Oral History Interview with Thomas Bousman, April 28, 2001 Page: 5
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of us, and I really feel that it was when we were rescued by
the 11th airborne and taken across the lake around the front
lines to safety that God got my attention, but it wasn't so
much of a call to the ministry at that point as much as it
was realizing that we could have all been dead a few hours
earlier and we were alive . And so I said, "Well, Lord,
you've given me this life back. It's yours. For whatever.Helen McDonald
Thomas Bousman
Helen McDonald
Thomas Bousman
Helen McDonald
Thomas Bousman
Helen McDonald
Thomas RousmanTell me about you were 12 when ...
I was just 13 when the war started.
Tell me about your memories leading up to that because
obviously the Philippines had been preparing for the
Japanese.
I do remember that many of my American classmates and
friends were going back to the States, especially families
where there was any connection with the military.
When did this start?
Let's say that last year before Pearl Harbor. So let's say
through most of 1941. Especially it accelerated in the
middle of '41. Families who were connected, suddenly
they wouldn't be at school, or we'd hear that they were
going back to the States. In addition, we began to realize
that so many ships leaving for Japan were filled with
Japanese civilians returning. Many of them were the
dependents of families who'd come to work in the sugar
plantations, maybe, or other agriculture down on the island
of Mindanao. So we were aware that the Japanese were
going. My parents took first aid courses. My dad's brother
in Southern California wrote and said the storm clouds are
gathering. Wouldn't it be wise if my mother came home
with us kids. or if she was unwilling. that they would send
us three kids home. They would take care of us until things
were better. and my parents decided that they would rather
we all be together as a family.
You had an older ... All of your siblings were younger? Or
you were the oldest?
T'm the oldest.Rev. Dr. Thomas Bousman Interview
5
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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/m1/5/: 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.