Interviews

1. My father’s business in America (Japanese)

2. School life in Japan (Japanese)

3. Identity (Japanese)

4. The horror of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing (Japanese)

5. Feelings upon listening to the imperial rescript (Japanese)

6. Returning to America after the war (Japanese)

7. Enlisting in the U.S. Army (Japanese)

8. Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese)

9. What I wanted to pass down to my children (Japanese)

10. Father owned a café in Minot, North Dakota

11. Japanese in Minot

12. Didn’t speak Japanese until moving to Japan

13. Being enlisted into the Japanese Army

14. Wasn’t told he was being trained for kamikaze bombing

15. Experiences in Hiroshima after the A-bomb

16. Reaction to the Emperor’s surrender

17. Worked for the occupation force in Japan after the war

18. Fitting back into American life

19. Speaking about his wife

20. Comparing basic training of US and Japanese Armies

21. Helping youth in the community

Suto,Henry

(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.

Wasn’t told he was being trained for kamikaze bombing

At that time, I wasn’t, we weren’t told that we were going to be kamikaze or live…living bomb or whatever we [were] just going to be a special group of youngster that we’re gonna goes training and then they selected and then they’ll get a pretty higher…I mean - promotion-wise it was very favored, yeah. After you graduate, you get one rank and normally when you go drafted, you take six months, one year to get a ranking, yeah you know where you go through this tokko training, in six months, maybe sometimes you get two stars, ranking, yeah.

Well that’s, maybe something to do with ?, a lot of people mention that and it’s maybe true, but that, I don’t know what you call it, motivated? It’s one of those things that really…you know, it’s really…it was told that you guys gonna to be trained to be individual, individual bomb, torpedo boat…I don’t know, you know, it’s not…different thing. But we weren’t told that way. And then by the time we get in the army, then they will train you, they train you, everyday – yup, you going to be, you going to be good soldiers, yeah and then they keep saying we’re going to win this war. Well, it’s amazing thing, they could do a lot of things to individual and well, sixteen or seventeen years old, I don’t know any better, well…my…that’s…well it was convincing that, you know, among all the people that were in training, they thought they were going to win the war, yes, yes, yes.

Date: June 17, 2008

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Janice Tanaka

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Henry Eiichi Suto was born on February 5, 1928 in Minot, North Dakota to Issei parents. After the death of his father and younger sister, his mother returned to Japan with Henry and his brother. Henry was 7 years old and since he knew little Japanese, he worked hard to learn and try to fit in with his classmates. When he was approached by his teacher to sign up for the Japanese Army at the age of 17, he accepted—knowing he wouldn’t be able to afford to go to college. After basic training, he was 1 of 34 selected to train under a special unit, which he later found out was a “suicide” unit to man a one-man torpedo boat. He was in this unit when Hiroshima was bombed and was one of the first soldiers to arrive with aid, thirty-six hours after the bombing.

When the war ended, he returned to the United States and lived with an uncle after his mother passed away. He enrolled in Belmont High School, but 3 months later was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War. He was trained to become an interpreter and was taught the Korean language at Camp Palmer. He was to go to the front lines in Korea to interrogate, but while on their stopover in Japan, he was asked to stay to serve as an interpreter there instead.

He returned to the U.S. after being discharged from the army and went to Los Angeles City College where he majored in foreign trade. He found a job at the Otagiri Company and worked there till his retirement in 1993.

He passed away on October 17, 2008 at the age of 80. (January 30, 2009)

Explore More Videos

Interviewee

Tag

Keywords

Interviews

Other interview clips of Suto,Henry

Suto,Henry

Wasn’t told he was being trained for kamikaze bombing

Explore More Videos