Interview with Apitai Petemes (Interview)
(Indigenous perspective)
This interview was conducted by Dr Iwamoto Hiromitsu and transcribed/translated by Pastor Jacob Aramans

Petemes: My name is Apitai Petemes. When we finished from school I stayed with a Japanese Army officer (boss) at Luburua. His name was Sinawarang Sang. I carried his gun whenever he went to see his soldiers in the field at Patmalap and Kanalo and back to Luburua. Dr Iwamoto: Did you get any military training at school? Petemes: Yes. Dr Iwamoto: Please tell me more about that military training. Petemes: There, I learnt how to handle a gun (when in use and when not in use) aiming and firing. Dr Iwamoto: Did you learn how to use a sword? Petemes: Yes, I also learnt how to use a sword. Dr Iwamoto: Did you learn how to use a machine gun? Petemes: No, I did not learn anything about how to use a machine gun. Dr Iwamoto: Were you issued with uniforms? Petemes: I was given a pair of shoes and a hat. Dr Iwamoto: Were you given any promotion? Petemes: No, I was not given any promotion. Dr Iwamoto: Were you the only one to become a soldier? Petemes: Yes, I was the only person. Dr Iwamoto: What about the other kids? Petemes: No, the other kids did not become soldiers. I was the only person to become a soldier in the Japanese Army. Dr Iwamoto: While you were with the Japanese, did they take you along to other places? Petemes: Yes, I went with them to Kara. Dr Iwamoto: What sort of work were you doing at that time? Petemes: I worked as a personal guard for the boss. I carried my gun with me. I was given orders that if I saw enemies or spies I was to shoot them. Dr Iwamoto: Did that commander belong to the Lemetai? Petemes: He was a Lemetai. Dr Iwamoto: How many soldiers like you were with the Lemetais? Petemes: I was the only soldier, many were policemen. Dr Iwamoto: Did any policemen come to the village? Petemes: Yes they came to the village. Dr Iwamoto: How many of them? Ten, twenty? Petemes: More than that number. Dr Iwamoto: Over a hundred? Petemes: Many of them. Dr Iwamoto: Did you receive any pay? Petemes: No pay. Dr Iwamoto: You only got food rations? Petemes: We only got food. Dr Iwamoto: How did the Japanese soldiers treat your people? Petemes: They treated us fairly well. Dr Iwamoto: Didn't they beat you up? Petemes: They treated the prisoners differently from the students. In fact they treated the prisoners very badly. They beat them up mercilessly but the students were treated nicely. Dr Iwamoto: Is that all? Do you know more stories about the Japanese? Petemes: That's all. Dr Iwamoto: Thank you very much. Very good story. I am happy.