The third letter of 1946, on new stationery

Now I am back home in Atlanta for a stretch, so my posts should be fairly regular for a while again.  Alas, I am without a scanner now, so the photographic additions to my posts will be mainly from the Internet.  If any of you out there in Blogland has an old scanner that's up on cinder blocks in the backyard that you don't use much any more, I'd be happy to take it off your hands.

Be sure to watch the HBO miniseries "The Pacific" starting tomorrow, Sunday March 14th.  I don't know the exact time, and I won't even be able to watch it, since I don't have cable.  It has gotten good reviews, and it should provide you with background to the ultimate occupation of Japan.  A good DVD that I can highly recommend as well is "MacArthur:  American Experience," which is available on Netflix.  It is long but fascinating and quite comprehensive, and it shows actual footage of MacArthur at the Dai Ichi Building.

The third letter of the new year was actually misdated as 1945, but, as we all know, it takes a week or so for the new year to sink into one's mind.  It's a short letter, since I assume Maj. Gillham is still battling his New Year's cold.  Again, he uses the word "Jap," which I have discussed before, and I am convinced that there is nothing derogatory in Maj. Gillham's intent.  It is akin to our current usage of the word "Brit" to signify a Briton.  However, there is no doubt that the word "Jap" is now pejorative and should never be used except with a historical perspective.

Tokyo
4 Jan 1945

Dearest Love,

A Jap that I met on a train made me a present of this paper. There is an old Japanese proverb that says, "That which is bought is cheaper than a gift." I wound up by giving him a candy bar.

Enclosed are some recent pictures. The place that I found that did good work is temporarily closed, and these were not printed very well. Also the trouble with getting someone else to take pictures with you in them is that they frequently mess them up. You will notice that I have had no more trouble with the camera leaking. It was that little red window that shows the shot number; it had faded so it was letting white light in. I keep tape over it now.

Stew Barron, whom we knew in Chicago, has been promoted to major and moved over here. I had him up for a drink before supper tonight.

I am going to take it easy tomorrow and try to get rid of this cold. Starting Monday, I will have another working spell which will keep me tied down for two or three weeks. I have had a good deal of spare time lately, but haven't been able to take advantage of it on account of this blooming old cold.

We have movies 2 or 3 times a week, but they are generally third-class stuff. However, it is diverting.

I met a Cpl. Allen at the Dai Ichi Bldg. today. He is from Memphis and is working here as a telephone intsaller. In fact, he is the son of Seddon Allen, our lawyer in Memphis. Isn't it a small world and don't the tables turn?

I plan to sleep late in the morning and spend the time dreaming of you, my love. Then I will get up and make me a cup of Nescafe from my nice, little bottle. Everyone admired both my bottles.

Much, much love,

Bill