Gender

Male

Birth date

1918-10-22

Place of birth

Hillsdale OR, U.S.A.

Inducted

1942-2-20, Ft. Lewis WA

Enlistment type

Draftee

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

Camp Robinson Training Co.; Camp Crowder Station Complement; Fort McClellan Combat Training Co.; 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Co. B and Hq. Co.

Military specialty

Personnel Administration; Infantry Officer; Adjutant General's Corp Officer

Stationed

Ft. Lewis, WA, Camp Robinson, AR, Camp Crowder, MO, Fort McClellan, AL, USA; Italy; France.

Separated

Ft. Sheridan IL

Unit responsibility

At Camp Crowder: Administration related to the Post such as maintenance of personnel files, managing Post Stockade, Post Warehouse, Guest House, etc.

At Ft. McClellan: Training for combat duty

100th Bn 442nd RCT: Combat and post combat processing of awards and decorations, personnel administration, debriefing for discharge

U.S. Army Reserve School: Provided instruction in Army Branch courses and Command & General Staff.

Personal responsibility

At Camp. Crowder: Personnel administration largely dealing with Nisei personnel

At Ft. McClellan: Combat trainee

100th Bn, 442nd RCT Assignment: Rifle Co. Communication Sgt. , Battalion Sgt Major

U.S. Army reserve assignments: Personnel officer and instructor in U.S. Army Reserve School in Adjutant General's Corp courses.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

No. Appenines; Po Valley; Rhineland

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Victory Medal

American Theater Ribbon

European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 3 Bronze Battle Stars

2 Overseas Service Bars

1 Service Stripe

Good Conduct Medal

Distinguished Unit Badge

Combat Infantryman Badge

Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service

Living conditions

During training we lived in huts with boarded sidings half way and tenting the rest of the way. Heat was provided via a gas stove; Community shower and bathroom. Meals during stateside duty were standard. During bivouac, bathing took place in lakes and streams. During combat, bathing was not possible. If situation permitted, a steel helmet filled with water was the bath tub. Meals were packaged in C rations usually eaten cold. Entertainment stateside included Post Theatre movies, card games, pool, Overseas: it was USO shows, movies, etc.

Most vivid memory of military experience

The most horrifying memory is one that I witnessed during the rescue of the'Lost Battalion' of a German Officer (soldier) running to join his company and being shot by serveral members of my rifle company. His body shuddered with each shot but he kept running until he fell. His pistol was immediately removed and taken as a trophy to be later traded.

On the lighter side, I chuckle with the memory of those young soldiers who carried, strapped to their back pack, live chickens and baby pigs -waiting for the day they could share a cooked meal.

Missed most whilst in the military

The permanency of a home and old friends..... Most of all my wife and child when I was overseas.

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

In the heat of War, one must wear humanity as a shield to ward off those forces that seek to destroy those qualities that make us the species that we are. I came to a fuller understanding of the devastating effect of war - particulary on those whose lands are the battle ground.

Additional information

Active and reserve assignments enabled improvement of supervision and management skills. It also added to my understanding of the Dynamics of Human Relations. I also came to understand more fully what it means to be ethnically segregated. The stateside assignment to station complement units was basically on a segregated basis. Promotions were allotted from Corp. Hq.s outside of the local Table of Organization. The 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team was a segregated unit with major command positions occupied by white officers. After the cessation of hostilities. Mitsuyoshi Fukuda was promoted from Major to Lt. Col and given command of the 100th Bn. He was the first Nisei to assume a major command position in the unit. But notwithstanding disparate treatment and injustices suffered, when our country calls, it is for us to respond to fight the fight that needs to be fought.