| 00:00:53 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WEATHER IS A LITTLE BIT THREATENING TO US, AND YET I'M HAPPY TO SEE HOW MANY OF YOU CAME TO THE PROGRAM OF THE JAPANESE-AMERICAN MILITARY SERVICE....
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| 00:04:39 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HISTORY IS VERY DIFFICULT TO LEARN ABOUT BECAUSE IT WAS CONSIDERED SOMEWHAT SECRET FOR MANY, MANY DECADES, AND IT HASN'T BEEN UNTIL MORE RECENT YEARS...
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| 00:11:31 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
A KOREAN COURSE FOR SIX MONTHS. THAT'S WHERE I LEARNED KOREAN. >> I DIDN'T WASTE TOO MUCH TIME. THEY WANTED TO PUT ME IN
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| 00:11:42 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SERVICE RIGHT AWAY, BUT WHEN I GOT TO TOKYO, I WAS SEPARATED FROM THE MAIN GROUP AND I ATTENDED FAR EAST
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| 00:12:00 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KORAN SCHOOL. THEY MOVED THE SCHOOL OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. I WAS THERE EIGHT WEEKS. >> I GRADUATED MANZANAR HIGH SCHOOL IN JUNE OF '44. SHORTLY AFTER...
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| 00:12:34 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FOR THE 142nd. THE WAR SORT OF ENDED IN EUROPE, SO IT WAS A CONTINGENT THAT CAME DOWN FROM FORT SNELLING, LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HAD SOME INFORMATION...
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| 00:15:06 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AND SAID, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEAVE SCHOOL. THEY'RE GOING TO PUT YOU IN A CAMP. I IMMEDIATELY WROTE TO THE WRA AND TOLD THEM THAT I WOULDN'T COME...
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| 00:23:53 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SO WE'D LIKE TO KEEP QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END SO WE CAN ACTUALLY MICROPHONE THEM BECAUSE NOBODY CAN HERE THEM SO I'D LIKE TO HOLD BACK ON QUESTIONS...
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| 00:24:07 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FOR THE M.I.S., LIKE WHERE YOU
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| 00:24:11 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ACTUALLY WENT TO SCHOOL. I'M SORRY, I'M MOVING ON LAST TO ROY. >> MY NAME IS ROY SHIROGA. AFTER GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL, I ENLISTED IN THE ARMY. MY BASIC...
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| 00:24:41 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ME. AND I WENT NINE MONTHS, 1948, AND AFTER GRADUATING THE SCHOOL JANUARY OF '49, I -- THEY SENT ME TO JAPAN. >> I'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY CURIOUS TO GET...
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| 00:25:21 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ANSWER THE QUESTION. WOULD YOU LIKE TO START? >> WHAT KIND OF TRAINING DID I RECEIVE? >> YES, IN THE SCHOOL, IN THE M.I.S.L.S. >> AT THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL?...
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| 00:25:46 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
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| 00:25:49 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HAD A FORMATION IN THE CLASS A AND CLASS B UNIFORM. WE HAD A FORMATION AND WENT TO THE CLASSROOM AND SPENT SIX OR SEVEN HOURS AT SCHOOL, AND AFTER
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| 00:25:59 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SCHOOL IF YOU WANTED TO STUDY MORE, YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE CLASSROOM AND STUDY YOURSELF. THE SCHOOL THAT I WENT TO IN THE CAMP DRAKE AND CAMP PALMER...
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| 00:27:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CLASSROOM? >> OUT OF MONTERREY, WE HAD A REGULAR CLASSROOM. IT CONSISTED OF ABOUT 10 TO 12 STUDENTS, AND WE HAD A JAPANESE TEACHER WHO WERE MOSTLY GRADUATES...
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| 00:27:58 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TEXTBOOK. LET ME SEE, NOW. WHAT ELSE DID WE HAVE? WE DID HAVE A TEST, OF COURSE. YEAH. READING AND WRITING AND THE KOREANS, WE HAD KOREAN TEACHERS....
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| 00:29:31 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
IT. AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE TEACHERS WANTED US TO DO
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| 00:29:35 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS TO GET UP IN FRONT OF THE CLASS AND TRY TO SPEAK IN JAPANESE, WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR US. I TOLD MY WIFE, I NEVER SPOKE JAPANESE UNTIL I...
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| 00:31:10 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
VERY DIFFICULT TO GET IN THERE AND TRY AND ACCOMPLISH WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF US. WE HAD TO LEARN HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SOCIAL, PRISONER OF WAR INTERROGATION....
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| 00:33:01 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TO LEARN TO READ AND WRITE CONJI. AND THE TEACHER
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| 00:33:07 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
USED TO GIVE US, SAY, 20 CONJIS. SO ONE DAY ALL OF US -- IN FACT, MOST OF US -- WENT TO THE CLASSROOM AT NIGHT AND WE FORGOT ABOUT BED CHECK, AND...
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| 00:35:28 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SCHOOL FOR EIGHT WEEKS, BUT THIS SCHOOL WAS SORT OF A REFRESHER COURSE, SO TO SPEAK. WE DIDN'T LEARN LANGUAGE AND THE TERMINOLOGIES AND IPW, WHICH IS...
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| 00:37:05 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TOOK INTELLIGENCE COURSE. IT WAS IN TWO GROUPS, ONE FOR GENERAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE OTHER ONE FOR INTERROGATION OF PRISONERS OF WAR. THAT'S WHEN WE...
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| 00:37:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
NOT EXPLAIN THAT BEFORE. BACK TO ROY REALLY QUICKLY, I'M MOVING INTO THE QUESTION OF WHAT YOUR DUTIES WERE ON THE FIELDS. MY QUESTION FOR YOU, ROY,...
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| 00:38:47 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TEN PEOPLE AND TWO OFFICERS AND THERE, THERE WAS A LOT OF BLACK MARKET GOING ON SO MOST OF THE GUYS WENT TO COURT. I ONLY WENT COUPLE TIMES, I WASN'T...
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| 00:41:19 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AT OUR LEVEL, IT WAS STRICTLY STRATEGIC INFORMATION. FIRST, AT THE FRONT LINES, THEY KEPT SOME PRISONERS, THEN THEY GO TO THE QUICK INTERROGATION JUST...
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| 00:41:43 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DECIDE THIS GUY HAS MORE INFORMATION, TO TELL IT AND THEY WILL SEND IT TO US. SO WE PICK UP FROM THERE. BUT IT LASTED ANYWHERE FROM FEW DAYS TO A WEEK,...
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| 00:45:08 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THEY TREATED THE OTHERS. THAT INFORMATION WAS WRITTEN IN NATURALLY, JAPANESE, SO WE HAD TO TRANSLATE THAT TO ENGLISH AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE...
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| 00:47:07 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
STRAIGHTFORWARD RACIAL CONFLICTS WHILE YOU WERE SERVING AS JAPANESE-AMERICAN INTERPRETERS. WAS THERE CONFUSION ABOUT WHO YOU WERE AND WHAT YOUR DUTIES...
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| 00:47:46 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
YEAR OLDER THAN I WAS, BUT I WAS SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT INFORMATION ON HIS UNIT, WHAT SHIP HE WAS ON, ET CETERA. BUT HE WOULDN'T DIVULGE ANY INFORMATION....
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| 00:57:38 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE WAR CRIMES COMMISSION, WAR CRIMES SECTION, WE WERE ASSIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THE WAR CRIMES, WAR CRIMINALS, AND WE WOULD GO TO THE PRISON AND INTERROGATE...
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| 00:57:58 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ABOUT '46, ALL THE PERSONNEL, ARMY PERSONNEL IN THE EIGHTH ARMY HEADQUARTERS, HANDLED ALL THE INTERROGATION, INVESTIGATION WORK AND ALL THAT AND IT...
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| 01:01:34 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FT. SNELLING. HE WAS A VERY ASTUTE ATTORNEY WHO WAS HIRED TO HEAD UP THE SCHOOL AND I'M TOLD THAT HE CAME UP WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHAT THE GOVERNMENT
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| 01:01:48 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
IN JAPAN OUT TO BE AFTER THEY LOST THE WAR AND LOOKING FOR THAT INFORMATION, HE MADE A SPEECH BACK EAST AT SOME -- AT THE BEHEST OF ONE OF THE NEWSPAPERS...
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| 01:03:47 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SOME PEOPLE WERE NOT, BUT I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR FAMILY KNEW ABOUT THE KIND OF DUTIES YOU WERE INVOLVED IN WITH THE MILITARY. DID YOU TELL...
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| 01:04:33 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FAMILY, WAS THE SERVICE STILL TOP SECRET? WERE YOU ABLE TO SHARE THE INFORMATION? TO YOUR FAMILY, WHAT YOU WERE DOING? >> NO. NO. THEY KNEW
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| 01:04:42 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BECAUSE MY OLDER BROTHER WENT INTO SERVICE AHEAD OF ME, TWO YEARS, SO THEY
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| 01:04:48 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KNEW. SOME KIND OF IDEA WHAT
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| 01:04:52 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
I WAS DOING. >> WERE YOU ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT IT IN LETTERS OR WAS THAT CENSORED? >> NO. NOTHING. >>
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| 01:05:01 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
OKAY. >> IN FACT, YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, DON'T TELL, DON'T TALK, THAT POLICY. >> BRUCE? >> WELL, THE THING THAT
|
| 01:05:14 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BOTHERED ME IS WE HAVEN'T DETERMINED WHETHER OR NOT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT KNEW THAT THE JAPANESE FLEET WAS
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| 01:05:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
COMING ACROSS THE PACIFIC. FROM SOME INFORMATION THAT I GET IS THAT THE NAVY
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| 01:05:34 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
INTELLIGENCE WAS PASSING THIS INFORMATION ON TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND THAT HE KNEW THAT THE FLEET WAS COMING ACROSS THE PACIFIC AND HEADED FOR HAWAII,...
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| 01:06:40 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
IN MY CASE, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO SEE MY FOLKS BEFORE I WAS SHIPPED OVERSEAS, I TOLD MY DAD I DON'T THINK THE WAR'S GOING TO LAST MUCH LONGER, WITH THE...
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| 01:07:04 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CAN'T WIN THE WAR WITH THIS TYPE OF SITUATION, AND I DON'T THINK HE LIKED IT. HE TOLD ME THAT THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS HAVE WHAT THEY CALL -- I DON'T KNOW...
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| 01:09:45 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAR STARTED, AND I REMEMBER GOING FROM SOPORO TO SENDAI AND THERE WERE SIX OF US. WHEN WE GOT TO SENDAI, THERE WAS A -- ON THE P.A. SYSTEM, THEY TOLD...
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| 01:18:09 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
I REMEMBER YOU IN FRONT HAD A QUESTION. >> MY QUESTION WAS IMPROPERLY TIMED. >> BUT IT'S APPROPRIATE NOW. >> THANKS. THIS IS BACK TO MR. SUMESHIMA. ...
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| 01:18:37 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
YOUR EXAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER EVENTUALLY? >> ALL THE PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE
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| 01:18:46 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WEREN'T BAD PEOPLE. IN THE OFFICE WAS A YOUNG LADY NAMED KATHERINE. SHE KNEW THE PLIGHT OF THE STUDENTS AND SHE WOULD ALWAYS
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| 01:18:57 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
COME TO US AND SAY ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, DO YOU NEED ANY HELP, AND IT WAS THAT YOUNG LADY
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| 01:19:05 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THAT I WAS IN CONTACT WITH CONSTANTLY, AND SHE WROTE TO ME ABOUT, OH, IT WAS ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE WE LEFT OVERSEAS, AND SAID HITOSHI, YOU HAD PASSED...
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| 01:20:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WHILE YOU WERE IN SCHOOL AT MINNESOTA AND ALL THE OTHER PLACES, YOUR PERSONAL TREATMENT OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, WERE YOU ABLE TO GO TO THE COMMUNITIES,...
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| 01:20:50 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
GO TO ST. PAUL OR MINNEAPOLIS. >> CAN YOU USE THE MICROPHONE, PLEASE? JUST LEAN FORWARD AND USE THE MICROPHONE. >> YES. WE WERE ALLOWED TO GO TO TOWN....
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| 01:21:08 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
VERY CORDIAL. THEY WERE VERY NICE TO US. I WAS
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| 01:21:14 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SORT
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| 01:21:16 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
OF SURPRISED BECAUSE WHAT I RAN INTO IN ARIZONA WHEN I LEFT CAMP AND HERE ARE THESE PEOPLE UP THERE, THEY'RE SO NICE TO US. >> ACTUALLY, THE SAME QUESTION...
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| 01:21:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
A JAPANESE CHURCH AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE TREATED US REAL NICELY, AND IN JAPAN, TOO, WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL MOST OF THE TIMES, NOBODY EVER BOTHERED US AND...
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| 01:22:08 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
NICE. >> TOHORU, HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE ALSO? >> ONLY STAYED ABOUT TWO MONTHS BUT IT WAS OKAY. WE WERE FOREIGNERS, ACTUALLY. WE MIGHT LOOK LIKE JAPANESE...
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| 01:22:37 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AT YOKAHAMA AND LOOKED OVER, THEY LOOKED
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| 01:22:40 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
A LITTLE DIFFERENT TO ME THAN THE UNITED STATES AND I FINALLY REALIZED I WAS IN JAPAN. THEY TOOK US TO THE ARMY BARRACKS AND WE STAYED THERE ONE NIGHT...
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| 01:22:58 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TOKYO. BUT WHILE WE WERE IN ZAMA, THE SHOCKING THING FOR ME, FOR A 19-YEAR-OLD, IS TO SEE THESE YOUNG WAIFS, THESE KIDS, THEY DON'T HAVE HOMES. THEY'RE...
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| 01:24:39 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KUWAI, AND HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE. I DON'T KNOW IF ONE OF THE SIX -- I BEG YOUR PARDON? >> WAS IT AN
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| 01:24:48 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
M.I.S.? >> YES. I WONDERED WHETHER ANY OF THOSE SIX MEN THAT YOU KNEW MIGHT HAVE BEEN HIM. >> NO, I DON'T RECALL. WHAT WAS THE NAME AGAIN? >> I DON'T...
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| 01:25:09 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BECAME DR. DAVID MURRA IN LONG BEACH, WENT TO SEE HER IN CHICAGO. SHE HAD BEEN AT
|
| 01:25:18 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
MANZANAR FIRST AND HE WENT TO OFFERED HIS CONDOLENCES. WHEN HE WENT BACK TO KUWAI, HE
|
| 01:25:24 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WENT TO HER FORMER HUSBAND, HER DECEASED HUSBAND'S HOUSE TO SEE HIS PARENTS. I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME. I TRIED TO TALK TO MY AUNT THIS MORNING BUT...
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| 01:26:09 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
YEAH. HIS WIFE'S NAME WAS MABEL. I REMEMBER THAT. NORMAN WAS HIS FIRST NAME. NORMAN. IT STARTS WITH AN "H." ANYWAY, WE WORKED TOGETHER AND HE'S THE...
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| 01:27:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KOREAN? WELL, AT THAT TIME, LIKE I SAY, THE SOUTH KOREANS THAT WERE PUT INTO THE 7th DIVISION, THEY WEREN'T TRAINED, SO THEY WEREN'T -- MOST OF THEM...
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| 01:27:48 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SOLDIERS AT THE TIME. SOME OF THEM PROBABLY DID, BUT I DON'T KNOW. GEE, IT'S HARD TO SAY HOW GOOD THEY ARE AND I HATE TO SAY THEY WERE BAD, BUT THEY...
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| 01:30:21 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
PUT ME IN THERE, IN THE INR, WHICH WAS A PATROL OUTFIT. SO WE'D GO OUT IN FRONT, BUT I NEVER HAD TO, YOU KNOW, I WAS ALWAYS IN COMBAT, IT SEEMED LIKE,...
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| 01:30:39 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FOR ANYTHING. THE ONLY TIME WAS WHEN WE WERE SURROUNDED UP AT THE CHOSEN RESERVOIR, WE OR SOMEBODY CAUGHT TWO OF THE CHINESE, THIS WAS CHINESE AT THE...
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| 01:31:33 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
RESEARCH. I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU KNOW. HIS QUESTION IS WERE THERE PEOPLE IN WORLD WAR II WHO WERE ASSIGNED TO COMBAT UNITS IN THE PACIFIC SPECIFICALLY,...
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| 01:31:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DURING WORLD WAR II? >> I KNOW MR. MASUDA, WHO WAS STATIONED IN AUSTRALIA DURING WORLD WAR, II, HE MONITORED JAPANESE RADIO TRAFFIC IN AUSTRALIA....
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| 01:32:21 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
REALLY HELPED THE WORLD WAR II -- I MEAN THE U.S. WINNING THE WAR. >> I DON'T HAVE MUCH OF AN ENGLISH EDUCATION BUT I GOT DRAFTED TWO MONTHS BEFORE...
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| 01:32:59 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FOR MILITARY INTELLIGENCE AND I HAVE A DATE I WAS SENT AS AN INTERPRETER, OKINAWA SPECIALIST, SPEAK OKINAWA LANGUAGE AND SENT TO OKINAWA CAMPAIGN. MY...
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| 01:36:11 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
LANDING. THERE WERE TWO ON THE FIRST WAVE NOW. THEY WERE ASSIGNED A BODYGUARD, A
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| 01:36:18 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CAUCASIAN BODY GUARD BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE SHOT BY THEIR OWN SOLDIERS, THINKING THEY
|
| 01:36:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WERE DEFINITELY SOLDIERS DISGUISED AS AMERICA. IN THE FIRST WAVE, THERE WAS SUCH CHAOS THAT HE SAID HE GOT SEPARATED FROM HIS BODYGUARD AND HE WAS IMMEDIATELY...
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| 01:37:57 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DID ANY OF YOU COME ACROSS ANY NAVAL OFFICERS WHO ARE JAPANESE TRANSLATORS, TRANSLATORS? THE REASON I ASK IS THAT WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL, WE HAD A PRETTY...
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| 01:41:16 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
NAVY BASE IT OUR UNIT. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS NISE OR SUNSEI, BUT I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME. NAVAL OFFICER. >> I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT THESE NUMEROUS NAVAL...
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| 01:41:52 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WHAT THEY DID. >> SIR, FROM MY EXPERIENCE, THE ARMY NISE PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO ALL BRANCH OF SERVICES, MARINE CORPS, AIR FORCE AND THE NAVY, ALL TIMES....
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| 01:42:24 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SERVICES. -- ATTACHED FROM THE UESMI UNIT. >> MY EXPERIENCE OF WORLD WAR II NAVY OFFICERS BEING INTERPRETERS WAS WHEN WE WENT TO A PRISON TO INTERROGATE...
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| 01:42:57 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
INTERROGATING GENERAL TOYO AND THAT'S THE ONLY TIME I SAW ANY NAVY OFFICER. HE WAS A NISEI. HE WAS A CAUCASIAN. >> DURING THE WAR, U.S. NAVY NEVER...
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| 01:43:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ISLAND THEY LANDED, THERE WAS ALWAYS MI PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO MARINE SS FOR THE OPERATION. EVEN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, THEY ALL HAD THIS NISEI MI UNITS....
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NOTE: The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.