Chapter 27: Falling Down
1 Life in camp improves: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Martindale, pp. 194–95; Affidavit, Francis Harry Frankcom, from files on Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Sgt.), vol. 1, 1945–1952, POW 201 File 1945–1947, SCAP, Legal Section, Administrative Division, RAOOH, RG 331, NACP.
2 Mail found in the Bird’s office: Affidavit, Francis Harry Frankcom, from files on Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Sgt.), vol. 1, 1945–1952, POW 201 File 1945–1947, SCAP, Legal Section, Administrative Division, RAOOH, RG 331, NACP.
3 “Trust you’re all”: Louis Zamperini, letter to family, January 6, 1945.
4 “Tell Pete”: Louis Zamperini, letter to family, January or February 1945.
5 Ofuna arrivals: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.
6 Condition of Harris: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
7 Harris’s beatings: John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.
8 Doctor thinks Harris dying, Louie gives him Red Cross box: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; Louis Zamperini, POW diary, January 15, 1945, entry.
9 Palawan massacre: Hampton Sides, Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission (New York: Anchor Books, 2002), pp. 7–17; Kerr, Surrender, pp. 212–15; V. Dennis Wrynn, “American Prisoners of War: Massacre at Palawan,” World War II, November 1997.
10 February 16–17 air raid: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.; Martindale, p. 198; Johan Arthur Johansen, Krigsseileren, issue 4, 1990, translated from Norwegian by Nina B. Smith; Frank Tremaine, “Tokyo in Flames After Record Bombing Attack,” Brainerd (Minn.) Daily Dispatch, February 16, 1945; “Navy Planes Rip Tokyo,” Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln), February 16, 1945; “Devastating War to Tokyo,” Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln), February 16, 1945.
11 American Hellcat pursues Japanese fighter: John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.; Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
12 February 24 air raid: “1,600 Planes Bomb Jap Capital as All-Out Drive Launched on Iwo,” Sunday Times-Signal (Zanesville, Ohio), February 25, 1945; Kerr, Flames, pp. 138–44.
13 Transfer of POWs: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview; John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.
14 Journey through Tokyo: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.
15 Shadow factories: Martindale, p. 214; Kerr, Flames, p. 153.
16 Arrival at Naoetsu: John A. Fitzgerald, POW diary, Papers of John A. Fitzgerald, Operational Archives Branch, NHC, Washington, D.C.; Wade, pp. 146–47.
17 “It was as if a giant frosted cake”: Wade, p. 144.
18 Louie collapses: Louis Zamperini, telephone interview.