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Sam Million - World War II

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Sam Million speaks extensively about his parents and their struggles as immigrants in a new country. He enlisted in the Army in October of 1946, and by early 1948 was assigned to Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, where those Japanese accused of war crimes were imprisoned. He spent six months on suicide watch over General Hideki Tojo, the former Japanese Prime Minister.

Interview Links

Abstract

Feature Excerpt

Japanese Marine Cigarettes

Interview Session 01 (Audio)

Army veteran who was stationed at Sugamo Prison guarding Japanese war criminals in 1947: Early Life

Interview Session 02 (Audio)

Army veteran who was stationed at Sugamo Prison guarding Japanese war criminals in 1947: War Years

Interview Session 03 (Audio)

Army veteran who was stationed at Sugamo Prison guarding Japanese war criminals in 1947: General Tojo's Dentures

Transcript


Photos

Caption
Joseph Million circa 1900 while living in Brooklyn, New York.

Where:
Brooklyn, New York

When:
1900

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Joseph Million circa 1900 while living in Brooklyn, New York.

Where:
Brooklyn, New York

When:
circa 1900

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million, age three, circa 1929. The family lived in Auburn, Illinois at the time.

Where:
Auburn, Illinois

When:
circa 1929

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Million family portrait in 1933. Front row, left to right: Marie, Mom, Pop, Betty, Rose. Back row, left to right: Frances, Santina, John, Margaret, Lena.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1933

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Betty Jo and Sam Million (twins) circa 1934. Springfield, Illinois.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois.

When:
circa 1934

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Joseph Million in 1940 while he served as a delegate to the Illinois State Republican Convention.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1940

Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Joseph Million circa 1940 in Springfield, Illinois at 1000 N. Fifth Street.

Where:
Springfield, Illinois

When:
circa 1940

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Private Sam Million, circa September 1947 at Sugamo Prison.

Where:
Sugamo Prison

When:
September 1947

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
Sam Million, Johnny Green, unknown soldier and Donald Faivre, taken at Camp Sugamo Prison circa September 1947.

Where:
Camp Sugamo Prison

When:
circa September 1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million in 1947 at Quonset Hut, Sugamo Prison.

Where:
Quonset Hut, Sugamo Prison

When:
1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million in 1947 at Quonset Hut, Sugamo Prison.

Where:
Quonset Hut, Sugamo Prison

When:
1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million, Berg, Lester Wahlen, and Carmen Ahart at Sugamo Prison in October 1947.

Where:
Sugamo Prison

When:
October 1947

Ownership:
(Narrator’s photo)

Caption
Sam Million in 1947 at Sugamo Prison.

Where:
Sugamo Prison

When:
1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Red Cross Club on Christmas Eve, 1947. Sam Million is flanked by the Phillip twins.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Christmas Eve, 1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Ice Rink in Tokyo, Japan in November 1947. Pictured left to right are Sam Million, Clemont Robbins and Harry Dunn.

Where:
Ice Rink in Tokyo, Japan

When:
November 1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Million in Hawaii en route to Japan in February 1947.

Where:
Hawaii

When:
February 1947

Ownership:
(Narrator’s photo)

Caption
Camp Stoneman, California. Million with James Sullivan Campbell, in January 1947.

Where:
Camp Stoneman, California

When:
January 1947.

Ownership:
(Narrator’s photo)

Caption
Million looks through the bars of the entrance to Sugamo Prison.

Where:
Sugamo Prison

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
(Narrator’s photo)

Caption
General Hideki Tojo about to board bus at Sugamo Prison on his way to trial. Tojo can be seen through the prison bars, being escorted by American MPs sometime in 1947.

Where:
Sugamo Prison

When:
1947

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million on his wedding day, October 7th, 1950. Sam with his parents Katherine and Joseph Million. Sam married Joan Hadley at the United Methodist Church in Springfield, Illinois.

Where:
United Methodist Church in Springfield, Illinois

When:
October 7th, 1950

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Katherine Million circa 1969-1970. She was living at her daughter Margaret’s house at the time.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1969-1970

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Katherine Million with one of Pete’s children in circa 1969-1970.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1969-1970

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
A Sugamo Reunion was held in St Louis Missouri in the 1990s. Sam Million with Clemont Robbins and Harry Dunn.

Where:
St Louis Missouri

When:
1990s

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Sam Million as he appeared in his Lanphier High School class yearbook.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
Sam served as the treasurer for his sophomore class at Lanphier High School

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
Sam Million on the day of the interview in October, 2009

Where:
Unknown

When:
October, 2009

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
Reverse of the photo of Tojo boarding a bus at Sugamo Prison. Signature of Yoshijiro Umeza and Mamoru Shigemitsu in English and Japanese.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Intricate drawing of a Japanese geisha drawn by one of the prisoners and given to Sam Million. The pen used was made of feathers while the ink was made of crushed berries.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
A Japanese ‘red ball’ silk flag which Sam Million had signed by the war high ranking war criminals being held at Sugamo prison while he served as a jailor there. The prisoners consisted of a Japanese war cabinet of 25 men.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Public domain

Caption
Flag Provenance, page 1.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s document

Caption
Flag Provenance, page 2.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s document

Caption
Flag Provenance, page 3.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s document

Caption
Flag Provenance, page 4.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s document



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