Sexo

Male

Fecha de Nacimiento

1925-10-20

Lugar de Nacimiento

Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1944-7-31, Manzanar CA

Tipo de Alistamiento

Draftee

Afiliación Militar

Army

Tipo de servicio prestado

War

Tipo de unidad militar

Support

Unidades a las que sirvió

Hdqr Co. 787th Tank Battalion; B Battery, 132nd Field Artillery Battalion, 36th Infantry Division; C Battery, 39th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division.

Especialidad militar

Survey & Instrument Man

Asignado

Camp Hood, TX; Germany, England.

Retirado

Camp Beale CA

Responsabilidad en la unidad

Field artillery support

Responsabilidad individual

Survey and instrument man.

Reconocimientos, medallas, menciones (individuales o de la unidad)

European African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal; Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal; Good Conduct Medal

Condiciones de Vida

Arrived European Theater of Operation 04/05/1945 via 60-ship convoy. Loaded into 40 & 8 boxcar and shipped to Veviers, Belgium. Slept on cots in old garages, prison, tents, schools. Moved to Munchen Gladbaca, Germany and then to Worms, Germany. Assigned to 787th Tank Battalion at war's end. Reassigned when 787th was to be deployed to the Pacific. Took sponge baths using helmet as wash basin. Had lots of C and K rations and corned beef.

Recuerdo más vívido de la experiencia militar

I spent the last 5 months in the Army in charge of the police and prison office (front gate) of Civilian Internment Enclosure 91 in Darmstadt, Germany. We had 25,000 war criminals in the camp, over half being Gestapo. The camp was divided into 5 sub-camps. Each had a GI liaison person who reported to me. The prisoners were counted twice a day during the week and once on weekends. Inside the camp, the prisoners cared for themselves as we did when we were in camp. The Army supplied the food. We did not fear for our safety in the camp as the war was over. I had a prisoner as an interpreter who was a corporal in the S.A. of brown shirts.. We had long discussions on Germans and Nazis. I learned about the German mentality from him.

Lo que más extraño durante su tiempo en las fuerzas armadas

Fresh food, especially eggs and veggies. Although never segregated, we were not 100% assimilated as we were reassigned and kept track of because of our ancestry.

¿En lo personal, qué obtuvo de su experiencia militar?

War does not solve any problems. It destroys civilization and the works of mankind. I was accepted into all the units and I served without prejudice. I was treated no differently than any other GI.

Información adicional

There were about 25 Japanese Americans in our group of replacements. We trained in tank destroyers. We were split up and assigned to the four armies on the German front. Six of us went to the 7th Army. The Army kept track of us as we were among the first to be assimilated. It is ironic that I went from being guarded to guarding. Later on in 1950, I also worked for the US Navy making explosive parts for nuclear weapons. Japanese Americans have come a long way from the early days of WWII