Japanese American Military Experience Database
Robert Minoru Takeshita (now Endo)
Medical Detachment attached to Hq Co, 2nd Battalion, 442nd RCT
Medical-Aid Man
Surgical Technician
Other Countries: France; Italy
Support after WW II ended.
Po Valley Campaign
WW II Victory Ribbon
Good Conduct Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon
Distinguished Unit Badge w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster (Company E, 442nd RCT)
Expert Rifleman Medal
*Father, Edward Tetsuo Takeshita, was born in Honolulu, HI in 1905 and mother, Dorothy Hanako Endo, was born in Lufkin, Texas, 1905. Father was killed in auto-train accident in 1936, as well as my 13 year old brother, Edward Michio Takeshita.
Robert Minoru Takeshita's name (plus wife and 2 children) was legally changed to Robert Minoru Endo on 10/22/1956 in Champaign County, Illinois. Necessitated because fraternity and sorority members at the University of Illinois considered it a big joke to call us at any time to exclaim ''take a ____''.
My induction into the Army took place in Philadelphia, PA because my nisei mother and I moved to Philadelphia through the aid of the Quakers when the Army gave us a choice of internment or moving far inland. At induction, when they found out I was Japanese-American, they sent me home and had the FBI investigate me for seven months, ''cleared'' me, and then reinducted me and sent me to Camp Blanding, FL for infantry basic training with other nisei inductees, who were to be assigned as either replacements for the 100th/422nd Regimental Combat Team or as MIS trainees.
Before moving to Philadelphia in 1942, I grew up on truck farms, operated on ''leased'' land by my nisei father, located successively in Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto, CA and attended primary school in Los Altos, CA and 2-1/2 years of high school in Mt. View, CA. In Philadelphia I was awarded a scholarship to Friends (Quaker)Select School and graduated high school there in 1943 as salutatorian and was awarded 4-year scholarship to Temple University.
I was initially interested in becoming a journalist but was dissuaded by Professor S. Burgess, Profesor of Sociology, because he thought I would have a very difficult career due to prejudice and discrimination. I reluctantly accepted his opinion and became a pre-dental major and after two years was accepted to Temple Dental School but a week before I was to start, changed my interest to plant pathology (study of plant diseases) and enrolled at Rutgers University, NJ in 1948.
Received my BS in Liberal Arts with honors in 1950 and applied to graduate schools in plant pathology (an absolute neccessity), was turned down by Penn State University because the head of the department there thought being Japanese, I would never be able to get a position even if I was able to earn a doctorate. Professional schools were very crowded after the war but was accepted at Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Selected Illinois because it was the only school that I could find living quarters for a recently married couple! Really true!!
State of Illinois was truly wonderful. Everyone was most friendly and free of discrimination and prejudices. We all hated to leave the State when 9 years later (1954), I accepted the job as Assistant Professor at UCLA.
When I received my PhD in 1954, three positions were available;
1)USDA position at the U. Of IL,
2) Assistant Professor position at Michigan State, and
3)Assistant Professor position at the U. Of Connecticut.
1) and 2) considered me and offered interviews but the Head of Dept at Connecticut wrote saying ''Sorry, they are a 5-member department and do not want to introduce a possible race problem by considering a Japanese American for the position'', so they did not.
Spent 4.5 years at IL as a USDA virologist responsible for all midwestern states. Worked extrememly hard establishing a new virus disease of cereals and received national recognition as a promising young scientist so at the end of 4.5 years applied for a position at UCLA (60 candidates in all) and got accepted as Assistant Professor in 1959. Received very fair and humane treatment at University but realtors rejected my offer to buy a home in Culver City in 1960 by ''coming up'' with a loan $5K less than promised on home. Probably was ''just as well'', since home owners in area had banded together to ''not accept'' us and our two children. When College of Agriculture was terminated at UCLA because of disappearance of agriculture in LA city, I was transferred to UCR in 1961 where only College of Agriculture existed in UC system in Southern California. ''Lucked out'' because when we moved in 1961, open housing laws had just been passed and we were able to buy a nice home 2 blocks from UCR. We have spent a very wonderful satisfying and equitable 28 years in the UC system at UCR and have enjoyed it thoroughly as has my wife, Aiko, who worked 18 years as a Head Start Nurse, also in Riverside. My three children, Jean, Bob and Ken have grown up in Riverside and enjoyed it very much. In 1967, my family spent the sabbatical year at UC Berkeley and enjoyed it thoroughly, demonstrating what a wonderful place of opportunity the US can be for some fortunate individuals in some locations, especially after open housing and educational opportunities became national laws and one was willing ''to try''. Fortunately ''things'' were really beginning to change and ''open-up'', and our family happened to ''hit things'' just right. Of course all of us, on rare occasions encountered instances of prejudice but in a real world this sometimes happens and will always happen. We use our common sense to minimize, reduce and eliminate difficult areas and situations. Does not most everyone?
I recently was interviewed by the ''Hanashi Group'' of the 442nd and spoke to them informally for 4.5 hours and it was very enjoyable. The head of my interview group was Dr. Ken Hayashida, a young pediatrician, who was very experienced and skillful at conducting ''interviews.''
