After the journey from India...
Saying the difficult farewell in
New York harbor:
From Chapter 11: Westward Bound II
- April to June 1943
Then just
before midnight on June 15th our ship anchored in the Lower
Bay...
of
New York harbor. The lights of the city, not yet blacked
out (as they undoubtedly should have been), brightened
up the night sky. Our journey begun two and a half months
earlier and covering some 22,000
miles was safely over. In a spontaneous collective act
the passengers on deck, who were mostly missionaries, sang
the Doxology together. It starts with the words, "Praise
God, from Whom all blessings flow!" Our relief and
gratitude for a safe arrival were certainly deeply felt
and sincerely expressed.
June 16th was the day of debarkation and dispersal at
the Hudson River pier. First off were the POWs. Then came the FBI and Naval Intelligence
interviews, each thirty minutes long, conducted in alphabetical order. The Supplees
and Tituses waited until 6:30 pm for theirs. "Amstutz" and "Brush" were
among the first. Not the ideal circumstances under which to say good-bye, but
we managed.
Kharagpur (the
standard modern spelling),
the Union Church and house, the station, the residential
areas and the market are still there.: The Afterword |
