Chapter 11

Everything started moving fast after the surrender. The ordinary people in the street seemed confused by the change in the attitude of the government. They thought they were supposed to die for the Emperor and now suddenly they had lost the war to the hated Yankee invaders. It was difficult for the older citizens to accept the fact they had actually lost the struggle that had taken so many lives of young military men and innocent civilians as well.

Nurse Heidi was content to let things remain as they were and followed the orders of her master Major Masuko as his personal female slave hiding her feeling under a cloak of feminine submission. It was more than normal for Japanese females through the ages and Heidi was not inclined to change just because the war had ended. For almost a full week, the Major spent nightly discipline sessions with Heidi to vent his rage at cow-towing to the smug Allied high command that were now in control of almost every phase of Japanese society. He concentrated on her sensitive star trying to make her whimper with pleas for mercy. She did exactly what he wanted even though she was not overly upset at his attentions and appreciated his concern for her correct attitude. Despite his mean-spirited corrections to relieve his own lack of equilibrium, she felt fortunate to have him as a lover due to his reliable skills.

A jeep came to the house of Major Masuko's parents and there was some fear that the father would be arrested for his complicity in some of the strategic planning for the attack on Pearl Harbor but the contact team was for Nurse Heidi. She was to report to the Administrative Headquarters for General McArthur's occupation force the following morning and be ready to take a full physical examination and debriefing. She was wise enough to know the "debriefing" would me more in the sense of a full-blown interrogation about any subject they thought she might aid them in providing more data.

Her master was not pleased but he kept his own council and acted like it was a matter of no concern. His parents were suddenly fearful that the foreign woman in their household might cause them grief with the occupation forces and they steadfastly ignored her like she didn't exist any longer.

The neighbors were increasingly inquisitive about Heidi's presence in the household wondering if she would be a benefit or a challenge for their existence.

The headquarters was strangely relaxed and somewhat not fully professional. She could tell the uniformed workers were all of a non-combat background with some exceptions but she thought they would be more strident in their authority and their actions. Heidi only saw a couple of females in uniform and she figured it was too soon for them to head overseas for occupation duties. It was a lot easier to take men slotted for combat and re-train them for the more mundane needs of the service.

The clinic was fully staffed and the Doctor who was a gentle older man from Ohio seemed surprised that she had been a prisoner of war for such an extended period of time.

"Well, dear, you are in excellent shape for someone who has been in the hands of the enemy for almost the entire duration of the war in the Pacific."

Heidi knew the primary reason for that was the fact she had made a determination to survive no matter how terrible the environment and how degrading the acts she had to perform. She kept it inside and just shook her head in agreement as if it were an unexplainable miracle.

In some quirk of fate, they located her records in the suspected prisoner of war file and told her,

"It says here that you have been promoted twice, dear. You are now a Major with a date of commission in December 1944. All of your back pay is sitting in the finance center back in good old Saint Louis. You will need an armed guard when you pick that up. After your debrief you will be taken to the quartermaster and fitted up with a proper uniform because we can't have you out of uniform in occupied Japan."

She sat through the debriefing which was conducted by a Japanese American Captain who was better suited to questioning captured soldiers than talking to fellow Americans. He was reluctant to question her about her physical treatment other than to confirm that she had been raped and sodomized throughout her captivity. He looked guilty as if he were responsible for being part Japanese and she felt sorry for him because he still had that thread of fearing "loss of face" more than anything else.

The quartermaster barn was filled with heaps of uniforms for both males and females. It looked like they had enough stuff to outfit an entire new army for World War III. The only thing that had to be altered was her jacket because she was unusually full in the chest area for her height and weight. The proper insignia was sewn on by Japanese civilians watching the whole process with wide eyes and head lowered posture.

When she returned to the household, she was in her new Major's uniform and carrying enough changes of underwear and stockings and shoes to last her the next couple of years. The sergeant driving the jeep saluted her when she exited the open transportation and she returned his salute doing it automatically and correctly despite not doing it for the past few years.

Her master was shocked to see her in uniform and with the rank of Major the same as he. It was a crowning blow to his male sense of superiority to see her on an equal status and in a position of power in the occupying force. She tried to mollify his discomfort by removing her jacket and hat and sitting at his feet in a more submissive posture than standing at his own height.

She was delighted when he insisted she keep her uniform on as he put her over his knee for fifty hard ones that reddened her cheeks under the official issue undies. His parents listened attentively with approval on the other side of the paper thin wall hoping to hear her foreign lips sigh with uncontrollable distress.

The district commander merely assigned her as a billeted officer at the household of Major Masuko's parents and they were accorded full rations for all occupants because of her presence. In addition, the building was repaired by Japanese civilian repairmen hired by the headquarters to make the civilian housing adequate for the occupying force. Unlike in Germany with its thousands of Wehrmacht barracks scattered across the country ready to welcome the occupiers, Tokyo and most of Japan with the exception of Okinawa had only limited military bases with most of them moved to other countries in their expanding sphere of influence. Even the civilian housing situation was deemed inadequate because most of the housing was of a type that did not meet western standards.