Gender

Male

Birth date

1919-8-7

Place of birth

Gardena CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1947-8-14, Chicago IL

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Army

Service type

War,peacetime

Unit type

Combat,sup

Units served

24th Infantry Division Headquarters G-2 Section

Military specialty

Interpreter, Interrogator and Translator (Japanese)

Stationed

Fort Ord,CA, Presidio of Monterey,CA, Japan , Korea

Separated

San Francisco CA

Unit responsibility

Peacetime translator in Japan; During Korean War as IPW Team (War Prisoner Interrogation Team)

Personal responsibility

Chief Interpreter

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

From Pusan to Yalu River during Korean War

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Bronze Star Medal (Korean War); Korean Service Medal; Army of Occupation Medal with Clasp - Japan; other medals, etc., record was lost when personnel officer lost the unit's records during war action.

Living conditions

Summer time - Slept outdoors in trenches; Winter time - Slept in icy snow rice paddies; Summer time - dunked into river with GI clothes on to bathe; Winter time - wiped body with hot towels; Ate 'C' rations - no hot meals; No entertainment - kept busy interrogating prisoners

Most vivid memory of military experience

Seeing the refugees moving from village to village with their little children.

Enemies mixing with refugees to carry out their attacks on soldiers.

Seeing dead bodies piled high along the side of the road covered with flies.

Korean villagers who were not sympathetic toward American GI's fighting for their cause.

My General Dean captured by the enemy.

Missed most whilst in the military

Sleeping in bed on white sheets and my family. To be able to see baby son (born while I was stationed at Kokura, Japan).

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

I learned to take orders and to REPORT. Also, I learned to speak English pretty fast due to my Hawaiian buddies (tho' it was Hawaiian style).

Additional information

Since I was a Kibei and graduated from High School in Japan and the Army Language School, I was capable of interrogating prisoners to get information that our headquarters needed. Therefore I was lucky to come back alive - since our camp was situated away from the battle area.

So learn any second language if you have a chance. It might save your life.

A picture of my son at three years of age with my military shoulder patch on a child's uniform is in the file.