Rich Man!! (Almost)-The Rest of the Story

by Dick Martin

Bob Slade spent three months on Luzon Island in early 1945 as part of the liberation of the Philippine Islands.  One of his unit’s assignments was to trek into the mountains to dig out the Japanese who were known not to surrender.  While investigating a cave, Bob and another soldier came upon bags and bags of Japanese Yen, which was going to be used to pay the Japanese soldiers.  Since the Japanese were losing the war, Bob figured the Yen was worthless, so he kept a few bills for souvenirs and burned the rest.  When the war ended, Bob was deployed into Japan as part of the occupational force where he found that the currency they had found was legal tender.