Gender

Female

Birth date

1912-5-28

Place of birth

Honolulu HI, U.S.A.

Inducted

1944-4-1, Minneapolis MN

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Wac

Service type

War

Unit type

Support

Units served

13th Air Force Hdqtrs (McDill Air Base, FL); Strategic Air Command Hdqtrs (Colorado Springs, CO); Andrews AFB, MD

Military specialty

Base Librarian, Air Force Supply Clerk

Stationed

USA - McDill AFB, FL; SAC Hdq, (Colorado Springs), CO; Andrews AFB, MD

Separated

Andrews Air Force Base MD

Unit responsibility

Servicing personnel involved in training and maintenance of heavy bombers used in Europe during war.

Personal responsibility

Maintaining and servicing recreational library for military personnel on base.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Good Conduct Medal; American Theater Medal; Victory Medal

Living conditions

All 3 bases had barracks for enlisted personnel w/ showers, messhalls where meals were served, service clubs for socializing, theaters where movies were shown every night, some had bowling alleys. Each had a chapel where Sunday services and choir practices were held.

Most vivid memory of military experience

Confusing military as well as civilian personnel regarding my nationality - Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Spanish? Anything but Japanese!

Missed most whilst in the military

My family in Hawaii, since there was no way to visit them during the war.

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

The many Caucasians in service who became very close friends, even to this day.

Additional information

I was the first Nisei woman from Hawaii to enlist - later women were recruited in Hawaii. I enlisted about a year after leaving Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Jan. 1943, but it took more than 6 months for the FBI to clear me for military service.