* The 144th official regimental history tells the story of Colonel Kusunose participating in an athletic carnival in Rabaul prior to the invasion of Papua. He believed it would boost morale and generate a great cooperative spirit. His men were ordered to climb up one of the mountains in Rabaul and return to the base camp at nightfall. Kusunose was very impressed with the soldiers’ enthusiasm. The last race was a relay between officers and sergeants of the regimental HQ. Kusunose himself accepted a request to join the race. He ran dead last, which delighted the troops. One witness, First Lieutenant Fujita Motoshige—who sensed Kusunose’s pessimism towards the Owen Stanley operation—resolved ‘to fight to the utmost of his power in the battlefield in order to reciprocate Colonel Kusunose’s sincere concern for the soldiers’ (see The 144th Infantry Regiment Official Record, p. 79).