<Begin Segment 16>

TI: Okay, so let's go back. So you were the flight clerk or company clerk, and then, and a corporal. Then what happened? How long did you do that?

GH: I was in training for maybe two, two or three months at the most. And one day, we were ordered to assemble or stand in front of our barracks with our belongings. And along came a truck and we boarded the truck, it took us to the train station.

TI: Now, is this just Japanese Americans, or...

GH: Just Niseis.

TI: Okay, so just the Niseis, and about how many of you were...

GH: Twenty-five.

TI: So twenty-five Niseis that were there, and during that, before that, did any of the Niseis leave to go anywhere else, or were they all stay, did they all stay there?

GH: I didn't take a head count, but I got the impression that we were all shipped out.

TI: Okay, at the same time.

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: So twenty-five, you go to the train station...

GH: Train station.

TI: ...you're all lined up with your gear, then what happens?

GH: Right. And, and we're given a brown envelope, and in the envelope we found our orders and our destination. And my destination was, was Fort Leavenworth, the station hospital in Kansas. And there I served as the, what they call the "sick and wounded clerk."

TI: But before we go, so what about the other men? What happened to them?

GH: Well, we were, three of us went to Fort Leavenworth. As a matter of fact, Jerry... is it Jerry (Kanetomi) from Seattle, he was one of my bunkmates. And I don't know where others went.

TI: Okay, but they were all kind of split up in different directions?

GH: Yeah, right, uh-huh.

TI: Okay, so you went to Fort Leavenworth, and then what happened?

GH: I became a "sick and wounded clerk." It's a high-class file clerk. [Laughs] And while serving as a "sick and wounded clerk," I did receive a letter from Colonel Rasmussen, the commandant of the Camp Savage Military Intelligence school. And when I responded, I got my orders to report to him.

TI: So Colonel Rasmussen, what did he write? Was it just an inquiry asking if you'd be interested?

GH: He asked for my language background primarily, yes. So I responded, and I had my orders to report to Camp Savage.

TI: Did you know that Camp Savage was a, a language school, a Military Intelligence language school?

GH: Not until then, I wasn't aware of it.

TI: And what was your reaction when you found out what Camp Savage was?

GH: Well, I knew, I think it was the logical choice for, for a person of my background.

TI: So that made sense, but how did you feel? Because at that point, you realized that you --

GH: Of course, I didn't know what was involved, no.

TI: Sure. But you probably had a sense at that point that your experience was going to be valuable in the, in the war against Japan.

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: Did you have any sort of, sort of misgivings about that?

GH: Well, you can't serve two countries. I'm an American citizen and, you know.

TI: And do you recall about what, what month this was, when you were going to Camp Savage?

GH: Yes, I went to Camp Savage, I think it was in November of 1942.

TI: Okay, so before Camp Savage, I mean, at this point, your family had been sent to probably Pinedale, and then to Tule Lake?

GH: Uh-huh.

TI: So were you in contact with your family about what was happening during this period?

GH: I, contact in the sense that I knew where they were.

TI: Okay, just through, like, letters and things like that.

GH: Yeah, uh-uh.

TI: And so you, you didn't have an opportunity to go see them?

GH: But after I graduated, I did apply for leave, and I was granted.

TI: After you graduated from where? From...

GH: Camp, Camp Savage, Military Intelligence School.

TI: Okay, so after, after that. So let's, let's wait until we get there.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.