Oral History Interview with William Sloman Page: 66
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Ozeki was a wonderful doctor. Now, the doctor we had at
Zentsuji was an army doctor, and he was a sadistic
scoundrel. I mean he -- you just couldn't believe they
were of the same profession. And this Ofuna was a naval
interrogation camp, nothing but Marines and sailors, Navy,
and we went there. We had a lot of the men off to Houston;
I guess the officers didn't survive over there. They kept
us in cells, just any two of us together. My cellmate was
Captain Jack Ryder or Lieutenant Jack Ryder, off of the
Perch. Anyway, you weren't permitted to talk. When you'd
go out, come out for exercise, you had to keep moving. You
couldn't stand in a group of two or three, of course that
would be communicating if you were. And they had
exceptionally large guards that they brought them in out of
Manchuria or someplace, because the Japanese don't get as
big as they were. But they were there to intimidate. They
told us that we had not yet been reported as prisoners of
war, the Red Cross didn't know we were there.
MC: You guys that were wounded, you just more or less vanishedover there didn't you?
WS: Well, most of us had recovered pretty much as well as we
were going to.
MC: Right. But I mean as far as the folks at home were
concerned, you just disappeared basically.66
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Oral History Interview with William Sloman (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Sloman. Sloman joined the Marine Corps in October of 1939. Beginning early in 1940, he served in the 1st Defense Battalion, D Battery. In February of 1941, he deployed to Hawaii. In December, Sloman participated in the Battle of Wake Island. He was captured by the Japanese, survived transport aboard the hell ship Asama Maru and imprisonment in Zentsuji POW Camp in Japan. He was liberated in 1945, and discharged in early 1946.
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Sloman, William. Oral History Interview with William Sloman, text, Date Unknown; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606153/m1/66/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.