性別

Male

生年月日

1922-5-6

出生地

Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.

入隊した年

1944-6-19, Camp Robinson AK

入隊のタイプ

Draftee

所属・部署

Army

兵役のタイプ

War

所属部隊のタイプ

Combat

所属部隊

Company L, 442 Regimental Combat Team

特殊技能

Squad Leader - 745

最終目標

United States, France, Italy

除隊した年

Fort Sheridan IL

所属部隊の役割

Fight the german military

所属部隊での個人的役割

To prove that Japanese American people are loyal citizens of the U.S. and to help release Japanese American people from America's concentration camps so we can live free in America.

主な戦闘（交戦地帯へ従軍した場合）

North Appenines, Po Valley, Rhineland

勲章・褒章（個人又は所属部隊）

Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with thee bonze battle stars. Three overseas service bars, Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge

生活状況

On the front line,we slept in fox hole or dugout. In the rear, we slept in tents. We ate K rations on the front lines and ate in the mess hall in the rear. We took no baths in the front, but had showers in the rear area. For entertainment we played cards, read, visited towns, slept and told stories.

軍隊生活で最も記憶に残っている出来事

I remember a member of our platoon sat by the trail and cried because his twin brother had just been killed. I was informed that a professor at the University of Chicago had his office trashed and a sign left - 'Go Home Dirty Jap'. The University president dismissed it as 'vandalism'. His name was Najita. I called him because my squad leader, killed in the next to the last fire-fight was named Najita. The professor was his brother. I wrote to the university president to inform her of this. She apologized and an article appeared in the school paper regarding this.

軍隊にいる間、最も懐かしかったもの

I missed my sleep, rest and privacy

個人的に軍隊経験から学んだ最も重要なこと

I am proud that I fulfilled my duty as a U.S. citizen by serving in the armed forces. I can face anyone who challenges me because of my Japanese ancestry. However, I want to make clear that I do not consider myself a patriot. I was fighting for the rights of Japanese American people to live free in the United States. This freedom can be extended to all Asian American people because the general public identifies us as one and the same.

その他の情報

As minority spokesperson and member of the National Legislative Council of the AARP, I have been asked to speak to groups about America's concentration camps and being part of the effort to free the Japanese American people by serving in the 442. I organized the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, in order to continue to inform the public about us and to record our continuing efforts to adjust to the racism through our oral history project.