Otis Cary oral history interview

1981-05-28/1981-05-30

Cary, Otis, 1921-2006; Mayo, Marlene J.

Oral history interview with Otis Cary conducted by Marlene Mayo on May 28 and 30, 1981. Otis Cary (October 20, 1921 - April 14, 2006) was born in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, to American missionaries. His childhood was spent in Japan until his family moved to the United States after elementary school, and he attended a high school in Massachusetts. He enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor, and in 1943, as a lieutenant, he was appointed the position of Executive Officer of the interrogation department. Cary later became a history professor at Doshisha University as a representative of  Amherst College. Cary was widely respected for his treatment of the over 4,000 prisoners he interrogated. He was known for becoming friends with the prisoners, and through gaining their trust, he learned valuable information that aided in his role in mending U.S. and Japan relations. In 1987, Cary received Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class.

University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)

Oral histories

Japan--History--Allied occupation, 1945-1952

Japan; Kyoto

Postwar Japan

Special Collections and University Archives

English

Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the University of Maryland Libraries at http://www.lib.umd.edu/special/contact/home.

Recording: 05:13:00 (audio cassette; mp3); Transcript: 92 pages (PDF)

This oral history interview is part of the Marlene J. Mayo oral histories. A guide to the full collection of Marlene J. Mayo oral histories is available in our archival collections: http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/42478.
Accession 2009-209-GWP
An interview transcript is available.

Filename: prange-087518