<Begin Segment 15>

SF: To go back a bit, you were mentioning about the Caucasian -- I mean, I'm sorry, the mainland guys, of course, are the cadre and then all these large number of Hawaiian coming in. I understand that you got into some altercations with the Buddhaheads.

SI: Oh, yes. I personally never had any person-to-person confrontation. In fact, I think going back even a bit further, one of the endearing or prominent lessons my mother gave me was that whatever you do in life, do it so that your actions will not only not offend your colleagues, but do it so that they will, in return, be sympathetic with you. And I do this unconsciously and I have friends all over the world in virtually every country almost, and wherever I go -- and I make new ones all the time. But with this very simple, basic outlook and interpersonal relationship. And keeping this in mind, this rowdy Hawaiian group -- but I could see good in them -- they meant well. I'd go along and chug-a-lug beer. I remember one night I drank twelve bottles of beer at the bar at ten cents a bottle or something and came staggering home, back and forth to the bathroom. We weren't supposed to, but ,and have a good time with the Hawaiian guys. And to this day I have very, very good friends here. And at the same time some of the colleagues that I have were so strict with their obeyance of orders and regulations, that to be so GI as you call it, that some are afraid to come to Hawaii because of the animosity that existed, that they developed between and kept up.

SF: So this lasted even through when you were in combat and so forth?

SI: Absolutely, absolutely. Going ahead a little bit but, as an example, a number of the Hawaiians, some of whom I embraced last night and we see whenever we can, they would come up to me and say, "Lieutenant Ito, next time you go up will you take me with you?" And you wonder, they're safe back in the battery area, relatively safe, they don't have to do this, but they beg you to take them on a mission where it's much, much more dangerous. And well, it's hard to say that one feels good about this, but one feels rewarded in that you've built confidence in the people that you associate with, that their rationale for doing this is that well, we're bored back here, we don't see any action, we don't know how the infantry fights, we don't know what is going on up there, and we'd like to see it. And I guess in the back of my mind, this is why I volunteered for this job anyway. So I could understand their wanting to experience what combat in the front lines was like, but to do this voluntarily when they didn't have to do it, is... well, one can't help but feel proud of them and comforted in the confidence that they've given you. So I think it boils down to: what you give of yourself in life, in one way or another, you're paid back in return. And I see this all the time with my colleagues and students that I have, and if you sincerely give them help, confidence, and encouragement -- you're paid back many more times in return. And I think the superficial conflict between the island fellows and mainland fellows were based on the fact that they thought well, we talk different than you guys and you don't understand us and our outlook is different, and you guys talk like the haoles here. And we, I guess, in many cases in the plantation days or in the early days, they really, the haoles, took advantage of the immigrant Japanese, and their animosity toward them is understandable. And since we talk like them, they transferred this animosity to us. But I found that it wasn't very difficult to overcome this and become... treat them like anybody else and become respected for who you are amongst them.

[Interruption]

SF: So the, sort of, friction between the Hawaiians and the mainland folk sometimes like you said... what? He was a captain this hakujin, this white?

SI: A lieutenant.

SF: Oh, lieutenant. So the fact that he was so GI or military rule bound, that impacted negatively both the Buddhaheads and the kotonks equally in the unit, or did something about the Hawaiians, because of their Hawaiian culture, rub against them more severely?

SI: I think it rubbed against the Hawaiians more severely because they were quite a bit more happy-go-lucky and tried, if possible, bend every order that came out. [Laughs] And, well, not that the mainland fellows weren't that way, many were, and many had problem, not very seriously, but going AWOL or overstaying passes or not doing duties appropriately or not obeying direct orders and so forth. But I think the preponderance of those on the other side of the fence were the island boys, the Buddhaheads from the islands, but I sympathize with them in many ways, and I think it became very apparent to them that I did. And I think it's partly understanding their point and their feelings and letting them, whenever possible, to express them to their satisfaction. And I think if you do this that you'll not only gain their respect, loyalty, and confidence and when the chips are down, they'll really pitch in and help because they're pretty good fighters on the street, but they're very good in the field, too so...

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.