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ample room now in the hotel, and everyone could now be the chairman of a committee. A few days after the sailing a Japanese consular official called on me to ascertain if we would be "willing to repatriated." Willing? At first I was skeptical of the seriousness of the offer. I felt if I showed over enthusiasm they could gloatingly scorn my request. I had not been over twenty years in the Orient without learning a little. I put forth a "Well, Mr. Moto, I will be guided entirely by your wishes. If you suggest we should go, we will do so." The interview was cordial. The Japanese consular people had my sympathy. They had a most difficult role to fulfill as liaison between the rival service groups of their own nation. That night I wondered if I had gambled rightly and assessed the position correctly. The stakes were the highest a man could play for - his liberty. When he departed the Japanese Consul said, "You have made a wise decision, Captain Cook." There was the possibility that if I had refused repatriation we should have been sent to one of their infamous torture prison camps. While I had the right to govern my own actions and decisions I felt, as a prisoner of war, I did not have the right to set down an arbitrary course for my officers to pursue. After two days of anxious waiting the Consular Official returned to say that it had been officially decided that our group would be repatriated and that we could begin packing. I asked him if it would be possible to give him a letter for delivery to you in Stanley Prison Camp, Hong Kong. He readily assented, and that was the letter you received that no one knew from whence it came, or how. A "divine wind!" When the misdeeds of Japan are weighed in the balance, please Recorder, mark that on the merit side. It did not harm their war effort, but made a difference between darkness and light for our family. All too slowly the time wore on. Day after day the departure date of our vessel was postponed. On the 9th of May 1942 we left the Shameen in a launch to join the Japanese
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