いつも開口一番「怖い時には必ず先に動け」と言うのが母の叔父の口癖だった。戦争の話はいつも満州の関東軍時代の話が主だった。零下３０度に及ぶ原野で警備でトイレにも行けず、垂れ流した尿が即凍ってしまう話。また日々生きる事が地獄だったため、早く死にたかった事。勿論、抑留生活の時も同様だ。
そこで彼は戦闘になるといち早く敵の銃弾に早く当たる様に、真っ先に突撃して行ったらしい。ところがその彼をかばったり、追従しようとする同僚が次々に戦死したという。
Always the first words out of his mouth, "When you're scared, just start moving" was my mother's brother's favorite saying. His war stories almost always were about his time in Manchuria in the Kwantung Army. His stories of standing guard in the wilderness, where there were no bathrooms and where temperatures were 30 degrees below zero, so that his urine froze instantly. Or of how living day after day was hell, and how he just wanted to die. Of course, it was the same for his time in internment.
This is why, when it came to battle, he would immediately charge straight in, hoping to be hit by an enemy bullet. This caused the death of many of his peers, who hoped to either protect him or mimic him.
