Interview with James L. Leggett, Jr., April 8, 1981

Partial Transcript: The following is an unrehearsed interview with James Leggett, Jr. for the Alumni/Faculty Oral History Project.

Segment Synopsis: James Leggett, Jr. talks about how mail from the U.S. into the prison camp was censored both by the Japanese and the U.S. military. He talks about how the prisoners obtained other news by stealing and translating Japanese newspapers and holding secret meetings among the prisoners. He talks about some of the prisoners sneaking out of camp to steal from a local bakery and what happened when they were caught.

Keywords: Bakery; Bean buns; Bread; Caught; Censorship; Close calls; Food; Guards; Information; Japanese; Japanese newspapers; Leaving; Mail; Meetings; News; News briefing; Prisoners; Prisoners of war (POWs); Propaganda; Punishments; Raids; Rumors; Sneaking out; Stealing; Translation; United States military; Wife; Women's Army Corps (WAC); Work detail; Work parties; Writing letters

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Um, we talked a little bit about what the camp looked like, I think before.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett gives a description of the barracks at Zentsuji, and how the prisoners kept warm in the winter. He talks about the prisoners who worked in the camp's kitchen. He talks about the bathroom facilities at the prison.

Keywords: Barracks; Bathing facilities; Bathrooms; Baths; Body heat; Buildings; Bunks; Commodes; Cooking; Cooks; Corridors; Enlisted men; Enlisted personnel; Kitchens; Officers; Prisoners of war (POWs); Rooms; Tables; Toilets; Winters; Work detail

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: How much leeway did you have to roam around the camp?

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about the amount of freedom the prisoners were given and what they did in their free time. He talks about how the list of contraband items was always changing, and talks about where the prisoners would hide these items.

Keywords: Boards; Books; Changes; Cigarettes; Civilians; Compound; Condiments; Confinement; Contact; Contraband; Embassy; Entertainment; Exchange; Free time; Freedom; Germans; Hiding; Horseradish; Hostile; Italians; Knives; Leeway; Library; Messages; Music; Papers; Playing cards; Prisoners of war (POWs); Reading material; Record players; Red Cross parcels; Roaming; Trade; Victrola

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Um, now your organization was according to rank within your own armed force, was it not?

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about the internal organization among the prisoners, which he says was done by military rank. The highest ranking officer in the camp, among all branches and nationalities, became the spokesperson to the Japanese. They also punished their own people for transgressions such as fights and stealing food.

Keywords: Americans; Australian; Barracks; Barracks leaders; British; Complaints; Control; Democratic process; Dutch; Fights; Food; Honshu (Japan); Integration; Intermingling; Internal discipline; Leadership; Nationalities; Organizations; Prisoners of war (POWs); Punishment; Senior officers; Separation; Sleeping arrangements; Spokesperson; Starvation

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Some of the times that must have been the roughest for you, um, were the holidays.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about how prisoners would celebrate holidays, including giving one another cards and performing plays and skits.

Keywords: Agreements; Birthdays; Christmas; Christmas cards; Christmas trees; Enjoyment; Entertainment; Friends; Gifts; Holidays; Plays; Prisoners of war (POWs); Rice; Skits

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Let's see. A, another thing that I want to talk to you a little bit about was the--your, your classroom experiences.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about classes in which prisoners knowledgeable about a subject would teach the others.

Keywords: Aerodynamics; Books; Classes; Classrooms; History; Learning; Monotonous; Notebooks; Prisoners of war (POWs); Redundant; Spanish; Subjects; Supplies

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Did you get any of the baseball news?

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about work detail in the camp which sometimes included raising chickens or rabbits.

Keywords: Animal husbandry; Baseball; Chickens; Gardens; Heat; Japanese; News; Prisoners of war (POWs); Rabbits; Work detail

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: You, uh, in, in early 1945, um, you began to see vapor trails of B-29s and so on.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about moving from the Zentsuji prison camp to Rokuroshi, near Fukui, a city which was soon after bombed by the Americans. He talks about the differences between this camp and camps he had been at previously. He talks about the terrain, work detail, and the prisoners' treatment at this camp.

Keywords: Americans; B-29s; Beauty; Bombings; Bombs; Buildings; Burned; Cavalry camp; Clearing land; Conditions; Daily routine; Differences; Disbanding; Discontent; End of war; Escape attempts; Fleas; Fukui (Japan); Guards; Honshu (Japan); Mountains; Moving; Nationalities; Night bombing; Prisoners of war (POWs); Raids; Remote locations; Separation; Supplies; Surrender; Tanigawa (Japan); Terrain; Treatment; Vapor trails; Violence; Wood; Zentsuji prison camp

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Um, some of the time that you were there, um, you know, the Japanese would, uh, you mentioned, I think, they would conduct experiments.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about the medical experiments the Japanese conducted on the prisoners. He talks about one of the prisoners who was a doctor and the surgeries he performed with few supplies and no facilities.

Keywords: Doctors; Dr. Hubertus John Van Peenan; Dr. Van Peenan; Equipment; Experiments; Information; Japanese; Medical facilities; Medical instruments; Nutrition; Prisoners of war (POWs); Rations; Research; Surgeries; Weight; Zentsuji prison camp

Subjects: Medical care; Physicians; Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Um--(coughs)--tell me a little bit about what happened the last several days of, of the war.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about how the mood in the camp changed in the days leading up to the end of the war. He talks about how the guards' treatment of the prisoners changed, and talks about how they were told of the war's end.

Keywords: "Inhuman weapons"; A-bombs; Arguments; Atomic bombs; Barracks; Building up; Clearing land; Commandants; Complaints; End of war; Fukui (Japan); Guards; Japanese; Last days; Leaving; Night bombing; Occupations; Prisoners of war (POWs); Rations; Retaliation; Severity; Tense; Work detail; Zentsuji prison camp

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: When was it that you received your first air supply?

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about being left in the camp by the Japanese after the end of the war. He talks about why it took so long for them to receive supplies, and tells a story about the dangerous way their supplies were dropped in. He talks about when the recovery team finally arrived to rescue them.

Keywords: Air drops; B-29s; Bomb bays; Cargo; Close calls; Contact; Danger; Eating; Oil drums; Parachutes; Picked up; Prisoners of war (POWs); Recovery teams; Rescue; Supplies; Unlisted camps

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: So you went down the mountain then.

Segment Synopsis: Leggett describes his journey from the Rokuroshi prison camp to a hospital ship which then took them to the 29th Replacement Depot in the Philippines. From there they were taken by ship to San Francisco.

Keywords: 29th Replacement Depot (Philippines); Betty Leggett; Buses; Contact; Debriefing; Deloused; Examinations; Freedom; General Eichelberger; General Robert L. Eichelberger; Hospital ships; Japanese; Manila (Philippines); Mountains; Philippines; Prisoners of war (POWs); Recovery; Rescue; San Francisco (Calif.); Travel; Treatment; Wife; Women's Army Corps (WAC)

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons

Partial Transcript: Um, and then from San Francisco you went where?

Segment Synopsis: Leggett talks about seeing his wife for the first time after his return. He describes his experience being back in the U.S. on base but without his uniform. He talks about his reactions to people leaving food on their plates when eating in a restaurant, and talks about people who, despite the war rationing shared their meat with him. He talks about his reunion with his parents and friends. He talks about continuing to serve in the army before retiring due to health issues resulting from his prolonged malnutrition. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Anger; Base; Betty Leggett; Camp Atterbury; Captains; Chickens; Clothes; Different; Duty status; Evaluation; Fathers; Food waste; Friends; Habits; Hospitals; Hotels; Letterman General Hospital; Louisville (Ky.); Majors; Malnutrition; Meat; Neighbors; Nichols Army Hospital; Nichols General Hospital; On duty; Parents; Prisoners of war (POWs); Promotions; Psychological issues; Rationing; Reactions; Readjustment; Recovery; Recuperation; Restaurants; Retirement; Reunions; Sacrifice; San Francisco (Calif.); Scott Air Force Base; Scott Field (Ill.); Shoes; Sugar; Temporary duty assignment; Temporary duty under instruction (TDI); Trains; Uniforms; Vitamin B deficiency (Beriberi); Wife

Subjects: Prisoners of war--Japan; United States. Army--Military life; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Asia; World War, 1939-1945--East Asia; World War, 1939-1945--Food supply--United States; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons