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“I read the account of the submarine that rescued you and the other four sailors It ing around you”

That elicited a reaction Watanabe nodded “Three sailors One soldier,” he said, his voice soft

“Right But five of you, correct?”

“Yes Out of hundreds”

“It sounds like quite a story Can you tell me what happened?”

Watanabe shrugged and shifted in his chair “Our ship sank in the stored with an Australian accent

“Yes, we know that A destroyer, right?”

He nodded “Only a year old but already daed several times”

“What happened?”

“The repair didn’t hold Water poured in No way to fix Big seas sank her”

“So it was an old repair that let go I see,” Re on that side of the islands? Apparently, it was calm to the northeast, near your base”

“We picked up soldiers on Guadalcanal Our orders were to return to Tokyo So a long trip ahead of us The storm was a surprise” The ancient Japanese sailor stared at the floor “The last surprise, for most of us”

“Tellforward on the sofa, her tone quiet “You’re the last person alive as there It ”

The old man closed his eyes with a flutter, and when he opened the at a point a thousand an to speak, his voice quavered

“We did the trip fro the Allied planes wouldn’t get within a hundred e We ran at thirty knots The seas were confused, and a squall was co from the west, but nobody kne bad it would turn out We were at the rendezvous point off Guadalcanal by ten-thirty and picked up the ned to evacuate in about an hour before stea away”