<Begin Segment 14>

TI: In the first hour we talked about growing up in Thomas, then going to Japan, then you came back to the United States. You were drafted, and then just days before Pearl Harbor, you were at, you entered the army, you were at Fort Lewis, Pearl Harbor happened, and that's kind of where we're picking up. So I'm curious, how long were you at Fort Lewis before you were transferred?

GH: Less than a week.

TI: Okay, so after a week, and then they shipped you out.

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: So, so let's pick it up there. So what happened next?

GH: I was shipped to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and when I arrived, they took me to a barracks and I found out there were twenty-five others in the barracks. And I said, "What is this?" they said, "This is protective custody."

TI: So all the, like, Nisei, or Japanese American soldiers who were in the service, they brought to Missouri? Or at least some of them, and they put them in protective custody.

GH: They were all in one barracks.

TI: So you say "protective custody," to protect you. From whom? Who would you, who would they protect you from?

GH: Well, I didn't understand this, but after the war, Aiko Herzig, she sent me a copy, which she found in the archives, and according to this memo, there was a case where a Nisei was undergoing a physical examination, and the circumstances surrounding him was such that they had to remove him to another room to finish the physical.

TI: So he was, like, harassed or something happened in that room?

GH: Yeah, I guess so.

TI: And so, and so because of that incident, they thought that it would be safer for the other Japanese American soldiers to be under protective custody?

GH: Uh-huh. And also, I think it gave the FBI a chance to check on our background.

TI: Oh, so there was a, perhaps a dual purpose, that they actually wanted to see if you guys were really loyal to the United States. I'm curious, on the trip from, from Fort Lewis to the base in Missouri, did, were there any incidences for you or anything?

GH: No.

TI: Okay, so it was a pretty straightforward train ride all the way.

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: Okay. So in Missouri, what did you do under protective custody? What type of activities?

GH: Well, actually, in the morning we had close-order drill.

TI: And what's a close-order drill?

GH: Oh, it's a forward march, etcetera. Basic training. And we marched to the mess hall under a guard, a sergeant, World War I sergeant. [Laughs] We were marched to the PX. There was no recreational facilities, so we did a lot of reading, we did a lot of exercise. As a matter of fact, the close-order drill was done in the morning as well as in the afternoon, and it was so repetitious that we all memorized it, and all the sergeant had to say was, "forward march," and we went through all the routine, which he found it very impressive. And he brought that to the attention of the commander of the fort, so we actually had a close-order drill in front of the commander of the fort.

TI: Well, when you were under protective custody, what does that mean? Were you guys free to walk around the base?

GH: No, no.

TI: Or were you confined to quarters?

GH: Every movement we were escorted.

TI: So essentially you were under guard?

GH: Yes, yes.

TI: Were they armed guards?

GH: Yes, uh-huh. Just one sergeant.

TI: Well, so how did you guys feel about this? You guys were U.S. soldiers...

GH: Yeah. [Laughs]

TI: And you weren't, it seemed like you really at some point, realized you weren't really being trusted.

GH: It was very difficult, because we were getting, we did receive word from others who were in the army were being discharged at the convenience of the government. There was, we did hear about the eligible Nisei draftees being reclassified 4-C, "enemy alien," so we didn't know what would happen to us. So these were very tense moments.

TI: Well, it was sort of like you were in this little, little window in some ways, because you're saying so a lot of the, the men who were in the army longer, many of them were discharged because they were probably in infantry units or things like that, so they didn't want them there so they discharged them. And then the other draft-eligible Niseis who weren't yet in the army, they were being reclassified 4-C, so undesirable for the, for the U.S. service, and so you were, like, in the small, one of the few small groups that were actually, stayed active in the U.S. Army, even though you were under protective custody. So what, what were you guys thinking? I mean, did you guys talk about that?

GH: Actually, we didn't know what would happen. I mean, we could be discharged the following day for all we knew. But we tried to make the best of the situation.

TI: Were you able to communicate with people back home?

GH: Yes, but all our letters were being censored. That I know, because there was one fellow who wrote to his parents in Japanese, and I was called in to translate. [Laughs] So I do know all the letters were censored.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.