Hudson, William J., 1922-

William J. Hudson was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1922. He was studying languages at Princeton University in 1942 when he was selected to enter the Navy's Japanese Language School (JLS) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Upon graduating in March of 1944, he was sent briefly to New York and then to Pearl Harbor. There, he was one of eight editors of two Japanese military and technical dictionaries. He also worked with Japanese prisoners of war on Peliliu Island, where he received a battle star. During the Occupation of Japan, Hudson was assigned as an interpreter for three months. In June of 1946 he was discharged, having reached the rank of Lieutenant. Subsequently, he served as an officer in the Naval Reserve until 1958.After finishing his BA at Princeton, Hudson worked in the securities business and as a financial publisher. In 1970, he married Florence L. MacFarland and moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he retired while remaining active in maintaining his investments. In his free time, he continued studying rare languages, such as Basque and Sanskrit, and remained fluent in spoken Japanese. In 1976, Hudson helped Captain Roger Pineau USNR, a fellow graduate of Boulder's JLS, organize a reunion of that school in Washington DC. He then became a partner in Pineau's efforts to research and write a history of the school and its graduates, maintaining copies of Pineau's records, corresponding with graduates, and searching for missing alumni. Pineau and Hudson assisted the Alumni Association with the 1992 JLS reunion at the University of Colorado. Following Pineau's death in 1993, Hudson became the unofficial secretary for the "Boulder boys," or those who graduated from the JLS during its stay at the University of Colorado.

From the description of William J. Hudson collection, 1941-1993. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 300915494

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