The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith

“This is the story of Tom Smith, prisoner-of-war.”

“This is the story of a man in a prison cell. This is the story of death in Japan.”

He says, sarcastically, “Come to romantic Japan at cherry blossom time.”

He says a few more things (which, unfortunately, I can't quite make out.) Notice the actor is George Reeves, who played Superman on the TV series. A Japanese soldier has come into the cell and said he speaks perfect English.

The Japanese soldier tells him what he bombed (and again, I can't make out exactly what he's saying other than something about his destroying the grave of their god, which makes absolutely no sense at all.) For that, Tom Smith is to be shot.

The guard says he has twenty minutes left.

April 18, 1943, in a Japanese prison in Kobe. He decides to write his last will and testament.

He remembers about the girl he was planning to marry. To Grace, his girl, he leaves the right to happiness.

He remembers other stuff. He leaves behind to the kids on his block the chance to be what they really want to be.

“I leave behind me the American earth.”

He remembers his grandfather's voice. He leaves to his grandfather the freedom to say what he thinks.

The guard comes to get him.

He carries on a conversation with his grandfather in his head.

He says he believes the US will come back here with great clouds of bombers and “they will burn this evil from the face of the earth.”

He says his last will and testament is to the people of America.

They kill him.

The grandfather talks to the postman about what they can do for the war effort. It's about the National War Fund.

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