Christian Bardinet

b1905 in Saigon, FIC. His late father, Bonapart, was from Corsica. He arrived in Saigon in 1890 with several others from the island. They became the nucleus of what would be known as the “Corsican Mafia.” They were involved in money making enterprises of all kinds, legitimate and otherwise. They were prominent in hotels, restaurants, gambling, prostitution, currency speculation and opium, all of which were legal in FIC, though extortion was not. They felt towards the mainland French rather how the Irish feel toward the English. They enjoyed spitting in their faces now and then. Christian’s uncle Mathieu Franchini owned the famous Continental hotel on the rue Catinant. His Uncle Patrice Luciani owned the Saigon Palace hotel near the other end of the rue Catinat. Mathieu kept a chest high bronze of a mounted Napoleon in the lobby of his hotel, just to remind the mainlanders who was the boss back in the day.

Christian's late mother was Anna Fletcher Hatomi. She was the daughter of American missionary Gladys Pyle Fletcher and Japanese businessman Hiroto Hatomi. Gladys and “Hiro” met and married in Osaka. By 1935 they no longer lived together. Gladys lived quietly in her dotage at the family farm in Tennessee. Hiro was a senior executive with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. During the Pacific war he would manage the activities of the group of female radio voices collectively known as “Tokyo Rose.” In this role he was able to communicate with his grandson through coded announcements.