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A Message to Youth
Mr. Atkinson discusses the message he conveys to youth, in which he compares the ages of his audience with those who died in Hong Kong and the Japanese labor camps.
The Trip Home
Mr. Atkinson describes being taken to Yokohama by the Americans. There he is deloused, showered and given a new uniform. To his surprise, he is selected to fly home, a trip that only takes ten days.
The War Ends
Mr. Atkinson describes how the Niigata POWs learned that the war was over; work stopped and the guards disappeared.
A Promise is Honored
Mr. Atkinson describes being beaten, against the camp commandant's orders, for making a mistake while working in the Niigata shipyard. The person responsible for his beating disappears from the yard within two weeks.
A Barracks Collapses Causing Death and Injury
Mr. Atkinson describes the collapse of his barracks roof. The falling beams kill eight POW’s and crush his and five others' pelvises. After some time, he is advised by a captured American doctor to start moving, or he wouldn't walk again. His mobility returns, and he goes back to work in the Niigata shipyard.
Dooby The Ferret
Mr. Atkinson describes how his buddy Dooby managed to steal sugar, which was then smuggled back to Niigata camp to be shared with everyone, including the medical staff and their patients.
Bad guard - good guard
Mr. Atkinson describes the punishments he and a comrade received after being caught smuggling stolen soybeans into their camp in Niigata. They are beaten, branded as thieves, and forced to stand at attention all night. The following day, they're back to work as usual. When their guard at the shipyard finds out what had happened, he allows them to sleep for the day.
Stealing Food was Worth the Risk
Mr. Atkinson describes himself as becoming an experienced thief while working in the Niigata shipyard. He feels the rewards of stealing food for himself and the other prisoners far outweighed the consequences of getting caught.
Psychological Consequences of Disease
Mr. Atkinson translates his hospital experiences into the theory that married men who had left young families behind were the least likely to survive disease.
Diphtheria Hospital
Mr. Atkinson describes being 'volunteered' by his officer to work in North Point Camp's diphtheria ward. He talks about one of the patients in his care who dies while sitting on his bedpan, and how he feels in some way responsible.
Ration Issues
Mr. Atkinson describes North Point's meager rations, made worse for the lower ranks because their own officers were skimming the better food for themselves. He describes how the regiment's doctors interceded to obtain better provisions for the rank and file soldiers.
Restoring Discipline at North Point Camp
Mr. Atkinson describes his officers ordering the POW’s to become disciplined again, and to wash and shave as best they could, given the camp's modest plumbing.
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