<Begin Segment 27>

AI: So then from Arkansas, where were you assigned after that?

AS: From Arkansas, after basic, I was sent over-, oh, I took eight weeks of basic, infantry basic and then I was supposed to go to artillery basic the last eight weeks but instead, they sent me to school, clerk typist school. Yeah, I wasn't, well, by then, I was, my English was so-so. And so they sent me to clerk typist school. But that's the army for you. You never know what's gonna happen. Because this guy that was sitting next to me, he asked for motor pool because his father had a dealership in Michigan. And he did some of the mechanic work, and so he asked for motor pool and he got into clerk typist school. So, I figure oh, that's the way it is. [Laughs]

AI: It's not logical.

AS: Right. And here I had never typed in my life and I'm struggling with my English and they sent me to clerk typist school.

AI: That's kinda funny. [Laughs] So what happened then, after you finished with the --

AS: After, then they sent me to Germany. And I was in a, encamped in Germany. I was in a, I wasn't in a company, I was in a detachment which handled paper, all the medical papers of medical suppliers for the whole European command. And we only had forty-four men and nine of 'em were sergeants. But the rest of us were doing all the work. Because sergeants are, they're permanent army people so, so they only know how to pass out the work.

AI: Well, so, what was your work life like there when you were first...

AS: Actually, it was just like working in the office. You know, like we go to work eight o'clock and break for lunch at noon, go back at one and work 'til five, just like being civilian. Only thing is we had to get up at six o'clock in the morning to stand reveille and then go for breakfast after that.

AI: And then would you get passes to...

AS: Yeah, uh-huh.

AI: And what would you do with your time off?

AS: Oh, go to, because, especially Sunday, Sunday dinner, they used to serve cold cuts in camp. So we, we used to get a pass and go to, go to the town and eat.

AI: Oh yeah, where were you, by the way? What --

AS: Germany, Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern in Germany, which is a small town. It's a farming area. It's a real small town. But then after we were there for about six months, they, they opened a Chinese restaurant in town. So that was a big, big thing for the GIs, something different.

AI: So you went there --

AS: Good food.

AI: -- and you'd have Chinese food?

AS: Yeah.

AI: How was it?

AS: It was good. Yeah. There's Chinese restaurants all over the place, even in that little town. [Laughs]

AI: Well, and so, and how were you treated by the German townspeople? Did they, were they surprised to see someone with your Japanese face and...

AS: No, because they had some other, they had a Chinese guy and a Filipino guy, and so they must've had a Japanese before. And another one is there was a Landstool air base not too far from us and they must've had some Asians there, too, so...

AI: Well, so, what was this like for you because here you are, you're in an American uniform, but you're still not in the United States legally? Your status is still illegal but you're wearing the U.S. army uniform, you're in Germany. How did you yourself, how did you feel? Did you feel like you were part of the American army? Did you kind of start feeling like you were American?

AS: Oh yeah. Yeah, I felt like, like, just like the rest of 'em because, because I had the uniform on.

AI: And you were being treated as if you were an American?

AS: Right.

AI: And so, in your own mind, did you start thinking of yourself as being American? Or did you still feel kind of Peruvian, or Japanese?

AS: I wasn't even thinking about that in those days. Because we're there, I felt like American or Japanese, actually, it didn't make any difference. So I didn't even think about it.

AI: You were part of the U.S. army and you were treated like any other...

AS: Right, Americans.

<End Segment 27> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.