<Begin Segment 11>

PM: Okay, so when you left Camp Shelby, where did you go?

LK: So then, then Camp Shelby?

PM: After Camp Shelby?

LK: Oh, after Camp Shelby, that's when we went to war. Yeah, we went, went to Virginia and from there we took a transport, and went to Naples. Yeah, we landed in Naples. And yeah, we stayed in Naples, then, then we went, finally we went to battle on the 24th, June 24th. So May... we left Camp Shelby in May? Anyway, we went first that waterfront, I mean, battlefront, June 24th. So...

PM: And that was in Naples?

LK: Huh?

PM: In Naples? Were you in Naples on June 24th?

LK: So when, after we went to -- our first battle was on the 24th, June 24th, it was Civitavecchia, you heard of that? Okay, we went there on the 24th, and then about, what, [inaudible] died? Because I died, I mean, I got hurt on the, on November 7th, so 24th through the 7th, whoa, that's real short. Anyway... and all that time, the Germans knew what we were doing. I didn't know at the time, but that's how, I find out that, how come we all got hurt in a bunch when they didn't know where... even I was surprised that when I first got hurt, I wasn't, I wouldn't say hurt, but I was in, unconscious. I was unconscious. That is, I'm going through the grapevine now. You know how tall that grapevine is? And how can the Germans see me in the grapevine? That's like five o'clock at night. Five o'clock at night, and they knew what I was doing. And now, where I'm going now, I've never even been there, and that's the battalion headquarters. See, now, the colonel came and he said, "Any volunteers to send to the 3rd Battalion headquarters?" Captain asked me, no question, I said, "Yup, I'm going," so I did. And all the time, they knew what I was doing. The Germans know, they knew what I was doing. How can they -- you know what, I was going by the farmhouse, and the Germans blew the farmhouse now, and [inaudible] hit me in the back. Now, in the army we call that haversack, that you carry shovel and pick in the bag. You know, for digging the foxhole. So final, that saved me. So when it hit that, I went up in the air now, so when I came down, I was out, completely out. I didn't know where I was. But when I got up, I don't know how I found the headquarters, and I did. But now I never remember what they told me. All this time, I never remember what they told me. So when I get back to Company, I didn't know what, so I didn't tell the captain nothing. But if I knew, I wouldn't let them go up in the front, because I knew the Germans were -- and you know what? The Germans was ready now, ready. You know the 3rd Platoon was leading the place, and the Germans was all lined up, lined up, now, ready to shoot us. Think about it now, but they didn't shoot us. See, now, when the, we was in the draw, they put us all the company into the draw. They want all us, so what happened is, yeah, headquarters and 1st Platoon. How come the 3rd Platoon, what happened to 3rd Platoon? Anyway, because Maekawa is 1st Platoon, Lieutenant Kreskowsky's 1st Platoon, so how come not 3rd Platoon? I mean, they was leaving, and how they bypass 3rd Platoon and hit 1st Platoon, because 2nd Platoon was on the side of the hill. Captain, I was, oh, I was next to Captain, but when Kreskowsky got hurt, I left Captain, went to Kreskowsky. And so now I find out that I don't know how my Bronze Star came out, it's Captain Byrne. He was next to me, and he's the officer wrote the citation for the bravery, you know.

PM: Larry, this was all on Hill --

LK: So had to be Captain Byrne, because Kreskowsky didn't know.

PM: This was on Hill 140?

LK: Huh?

PM: This is all on Hill 140, when you guys were headed to Leghorn, Italy.

LK: One week.

PM: Yeah, 140.

LK: That's what, we was in the morning, early in the morning, maybe about 6:30 or something. We went early now, we went early. Because after that night... anyway, we was there real short. I find out that one of the 100th battle, I didn't know it was the 100th, but to me, all the time they knew what we were doing. Amazingly, nobody knew, but I knew. That is, after, after I got hit, not before. I didn't know before. To me, I kept thinking and thinking, I said, "How can anything happen that the Germans knew?" So they knew all the time what we were doing. Just like "Lost Battalion." Now, they're on the hill, huh, and we're down below. So same thing, now, they knew what we was doing. And you know the Lost Battalion, too, the Germans knew anything what they was doing, so they was getting killed and killed and killed. Lost Battalion was getting, they had a battalion, but by the time they got through, only 211 or something was left, because the Germans knew all the time what they was doing. So when, when the "Banzai Hill" came out, Barney Hajiro, nothing bothered him. He's gonna go, he's gonna go. So that's what happened, you know. They knew, Germans knew, but we were, I don't know what... but anyway, so amazingly, they stunned the Germans, just like we stunned the Gothic Line, same thing. When you had them, went, took the Germans by surprise, it was same thing.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.