What a Japanese General Wrote to the Marine Who Took His Surrender at Tsingtao in October 1945

In October 1945, twelve thousand Marines who had just come off Okinawa landed at Tsingtao in North China. Their job was to take the surrender of a Japanese brigade, disarm it, and send it home. Seven weeks after the ceremony, the Japanese general who handed over his sword sent their commander, Major General Lemuel Shepherd, another sword nobody had asked for, along with a letter. The Marine Corps' own official history kept his words. This is the story of the 6th Marine Division's occupation of Tsingtao, from the typhoon on the way in to the last repatriation ships of 1945, told from the official records.