Joe Quintero postwar in Albuquerque

There is an essay I am working on for posting on this page about Joe Quintero, the man based on the book character named "Jose". He did survive an unanestheticized appendectomy aboard a hellship anchored off of Formosa (Taiwan), and he did save Carlos' life like it says in the book, but he also made an American flag while he was at Niigata 5B, and right after the Japanese surrender, he pulled out this flag that he had sewn together out of whatever scraps of fabric he could find. If he had been caught doing this, the Japanese would have killed him, so he kept it a secret, even from his closest chums. Everyone was astonished to see the rising sun replaced by old glory so soon after the guards fled.

Here is an interview with Carlos Montoya about Joe Quintero: