four years of hate, suspicion and torture. Here comfort and understanding. Little girl your song was the great heart of America and Canada welcoming us home.
