Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994 Page: 46
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was hot, and Guam is humid. When you're in the middle
of a little corner--this was the jungle--it can get
really steamed up because there's no ventilation
(chuckle). You'd cut a swath in the middle of the
jungle--the Japanese forces, you know, didn't have any
helicopters so they couldn't see you--and it's pretty
humid there. I was just sweating, sweating, sweating,
sweating. My father came up to me, and he said, "Why
are you licking the sweat off of your lips?" And he
said, "Welcome to manhood." And I said, "What are you
talking about?" And in my language, he said--which
I'll translate for you what he said in our
language--"What you're tasting is the sweetness of the
saltiness of sweat at the end of the day's toil." Said
in my language, it is so poetically beautiful, and I've
never forgotten it. I'll say it to you in my language
[speaks in Chamorro]. "You're tasting the sweetness of
the saltiness of sweat."
That was such a turning point in my life--I was
probably thirteen-and-a-half, fourteen years of age--
because it made me realize, I think, without realizingit at the time, that I was on the same level as my
father. I was able to work; I was able to produce; and
I was able to share in the Swiss Family Robinson-type
thing, you know. I was providing. In the tradition of
my people, I was the oldest son. The two persons older46
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Blaz, Ben. Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994, text, October 8, 1994; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606451/m1/48/: accessed July 17, 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.