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From the book, "Santo Tomas" by Frederic Stevens: Pendleton David Thompson  Children aboard the SS Jean Lafitte, bound for the States with internees freed from a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines, gather around Pendleton (Bumblebee) Thompson. Thompson volunteered as cook in the camp where they were interned. (NOTE: Please let me know if you can identify any of these children.) (Courtesy of the National Archives) January 16, 2009 Hi Tom, Bumblebee worked in the Central Kitchen with my dad. He was a wonderful jazz horn player. After the war we found out he was THE cook for the Maritime Union group which was located almost under the San Francisco Bay Bridge. So one day my dad and I stopped by after lunch time to visit. We had a great reunion. The following week we invited him up to our ranch in Thornton and had a wonderful reunion with Bumblebee and about 15 other old internee friends. He was a regular visitor after that. When Bumblebee died, the jazz community came out in force in San Francisco. Guys like Kid Ory, Pops Foster, Louie Armstrong, Earl Fathah Hines, Bob Scobey and all the greats of jazz had a great send off for him. They had a real New Orleans Funeral and marched down Van Ness Ave with the best music possible. I am a big jazz fan as were my folks, so all of this made a lot of sense. He was a great horn player and friend. Aloha - Sascha  or would like to be added to my POW/Internee e-mail distribution list, please let the me, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |