Oral History Interview with Thomas Bousman, April 28, 2001 Page: 4
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Los Banos, and so that is where we children grew up, not
knowing that years later we'd be in a Japanese prison camp
a quarter of a mile from our home.Helen McDonald
Thomas Bousman
Helen McDonaldThomas Bousman
Tell me something about your early childhood memories.
They were all very happy memories. I do recall being
aware of the fact that we enjoyed living out in the country.
When I started to public school, to kindergarten, I was the
only American kid. I was very, very blond, a real Dutch
towhead. And the fellow students there, the other kids,
called me the "Old Man" because of the white hair, and I
cried and went home and did not want to return on the
second day. So, but that was still a happy memory. We
loved it out there; those who have been to Los Banos know
that Mt. Makiling the extinct volcano is a beautiful
backdrop, and of course, we were just a mile or two from
the lake. We enjoyed having the freedom to climb in the
trees and gather the santol, and the guava trees provided
that wonderful fruit, and to have papayas and bananas.
When our servants who washed our clothing in our home
would take their laundry to the creek to wash because water
was scarce at times, we kids enjoyed going along with
these dear Filippinos who worked for our parents, and we
would play in the creek with the Filippinos the Tagalog
word is "ilog"; and we just loved going with them and
playing, and of course, they supervised us so we were safe
So that's part of the memory. I also became aware at an
early age of the fact that my dad did much more than
preach He taught that they were always reaching out to
others to see how they could help, and once a young fellow
was electrocuted accidentally and dad put him in the back
of this funny old precursor of a station wagon that
probably was vintage 1930 and drove him into Manila but
he died about half way. But I'm just remembering things
where our parents were always helping others, and they
loved the Philippines too, and so because they were happy
out there in the country we were too.
It strikes me that their influence has obviously led you intoyour chosen field, your chosen profession as well.
It definitely has. I'll be honest to say that like most
missionaries' kids and most preachers' sons the last thing I
wanted to be when I was growing up was to be a preacher.
That was out. But God has a wonderful way of taking holdRev. Dr. Thomas Bousman Interview
4
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Bousman, Thomas. Oral History Interview with Thomas Bousman, April 28, 2001, text, April 28, 2001; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1603675/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.