Gender

Male

Birth date

1919-8-8

Place of birth

Seattle WA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1942-2-26, Ft. Lewis WA

Enlistment type

Draftee

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Support

Units served

C.B.I.(China-Burma-India) Theater, SEATIC (Southeast Asia Translation/Interrogation Center).

Military specialty

Military Intelligence
Interrogator/translator

Stationed

USA: Camp Robinson, AR; Camp Crowder, MO; Camp Carson, CO; Camp Savage, MN
Other Countries: India; Burma; Singapore

Separated

Camp Grant IL

Unit responsibility

Translation and interrogation of captured enemy documents and prisoners of war.

Personal responsibility

Interrogation of P.O.W.s and translation of enemy's battle orders and personal diaries.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Pacific Theater
India Burama Theater

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon w/2 Bronze Battle Stars
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal

Living conditions

Headquarters (New Delhi) - barracks and cot, mess-hall w/ dehydrated canned food; showers, with mosquito-tent (net) stifling with no movement of air in heat and moisture.
War front - in slit trench w/ mosquito-tent. No bath except when we find a river. Mostly C or K rations to eat.
Entertainment once a year, a U.S.O. troop in rear echelon only.

Most vivid memory of military experience

Captured by British troops along with my Anglo-Indian Sergeant body-guard and marched to Command Post. Released after 5 minutes with verification of my I.D.

Post-War (April 1988) meeting with former P.O.W. in Tokyo whose flag I picked up in Burma. I had returned to his family in Tokushima. Flag which is enshrined in a mountain-top museum which I visited in 1988. Mr. Seichi Sano was the ex-P.O.W.

Missed most whilst in the military

My family, my friends, my country in that order. Homesick.

Most important thing, personally, to come from military experience?

Affirmation of having served my country. Recognition and pride, as veteran, equal to our white veterans and citizens, instilled in me a sense of self identity as an individual and a sense of pride in my cultural heritage. A realization and gratitude of the part my cultural heritage played in glorifying the Nisei's military achievements and contributions towards the war effort.

Additional information

My memoir 'Trials and Triumphs of the Nikkei', 1993. Fukuda Publishers, Seattle, WA has my personal and military experiences. I had donated a copy to your museum several years ago (in Seattle).