<Begin Segment 23>

TK: Do you remember where you were at and what you were doing when you first heard the news?

MT: Well, December 7th, it was right after breakfast that we found out that, the news that Japan had attacked at Pearl Harbor. But, and so we were immediately put on alert. But you've got to realize that during Camp Roberts and San Luis Obispo, we, like in my case, we carried .45 automatic pistols, but my pistol was all wooden pistol. In other words, we weren't issued real pistols or carbines at that time except for training only. So we never had... so I was so surprised, by afternoon, December 7th, we had carbines, .45 automatic pistols and ammunition and we were all packed up by evening and it just amazed me how we were well-prepared. (...) We were prepared for the war, but we didn't know that until December 7th and it just amazed me that... I still, I brought, I brought home that wooden pistol and I had it until December 7th.

TK: And what happened to that wooden pistol?

MT: I donated it to the group in Los Angeles that our, with my uniform, that they were going around to all the churches -- I mean, schools in, elementary and high schools in the Los Angeles area in groups and talking about the war relocation camps and the 442nd combat team.

TK: So would this be the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles?

MT: No, it's another group that, that are constantly going around to all the schools and so... but I saw it before, later at the different reunions that they... my uniform and officer's uniform.

TK: So after December 7th, what transpired and what was your next movement out of that particular unit?

MT: So, by, by evening, like, it was amazing to me, is, we were fully combat equipped by evening. It just surprised me all the pieces that, that we could just move out. So within the next couple days we were, we loaded up and convoyed all the way down to March Field Air Force Base to guard the camp there and the 160th took over entire March Field Base there. And we stayed there until end of, end of January and then we were brought back into Los Angeles to guard all the airplane manufacturing plants in Los Angeles. And it... just a short time after that, the division commander were notified that the 40th Division was to be transferred out to the South Pacific, division-wise and that... but, one situation that we didn't expect was that all Japanese Americans were not to accompany the division to South Pacific. And so, arrangements were being made to ship us out of the division. I asked to be taken with the division, but the order was that they just couldn't do it, even though I was noncombatant in the 160th Infantry band. So they took out one hundred and (eighty) -- their next step was to take out 185 of us Niseis of the division out. And the next thing we knew, that we were all rounded up and loaded onto trains in downtown Los Angeles where they pulled all the blinds down and all of us were loaded up with a guard on the front end of the train, (...) the back end of the train on each one of 'em. And we left Los Angeles about three o'clock in the morning in the darkness. And we didn't know 'til we left Los Angeles that we were headed for El Paso, Texas, to Fort Bliss, Texas and would be reassigned there to the 1813th reception center.

TK: But for soldiers to go on trains, it's not unusual to have shades drawn regardless of the particular people going, is that correct?

MT: I don't think so. In this case we were all, because of the fact that we were Japanese Americans, they pulled the shades on us. And the reason I would say that is when we left the town in Los Angeles and we started heading towards Texas, they put the blinds up, but when you started to enter any other city they pulled the blinds down again. So, we knew that they were determined to not let the public know that the Japanese Americans were on board the train there.

TK: Were there any members of the 185 Niseis that you knew before, that you still keep up with in terms of friendships or acquaintances?

MT: No. They're... it was shortly after I got to the 40th Division that I got to the band. But other Niseis were spread out all through the division so I never had a chance to meet them. In fact, we went to, on our weekends, I had a friend named Buddy Davis who was a trumpet player, and he would take me to Los Angeles and visit his home and his parents and things like that. So, I was primarily with Caucasian band players all the time that went to Los Angeles and Hollywood until the war broke out. I did go to Nihonmachi in San Luis Obispo. There were some Japanese farmers, large Japanese farmers in that area and so I visited them on the weekends and they were kind enough to invite us for lunch and we ate rice and sashimi and all kinds of Japanese goodies. And so it was very pleasant staying in San Luis Obispo prior to the war.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.