My name is Paul Creager, and I am producing a documentary film about the paths of Japanese temple bells 
taken as war trophies by the American military during WWII.  The name of this project is Resonance: 
The Odyssey of the Bells.  www.resonancefilm.com

I have interviewed and spoken with several MIS interpreters who served in the Pacific theater and have 
information about these bell stories. The basic story goes as follows:  After the battle for Okinawa, 
and during the occupation of ports like Yokosuka, large Japanese temple bells were found by the Navy.  
In the case of Yokosuka, five bells were given to five cruisers.  I know of four of them: the USS Duluth, 
USS Topeka, USS Atlanta, and the USS Boston.

Each of these bells were thoroughly translated before being given to the ships.  The bells then were transported 
back to America, and given to the namesake cities of each ship.  I live in Minnesota, and about two years ago 
I learned about the bell that had come to Duluth.  In the case of this bell, it was returned in 1954, and 
Duluth and the city that the bell originated from are now sister cities.

On a production trip to Washington DC I met and interviewed Dr. Warren Tsuenishi, MIS interpreter who served in Okinawa.  
His suggestion was that I contact the Japanese American Veterans Association and see if other veterans might recall 
bells that they were asked to interpret during or just following the war.

In the meantime, please ask me any questions you might have to better understand this project.  
I've only described a portion of the stories, but the website will answer a lot of your questions.

Sincerely,

Paul

Username:        Paul Creager
UserEmail:       resonancefilm@gmail.com
UserTel:         651-226-5046