Sexo

Male

Birth date

1932-9-17

Local de nascimento

Torrance CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

, Los Angeles CA

Tipo de alistamento

Draftee

Ramo das Forças Armadas

Army

Tipo de serviço

War

Tipo de Unidade

Combat

Unidades onde serviu

H Co. 17th Inf. Regt, 7th Division

Military specialty

Heavy Weapons, mail clerk

Stationed

Fort Irwin, CA; Korea

Separated

Fort Irwin CA

Unit responsibility

Heavy Weapons, Infantry

Personal responsibility

75 Recoil-less Rifle, 50 caliber machine gun crew

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Pork Chop Hill - the last major battle before truce was signed 7/27/53

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Combat Infantry Badge (CIB); Korean Service Medal; UN Service Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal

Living conditions

We lived in tents, dirt floor, sometimes we had wood floors, oil burning pot belly stove, canvas cot. Mosquito netting in summer. Generator lights at times then candles for reading. Communal showers. Hot food a lot of times, when things got bad, we had C or K rations. Entertainment once in a while. Saw Horace Heidt Show, some USO shows and saw Marilyn Monroe when she honeymooned with Joe DiMaggio. Our first Sgt. escorted her to show.

Most vivid memory of military experience

The first time under fire, I said Our Fathers and Hail Mary numerous times and I became a Born Again Catholic and went to Mass. Later on, I served as altar boy once or twice in the field. One funny event - We had a group that sang together a lot. About 8 of us including our black C.O.. Our C.O. made us try out for a show in Seoul. We traveled about 2 hours and when we got there, a group of black G..I.'s were rehearsing. They were so good, they sounded like pros. We (our group) looked at them, then at each other, and quietly got back on the truck without even trying out.

Missed most whilst in the military

The civilian life, my fiancee Carol who later became my wife, and good old Mexican and Japanese food.

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

I learned a lot about human beings, the good, the bad, I learned that being scared is nothing to be ashamed of. War is a waste of men and materials. When we shoot we shoot at sectors and we didn't know if we were effective or not. I have a lot of respect for those who were in the first part of the War (1950-51) they had it rough.

Additional information

Born in Torrance 1932. Went to Manzanar 1942 - 1945. Lived at 14-4-1. Active in Student Body and was Senior Class President at Verdugo Hills High. Attend Valley Jr. College, graduated CSUN - 1959. Worked at the County Assessors Office and retired as a director in 1992. Married - Carol (Inouye) who died 5/8/95. 3 kids, 5 grand-children. Came from family of 5 boys and 3 girls.