Gender

Female

Birth date

1915-1-3

Place of birth

CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1944-11-1, Fort Sheridan IL

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Wac

Service type

War

Units served

Served at (PACMIRS) Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section, Camp Ritchie, Maryland (1945 - 1946) and Washington Document Center, Washington D.C.

Military specialty

Military Intelligence Service--Japanese language translator

Stationed

U.S.A.

Separated

Fort Sheridan IL

Unit responsibility

Translating captured documents from Japanese into English

Personal responsibility

Same as above. I was assigned to one of several teams consisting of a team leader, an officer and about five or six enlisted members. Each person worked on his/her own assignment.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

American Theater Ribbon, Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal

Living conditions

I lived in Fort Myers, VA and later in a Washington, D.C. WAC facility on C Street. We had the usual living accomodation--a large dorm-like room with army cots lined up in a double row and a foot locker at the end. We dined in a mess hall. We went to the USO and I had a boy friend who had use of a jeep. Visited New York and Baltimore on days off and furloughs.

Most vivid memory of military experience

Although most fellow servicemen and women with whom I was associated were Americans, I also served together with Canadian, British and Australian servicemen and women who had some training and knowledge of Japanese language. I enjoyed meeting some of those who were directly involved in my area of assignment.

Missed most whilst in the military

Since I served stateside, I did not suffer much physical hardship and the loss of privacy. So communal living was not that strange due to the year of living in an internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.

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

The satisfaction of knowing I did my share of serving my country, however modestly. In addition, meeting people from other countries was a broadening experience. I would not have had the opportunity to know and meet so many soldiers of other nations, had I not been in this situation. The women counterparts, especially, the British were less than friendly. They tended to never speak to us Nisei or even acknowledge our presence but, this was a minor matter. Most of the others were friendly.

Additional information

I was able, thanks to the G.I. Bill, to go to college after my discharge. I was late in starting, but finally was able to get a Masters Degree in Social Work. I met and married an ex-navy man in college. He always introduced me as a former G.I., a veteran, who outranked him. I think it tickled him to tell people his wife was a G.I.