From the Cheng Family to All
鄭芝龍和他的子孫的命運
1 年前
12/24/2008
12/20/2008
A letter to my son
Posted by EyeDoc
Son,
As you know our family suffered a great loss on Jan 12, 1945. It is the day my father and your grandfather’s ship was attacked in Saigon by the Americans. He lost his life at age 31, together with many other physicians on board. They were all draftees from Taiwan as members of the Medical Corps of the Imperial Japanese Navy. You have never met him of course. Even I was only one year and 2 months old at the time when he perished, so I do not remember anything about him at all. Your grandma seldom mentioned him except in passing that they had a successful medical practice in 淡水Dansui, named 興亞醫院. That the patients sometimes paid in foodstuff in lieu of cash. And that he enjoyed a cold beer with lobsters after seeing patients. This peaceful life did not last long, though. Your grandfather soon received a draft notice ordering him to report to duty and to go on a transport ship in Kaohsiong. The ship 神靖丸 (Shinsei Maru) left the Port of Kaohsiong on Dec 1, 1944. I remember seeing, years later, a postcard which he mailed home in late Dec, 1944, from Hong Kong before sailing on to Saigon. Grandma had written an autobiography (in Chinese) and the parts that describe this period with her reaction to the news of his death were emotionally charged as you can imagine. I will try to translate it for you at some point.
And thanks to the internet, now I have a somewhat complete story of what happened on that fateful day as well as the circumstances leading up to it. I have now put together a narrative for you, so you can learn a most important chapter in our family history.
I am sure you recall the movie “Midway” which we watched together not long ago. In which I have pointed out one character, Admiral William Halsey, to you and mentioned that this person was the one responsible for the attack on Shinsei Maru. However, that was an over-simplification. The Battle of Midway occurred on June 4 –7, 1942, soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941). The Pacific War intensified after Midway and the battleground gradually moved westward through Guadalcanal, the Solomons, and eventually to the Philippines. The Japanese Empire was in retreat. And the Pacific Third Fleet Commander during that period was Admiral Halsey. This sets the background.
What I have found about Shinsei Maru are the following:
The ship was built in 1943 in 函館船渠 (Hakodate Dock Co) in Hokkaido with a tonnage of 2,700 tons. It was owned and operated by 栗林商船株式会社(東京) - Kuribayashi Shosen, Inc of Tokyo. Both companies are still in existence today.
It was docked at Cape Saint Jacques when hit by a torpedo from a Grumman F6F Hellcat and sank at 9:55AM, Jan 12, 1945. According to a book "Diary of a Military Doctor" written by a survivor Dr WU Ping-Chen, out of 59 doctors, only 18 survived; all 3 pharmacists died; 80 physician’s assistants, 25 survived; 200 medical workers, 52 survived. All together, of the 342 Taiwanese on board, 247 died. In addition, 12 soldiers - 6 died and 30 crew members - 10 died.
Inside Port Saint Jacques, in addition to Shinsei Maru, 6 other ships were also destroyed. Outside Port Saint Jacques, and inside Saigon Harbor, 9 ships in each location were also sunk. Port Saint Jacques is 120 km by land and 80 km by sea from Saigon.
The air raids were quite intense according to a US Naval Analysis interrogation report of Japanese Naval officers who witnessed the wave-after-wave attacks on Jan 12, 1945. And in the same report, the officer in charge of the transport operation for the whole region turned out to be one HORIUCHI Shigetada, Rear Admiral, I.J.N. He was a permanent officer of 31 years service. His principal war time combat experience was in the First Southern Advance Fleet in the latter half of 1942 and was charged with air protection of convoys during the last eight months of the war. Despite his extensive experience, he certainly had failed his duty in providing air and sea escorts for the transport ships. And yet he blamed it squarely on the High Command, see: http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS/IJO/IJO-47.html
“Q. What were your most important missions?
A. The most important missions in my area were: first, to protect the shipping of oil from the south to the EMPIRE; second, the supplying of the PHILIPPINES. I must confess that both missions failed. It is my opinion that although the officers assigned to convoy duty fully appreciated the vital strategic importance of maintaining supply lines to keep the Combined Fleet able to operate at all, the high command took the counsel, short sighted, of the Combined Fleet Staff in allocating insufficient strength to the maintenance of the vital supply lines. Convoy officers were only specialist auxiliaries of the Main Force and became therefore important (sic, should be 'impotent')."
He died in 1984 at age 87, without having to pay for his war-time dereliction of duty. Indeed, the Shinsei Maru convoy (of perhaps 5 transport ships all together) was escorted by only one tiny mine sweeper (the No 102) en route from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong. And by another 500-ton gun boat, sunk in an air raid, from San Ya to Saigon. I hold him, on the Japanese side, personally responsible for the demise of Shinsei Maru.
So who were those US raiders and where were they based? We can surmise from WW-II time-line in the Pacific recorded in http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm#1945 which listed the following (partial list):
January 3, 1945 - Gen. MacArthur is placed in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Nimitz in command of all naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself.
January 4, 1945 - British occupy Akyab in Burma.
January 9, 1945 - U.S. Sixth Army invades Lingayen Gulf on Luzon in the Philippines.
January 11, 1945 - Air raid against Japanese bases in Indochina by U.S. Carrier-based planes.
Notice the last entry: The key is “US Carrier-based planes”. The question is which carrier(s)?
According to http://www.cv6.org/1945/1945.htm:
“Enterprise's first strikes of 1945 were against airfields on Luzon, Philippines, followed by raids into Indo-China, and five major strikes on shipping and installations along the Indo-China and South China Sea coasts.” Therefore USS Enterprise is the prime suspect; although there were other carriers as well. This is further confirmed by http://www.sandcastlevi.com/sea/enterprise/voych09c.htm:
“By December 1944, the Enterprise was officially operating as a night attack carrier with the USS Independence. In this role, she participated in attacks in January 1945 as part of the invasion of Luzon. During this operation, the American carriers sank a total of 300,000 tons of Japanese shipping and destroyed over 600 aircraft, to a loss of 200 American planes."
There is another entry on Jan 12, 1945, in http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/vtn90/vtn90-4501.htm#19450112
This is the VT(N)-90 Squadron (The Avenger dive-bombers) based on USS Enterprise:
“Thursday [i.e., Jan 11, 1945] evening we had an extensive briefing session on the Camranh Bay and Cape St. Jacques areas which were considered among the most likely hiding places for the Jap fleet.”
And on Jan 12, 1945: "The pilots on the strike were Lt. Kippen [Russell F. Kippen], Ens. Jennings [Joseph F. Jennings], Ens. Landon [James D. Landon], Lt(jg) Ashton [John M. Ashton], Lt(jg) Cromley [William L. Cromley], Lt. White [Melber A. White], Lt. Cummings [Ralph W. Cummings], Lt. Collins [C. B. Collins], Lt(jg) Brooks [Charles E. Brooks] and Ens. Atkinson. Four VT and 12 VF from the Independence also joined us in the attack. The convoy was located in Kanfong Bay and turned out to be a group of fifteen ships (the convoy and its escorts). There were three DDs, four DEs, three SA, two FTC, two TB and one CL of the Katori class (though the latter was not positively identified until later). Kippen led the attack, going for the CL and scoring a straddle with some damage done. Jennings went after a DD scoring two hits and strafed an SA. Landon made runs on a DD and an SA getting a direct hit on the stern of the latter, leaving it settling and dead in the water. Ashton and Cromley both attacked SAs with no hits, and both were hit by enemy fire in the wing or elevators. Both returned, scared but safe. Lt(jg) Brooks and Lt. Cummings both went for DEs and DDs but scored no hits.”
There was, however, no mention of an attack on Cape Saint Jacques. It is unknown if this was an omission or a wartime confusion. It did mention that the mission was joined by fighter planes from USS Independence (i.e., the VTs and the VFs). It is possible that one of the 12 VF fighters (i.e., the Hellcats), rather than the ones from the Enterprise, might have been responsible for sinking Shinsei Maru. The fighters from USS Independence did destroy 9 merchant vessels during several tours of duty. The pilots mentioned in the log above all died later when attacking Okinawa and Taiwan.
Even more details can be found in http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25513&page=47
In which the destruction of Shinsei Maru was recorded, among a very long list, as “… oil tanker Kumagawa Maru and transports Shinsei Maru and Toyu Maru off Cape St. Jacques, 10°20'N, 107°45'E…"
and
"Combined, TF 38 sank 41 ships on this day.”
This was known as “Operation Gratitude” carried out by Task Force 38 under Vice Adm John S. McCain (who was the grandfather of Senator McCain). And TF38 turns out to be a large scale operation consisting of 5 Groups. And one of which TG38.5 had USS Enterprise and USS Independence as the core carriers. The VT squadron mentioned above was part of this group.
We know the Third Fleet Commander at that time was William Halsey, Jr (1882–1959). In January, 1945. As a fleet commander, Halsey was then responsible for the death of Shinsei Maru. More directly involved, in executing the war plan as the commander of TF38, was John S McCain Sr (who died in 1945). The pilot of the Hellcat who administered the fatal blow to Shinsei Maru remained un-identified.
The Enterprise suffered severe damages not long after; the last one on May 14, 1945 incurred by a Japanese Kamikaze pilot. 14 died and 34 were wounded.
And unexpectedly in the archives of 神奈川新聞 (Kanagawa News) http://www.halmoni-haraboji.net/exhibit/archives/disp00/S0016.html, I came across the following:
1955.05.26 - 戦時中米軍機にサイゴン港で撃沈された神靖丸の引揚 元日本兵300名の遺骨を発見 元乗組員の生存者は「軍が台湾高雄市で徴収した台湾現地人で身分は医務工員だ」
This is a collection of headlines. Surprisingly, news on May 26, 1955 reported that the wreckage of Shinsei Maru was discovered and the remains of 300 Japanese soldiers found. There is a key phrase here "引揚, Hi-Ki A-Ge", which means “sent back to the home country”. The survivors (in reference to 1945) were identified as soldiers from Kaohsiung City in Taiwan and were Taiwanese medical workers. No one informed our family of this discovery, though. There was no international communication between Taiwan and outside world at that time, at least not for our family.
We have known since 1989 when Grandma finally located your grandfather, enshrined together with 28,000 other Taiwanese war-dead, in 靖国神社Yasukuni Jinja in Tokyo. In late October this year, I have also visited Yasukuni and was directed by a friend to the nearby 千鳥ケ淵戦没者墓苑 Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. Which, to my utter surprise, was built in 1959 to receive the remains of WWII war-dead, including those recovered from Indo-China. In one instant, I realized that this was where the remains sent back from Vietnam in 1955 were buried. It has 6 floors all underground. This is your grandfather’s final resting place!
The Americans started air raids on transport ships on Jan 11, 1945 and Japan surrendered on Aug 15, 1945 – a mere 7 months later. According to one of the survivors Dr WU, they were all on deck enjoying the scenery, then your grandfather decided to go below deck to study. And soon after, the torpedo hit. The ship sank head first and that was where the doctors’ quarters were located. Your grandfather could not escape his fate – and our family suffers the consequence to this day. It is important to remember that we must not dwell on this tragic past (we never have, not your grandma, nor I). I am also so very grateful that Grandma stayed with us for so long; although Christmas dinners without her will never be the same. One consolation maybe that they are now finally together, after 63 years.
Love,
Dad
12/19/2008
神靖丸於 12/03/1944 11AM 抵達香港
Posted by EyeDoc
根据近代世界艦船事典 (The Encyclopedia of the World, Modern Warships) 記載:
http://hush.gooside.com/
神靖丸一行 [屬"ホ104船團" - 其中包括華頂山丸,此船在神靖丸遇難後,於1945年3月23日4:28PM 被美第58特遣隊戰机擊沉,見下引] 於1944年12月1日清晨8:30從高雄出發,12月3日早上11點抵達香港.船隻總數不明,可能是5艘货船,但只有一條掃雷艇 (mine sweeper) 護航 (第102号).
原文如次:
華頂山丸 [Ka Cho San Maru]
三井物産貨物船
三井造船玉野造船所で1924.12進水
陸軍が徴用
44.12/1.0830神靖丸等とホ104船団を編成し第102号掃海艇に護衛され/3.1100香港入港
45.3/21.0600鹿児島出港後那覇へ航行中/23.1615(28ﾟ40'N/128ﾟ50'E)でアメリカ第58任務部隊搭載機の攻撃を受け.1628沈没し乗船中の海上輸送第15大隊､第30兵站､沖縄憲兵隊員82船砲隊62船員60計204名が死亡.
2427(3878)T 284.0x42.0x(23.3)ft R 1200hp 12.31knt. [註:此船排水2,427 噸,与神靖丸相當,滿載排水3,878 噸; 尺寸: 284x42x23.3呎; 1,200馬力; 速度: 12.31 knots]
船舶番号30521.
据作家前橋松造先生報導 (2006/平成18年12月11日), 華頂山丸最後孤單的遭遇如此:
"...錦江湾 [註:鹿児島県] から沖縄・台湾に向かって輸送船が数多く出るが、ことごとくトカラの沖で潜水艦から撃沈される。錦江湾を出た船団、昭和１８年１２月８日～昭和２０年３月２１日に全部で１６船団（延べ１９７隻）、その中でも悲劇だったのは「華頂山丸」という船で、桜島沖で待機していたらB２４に空爆を受け同行の３隻は沈没し、残った1隻の「華頂山丸」は沖合に向けて出発せよという命令を受け出発、大島の笠利沖で沈没する。..."
華頂山丸的航線包括從鹿児島到台灣及沖繩一帶.与神靖丸等104船團抵香港後,不知是否也一起航往西貢.但最後是回到錦江灣.於同年3月23日被美軍空襲擊沉,一共204人陣亡,也是無謂的犧牲,令人歎息.
華頂山丸 (1925)
另,第102号掃海艇船史, 見: http://wpedia.mobile.goo.ne.jp/
1943年(昭和18年)年2～3月に進水
1944年(昭和19年) 9月28日竣工｡日本海軍籍に編入､横須賀鎮守府籍｡第2遣支艦隊に編入する｡ [註:第二遣支艦隊負責華南, 下轄第十五戰隊旗艦"五十玲"輕巡洋艦, 下轄砲艦"嵯峨","橋立", 廣東方面特別根據地隊, 廈門方面特別根據地隊, 特設第四掃海隊等.]
主に東ｼﾅ海方面で船団護衛に従事｡
大湊*付近で終戦を迎える｡ [*註:青森県]
1945年(昭和20年)11月30日除籍､特別輸送艦となり復員輸送に従事｡
1947年(昭和22年)11月20日ｲｷﾞﾘｽに引き渡し｡浦賀船渠で解体｡
日本海軍の掃海艇12/18/2008
新竹州連煥文醫師
Iris Liu 提供給EyeDoc一個新竹市文化局網頁, 其中提到:
"...中日戰爭爆發，日人徵調台籍居民參戰。當時規定家中有二名男子，一定要有一人至軍中服役。連煥文就是在這樣的情況下，於民國31年被徵調至越南擔任軍醫。翌年美軍轟炸西貢，連煥文不幸遇炸身亡，連煥明痛失愛弟及工作上的得力助手。大戰末期，美軍直接由菲律賓空襲台灣。當時新竹市的「榮町」，即火車站附近一帶，就成為美軍轟炸機首要的攻擊目標。"
首先: "中日戰爭爆發"應是"太平洋戰爭"爆發之誤.日本在太平洋戰爭開始失利,是絕大多數台灣人被徵召參戰的主因.
其次: 吳平城醫師"軍醫日記"的神靖丸人員存歿名單中也記有"新竹州連煥文醫師",應是与上文的連煥文同一人.因為文中"民國31年的翌年"是1943年.這一年一直到年底,太平洋戰爭從珍珠港,中途島才西延到所羅門群島一帶.美軍轟炸中南半島(包括西貢在內)從1945年1月11日即一年多之後才開始.所以連醫師"不幸遇炸身亡"應是与神靖丸遇難同一事件.
我們會繼續求証.
謝謝您, Iris Liu.
12/16/2008
12/11/2008
台南州劉占輝醫師
景福醫訊的廣大傳播讓我們又能增補神靖丸醫師名單:
台南州劉占輝醫師是1939-40年日本東京昭和大學醫專畢業.在斗六才開業行醫三年,就被征召,与最後一梯次海軍軍醫在左營待命,上了船航往西貢後就沒再回來.留下了3歲女兒及11個月大的兒子.劉夫人辛勞一生,身為教師,育人子弟,在2003年過世,享年83.
12/09/2008
Pearl Harbor Raid and Forgiveness
If you prefer Chinese version please click the link below:
http://heartstring2.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post_04.html
被遺忘的一頁台灣史「神靖丸」
Posted by BH
More than two years ago, we traveled to Hawaii to attend my husband's 40th college reunion. After the reunion cruise, we decided to visit Pearl Harbor. While watching a historical film that vividly depicted the Dec. 7, 1941, raid on Pearl Harbor, I couldn’t help but think that if Japan had not raided Pearl Harbor, perhaps my dad would not have lost his life at the young age of 32. Tears streamed down my face as I thought that if the Japanese hadn’t attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States might not have entered WWII and there would not have been war in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and the United States.
I do not harbor hatred against the culprits of Japan or the Americans who sunk the ship “Shinsei Maru” on which my father served as a military physician, It was not until recently by this blog, I learned that the Task Force 38 had sunk “Shinsei Maru”, thus I lost my dad even when I was still in my mom’s womb. Back then, the vice Admiral of the Task force 38, John S. McCain SR. happened to be the grandfather of the Republican candidate for President of the United States this year, (Note: now he has lost the election) . This discovery hadn’t made me not want to vote for Mr. McCain, unless there are other legitimate reasons for me not to. No, I could still have voted for him because I think that in international affairs and wars, he should have a better understanding and insights, because he had been a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. Generally speaking, Republicans care more about international security issues and perhaps more favorable towards protecting Taiwan’s democracy. What I am trying to say is “I have neither hatred against those who caused my dad to die untimely, nor hatred against their descendants. ” ( p.s. I wrote this part long before the election took place)
Recently, a friend of mine in her e-mail to other friend (c.c. to me) mentioned that my father was a former military doctor, serving the Japanese imperialists…etc. She didn’t criticize my dad purposely, yet I felt my feelings was hurt. Her comment was extremely unfair for those who had been drafted by the Japanese government to the Pacific War. Just as Eye Doc. said in this blog:
『Taiwan's post-war phase was kind of being awkward. After the defeat and the withdrawal of Japanese government from Taiwan, there came Chinese Nationalists. It was like changing dynasties, the new political power liked to judge beyond time and history: those who survived "Shinsei Maru" were sometimes called Chinese traitors or Taiwanese traitors, because they had served China’s enemy Japan. They were not able to argue and defend themselves since they were simply politically incorrect. Just think, after Japan had governed in Taiwan for 50 years, if the people of Taiwan identified with Japan as their own country then, was it unreasonable? They had been through Japanese education, all their lives. Should we criticize them if they had developed a kind of mentality of being Japanese citizens? How can we criticize and blame them then?
Although my father had the opportunity to run away from the Japanese Navy, he did not run away. Although some people had urged him to escape long before he went to serve as a military doctor. For example, my maternal grandpa had told him that when his ship landed in Hong Kong, he should run away. Because my grandpa's generation started far before Japanese rule in Taiwan, of course, he could not identify with Japan as his own country. In Dr. Wu Ping Cheng’s book “ A Military physician’s Diary”, he mentioned that my dad, as well as a few others had the opportunities to see their relatives or acquaintances in Hong Kong or Vietnam, they certainly had a great opportunity to run away. (Of course, if the escapees were captured, they would be condemned to death penalty.) However, Dr. Wu also mentioned that if anyone ran away, the rest of the comrades in the ship, would all be punished to lose their freedom. Therefore, I think my upright law-abiding dad, wouldn’t violate any military laws, let alone escape. My dad wouldn’t like to penalize his comrade-in-ship, and most likely, he probably thought it was his duty to defend Taiwan and Japan, he had to do it that way, no turning back at all. (Now, we may consider that they had been brainwashed by a foreign government Japan and had developed silly loyalty to Japan. That was unfair to them.) I happened to know that some people used “red envelope” money to avoid being drafted; it is an unfair world, honest people died as victims, but bribers got to keep their lives. I heard that Dr. Kuo Hong-Wen was not originally on the drafting list, however, another doctor used red envelope, to avoid being drafted, and recommended Dr. Kuo as his younger substitutes. Once a cousin cheerfully told me that it was his father’s luck, not to be a doctor, or else his dad should be the one who died, not my dad, because his dad was my dad’s eldest brother, and only one doctor would be drafted from a family.( He had to hear this drafting information from his dad, my big uncle, as each regional physician bureaucracy has slightly different priorities of drafting.) I listened with sadness, because my dad was determined to be a medical student out of being a filial son, in order to take care of his father's clinic, so that his father could have an early retirement. I heard my dad’s eldest brother wouldn’t study but fooled around all the times so he couldn’t get into any medical school at all. You wouldn’t think the one who was filial and studied diligently would harvest early death, while the prodigal son would keep life as his reward.
Furthermore, I have never thought of my father and the "Yasukuni Shrine" being connected, until China protested former President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to "Yasukuni Shrine" to commemorate his brother, I thought then perhaps my dad’s name was in that famous shrine too? Later on, Eye Doc. Confirmed my guess was correct.
Just as Eye Doc. said that those who survived the sunken Shin-sei Maru were seen as traitors to Taiwan, because KMT then took over Taiwan. Such a serious charge against them, was very unfair indeed.
However, people shouldn’t continue to live in the past and keep thinking, "If something had not happened that way, how nice would the world be! …etc." or "what if something happens this way or that way…etc.”, the "what if" monsters will create unfounded, unnecessary fears for the future. To keep living in the past with endless regrets, remorse and "what ifs" is very unwise too. What is more important? Isn’t it "the present" ? what does God want us to do now? Shouldn’t we treasure our time now to do something to glorify God and benefit others?
I used to think that it was very unfortunate that I was born posthumously. But now I think I have been very fortunate to be born as if to catch the last train before my dad left for the war. During the air raids of WWII, I brought so much troubles to my mom and grandpa. It was fortunate that grandpa was a doctor and I could be born at home in his own clinic. However, my grandpa had to blacken the windows of a delivery room just in case if I was born in the middle of night when there were air raid sirens, a light could still be on inside the dark delivery room. Of course, I could also be born a worm, right? The evolutionist wants us to believe that we humans are not different from other animals . (In one of Kafka’s novel,” Metamorphosis”, he described the terror of the main character waking up one day in the morning only to find himself having turned into a bug.) From another point of view, since we are all born humans, we have already won the lottery, because we have defeated the odds of not being born, being aborted or just being born a worm, not a human being.
Torpedoes, bullets, bombs don’t have eyes, they kill anyone passing through their paths. Task Force 38 didn’t know my dad’s ship was a medical ship because there was no red cross mark or flag on it. Or else, perhaps they wouldn’t have bombed the ship. I do not harbor any bitter resentments towards Japan or US, but I am well aware of the pain and sorrow the war could bring to any family just like my family. I’d hope that there is no more war in our world and no longer there is any family who suffers the loss of their loved ones as a result of the war. However, it is easier said than done; people do have different religious beliefs, there is racism, bigotry and so on ..., it is really hard to have real peace on earth. Only by looking up to the cross, listening to how He forgave those who nailed Him to the cross, that we would be able to forgive our enemies with the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Jesus said: "Father, forgive them because they did not know what they did."
珍珠港與所謂的「大東亞聖戰」
--摘自吳平城醫師「軍醫日記」前言--
（請參看下連「軍醫日記」）
http://shinseimaru.blogspot.com/2007/12/blog-post_22.html
自從日本軍閥發動侵華軍事行動後，大約兩百萬陸軍在中國大陸如陷入泥槳似的不能自拔，在這時，日本海軍卻又瘋狂的偷襲珍珠港、香港、菲律賓、馬來西亞等地。在這之前，日木不顧國際聯盟阻止，已進軍越南、寮國高棉，這三個當時仍是法國殖民地。值法國本國已被德國打敗了，日本美其名為共同防衛，和平進駐，其實擺開很多軍艦大砲在河內和西貢，費了三天便強行登陸。
珍珠港等的偷襲，連德國狂夫希特勒都驚駭又憤怒，說日本人像猴子戲裡的猴子：該跳不跳，不該跳時它才亂跳。原先希特勒是要求日本進攻西伯利亞，因當時德國在莫斯科、列寧格勒、史達林格勒，陷入苦戰，師老兵疲。如日本能攻擊西伯利亞東部，使蘇聯應接不暇，則戰局可能改觀。然而當時的日本已經把擴張的目標指向太平洋了。日本命名這個戰爭為「大東亞聖戰」，同時向美、英、法、荷宣仗，戰爭初期，日本皇軍確實所向無敵，但因戰線擴大，人員分散，進入戰爭後期便開始徵召台灣軍人、軍伕、軍醫及醫務助手了。
我們台灣人醫師一批一批地被召往台北淡水河畔，第九號水門邊一片古老建築的地方、受訓一個月。每梯次約一百二十名，每早起來體操、唱軍歌、跑步，同時也天天到當時台大醫學部和熱帶醫學研究所聽講義。沒想到戰爭日亟，受訓未完，就有分別是五名和七名的兩班先被派遣出航。醫生被徵召的條件是醫專或醫大畢業，四十五歲未滿的開業醫師或者病院服務的住院醫師。原則上由年輕力壯的先召，負責遴選的台灣各地醫師公會，有權利稍加修改。有的主張四十歲以上的應該先徵召，理由是他們已有相當經濟基礎，萬一戰死，子女生活也不成大問題。後來發現末結婚的醫師，思想有問題的醫師都成為首先徵召的目標，如與東港事件有關的張鏡川、郭鴻文醫師（末婚）就是這樣被徵召的。東港事件其實是日本高等特務中了盟軍的宣傳，以為東港方面台灣人暗中連絡盟軍計劃登陸，事情鬧得天翻地覆，報紙卻隻字不提。這事也牽連到台南市名律師歐清石氏的坐牢（歐氏在獄中被盟軍飛機炸死）。這是日本統冶台灣最醜陋的政治的一頁。當時都郡市醫師公會和有關督導機構閉門造車，自行訂立徵召順序，真是權大氣粗，誰反對誰就被戴上無愛國心的罪名，一輦子洗不清，其實台灣人除非是精神有問題，誰會有愛國心呢? 有的人，有高人指點，自願加入了軍部或機場服務，巧妙地避開了這場劫數，令大家羨慕不已。
我所屬的台南州新豐郡醫師公會，自始大家討論後，決定由年輕人徵召起。最年輕的某醫師馬上便被召下南洋。我算起來是第五年輕的，原先以為沒那麼快輪到我，未料到衛生課突然藉口海軍需要畢業後三年以上有經驗者而越過前面三人直接召我，我一時莫明其妙，抗議也無效，只好認定命運坎坷了。後來才知道真正原因是我父親先前和警察課長、庄長、醫師公會會長交惡，這是他們共謀的傑作，以公報私仇。
我於一九四四年九月二十五日接到命令，九月二十八日在高雄港集合，這時已經是我受訓完畢後六個月了。我們這一梯次出發以後，戰局惡化。美軍控制西太平洋，日軍便無能力也無船隻可載人出去。也末能逆料這一批台灣人，竟遭美軍擊沉於南中國海，而成為台彎人沉船死亡最多的一次，計有: (從略 請參看本部落格存歿名單)
...我的日記帳有三小本，第一本由一九四四年九月二十八日寫到一九四五年一月十一日沉船前一天。這本放在衣袋的小冊子，陪我在洶湧的西貢海，渡過了美軍的轟炸，又泡了一整天的機油與海水，早已破爛，然睹物生情，惡夢依稀，彷彿仍可嗅出當時瘋狂的硝煙與鹹濕的海水。
...這三本日記已經保存四十二年。本來戰後就想好好重寫，因原文是日文，寫得又簡單，子女也看不懂，改寫漢文，自己又無自信，遲遲未實現。最近長子光太常說:「你常常講那時情形如何? 不如全部寫出來好了。」因此，我下了決心，寫給子女、親戚、朋友作為一頁歷史，並獻給戰友們以及家眷，也表一番心意。
戰後回來，末聞我的戰友有人寫起這些事，偶而談起，似乎只有我還保有當時的日記簿，想到自己會經身歷險境歸來，便有一種報告史實的責任感。更回想當時的我常向海底戰友們的靈魂默禱著，「保佑我能回老家，我會替您們報告這悽愴的情形，祈望您們在天之靈安息吧!」所以，我不揣才疏學淺，決定忠實地敘述當時台灣軍醫人員實實在在的遭遇與經過，作為對歷史的一份交待吧.
後記 (posted by BH): 非常感謝吳醫師的「軍醫日記」，我終於知道我爸爸沉船的名稱「神靖丸」。我爸爸的沉船叫什麼名字，一直是一團迷 ， 我們一無所知， 直到吳醫師的文章見報 (太平洋時報)。老實說，我起先的態度是不想也不忍心知道詳情，因為太痛苦。所以都睜一眼閉一眼, 掃瞄而過，不想仔細讀呢。說來慚愧，辜負吳醫師的用心良苦，也不曾在他生前向他表達謝意。
吳醫師的日記本放在他的衣袋中，陪他在洶湧的西貢海，渡過了美軍的轟炸，又泡了一整天的機油與海水，早已破爛 ; 這本日記保存了四十二年才發表見報。(他在他的「前言」裡說道：『本來戰後就想好好重寫，因為原文是日文，寫得又簡單，子女也看不懂，改寫漢文，自己又無自信，遲遲未實現。經長子光太鼓勵，下了很大的決心，寫給子女、親戚、朋友作為一頁歷史，並獻給戰友們以及家眷，也表一番心意』。)
吳醫師的努力與毅力是何等的難能可貴！「軍醫日記」也已絕版、他為我們保存這一頁鮮為人知的台灣歷史、讓我們好好珍惜！我把他的「前言」幾乎全部登出，謹向他在天之靈致最大的敬意與謝意! (事先未經其子女及發行人同意，敬請見諒。)
P.S. Here is a link for you as an extension reading to Dr. Wu's foreword in his “A Military Doctor's Diary”, it is my personal family story and testimony. Any comments are very welcome! (Or if you prefer to read in English click the English link below: these two links are twin of the same article.)
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