Journal+Enter+3+MCBD


 * December 25th 1940**

Again, my battalion set out for battle today. Although it is Christmas, we had to go and fight. I hoped that at least on Christmas we will have some time to enjoy or maybe send a letter home, but I guess that won’t happen.

Just like usual, my men were heading towards a certain point, where we encountered British forces this time. I told my men that I will be giving awards to soldiers who come back to the base victoriously. I assume this was a great motivation for the men, and we fought off them. How proud and happy I was! We did have some casualty as we were outnumbered, but the fact that we fought them off and came back victorious on Christmas was enough to set us all on joy.

Even though I am an officer leading a battalion, I don’t want Daiki to go and fight. Yesterday he told me that he wants to be engaged in battle more often, and at the front line too. I told him that he should stay and do what he has been doing here so that he will be back home without injuries both physically and mentally. I have seen many teen soldiers that try to run away from the battlefield in fear. They either got killed by the enemy, or our own officers. I can’t estimate how much confidence Daiki has in himself, but seeing a friend getting shot right next to you is something painful to watch. And as Daiki is young and probably will have a life to live after the war, I don’t him to become psychologically damaged in any means.

By the way, I haven’t gotten much message from my friends or family in Japan. I don’t think there would be a direct attack on Japan any time soon, but this lack of communication makes me worried. Hopefully they won’t think I am dead. Maybe I should fight harder and deliver notices of victories with my name so that my family knows that I am fine and alive. I wish the war ends now. I feel like it is not a war, but merely a struggle for life.

Mitsuo