September 7, Japanese surrender to Stilwell and Tenth Army on Okinawa
September 1, 1945, to Ernest Wilkins, president, Oberlin College, 2 pages, unsigned carbon
“Must sign off and go over to see the Japs on Okinawa formally surrender to Stilwell.. it should be an interesting ceremony.. more later.”
“We are now expecting 30,000 released prisoners here.. and how in hell will we handle all of them.. I don’t know. We are now doing business in astronomical quantities.. this morning we bought 50,000 chocolate bars from the Navy… we are using coca cola and fruit juice in thousand case lots.”
September 12, 1945, 1 page, from A.J. Dombrowski, promotion
“At last
From Cincafpac (MacArthur) for Action Comgenten (Stillwell)
“Knowlton acceptable for accreditation GHQ Entry to Japan“
So at last..long last… I am a fully accredited war correspondent.”
“… Am hunting all over hell trying to find one of those little metal insignias you pin on your shirt, above the right pocket, that says “war correspondent” but I can’t find one. The correspondents have one each. Think they get them in New York or Washington, and then guard them with great care.. however that can wait.”
“… Our mess hall was blown to bits.. it’s on top of the hill and many of the military sections here are totally wrecked. I understand the beaches are strewn with landing boats, and barges, and some larger vessels were broken up on the coral reefs during the night. This morning about 4.. when the typhoon reversed its direction, I thought how glad I was to be on land, and would, if necessary, crawl into a hole, or culvert and stay there.”
“This morning a B-24 (bomber) loaded with POWS (released recovered prisoners) ground looped on Yontan Field, and made quite a mess. Fortunately did not burn, and the pilot walked away from it.. but some of the prisoners were pretty well smashed up.. legs off etc. Imagine spending four years in a Jap camp and then having that happen on the way home. I have never said much about it, because of the censors, but this military flying is NOT what it’s cracked up to be… there are altogether too many accidents for my money. ATC (Air Transport Command) has a marvelous record, but these flyboys with bombers and fighters.. things happen out here almost every day. The colossal carelessness of a war theater is something. For example, one of my drivers has wrecked four vehicles in the past six weeks… I won’t even ride with him.”
“a mutt left behind by some marines that is one of the funniest critters I have yet seen. He is physically incapable of sitting down straight – he sits on the side of his little rear end and with his head cocked on one side – presents a very lopsided appearance. His name is Boscoe and he is a “natural born comedian”… keeps doing the funniest things and then looking around to see who is laughing. He’s priceless. “
A year later, the site of the Japanese surrender to Stilwell looked like this:
