Another friend in the platoon was lost, and there were three of us left.

We took half a day for burial.

We had to obtain foods by ourselves, wearing only fundoshi (old Japanese underwear for men).

Three of us vowed each other that we would share foods equally.

One day, off the blue coast, a pale-white hospital ship appeared.

The ship picked up the survivors in the atoll and departed straightforward to the army hospital in Beppu.

When we arrived, the town of Beppu was filled with the aroma of fragrant olives in misty rain.

I cannot forget the moment I found the hospital ship.