Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: James "Turk" Suzuki Interview
Narrator: James "Turk" Suzuki
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: November 7, 2007
Densho ID: denshovh-sjames_2-01-0023

<Begin Segment 23>

TI: There was one story I've heard that you were involved with. I believe it was in a French farmhouse.

JS: Actually, Italian.

TI: Oh, Italian farmhouse.

JS: Yes.

TI: So can you explain or describe what happened?

JS: Well, yes, although I've told this story to the Hanashi people from L.A. The main reason is it's memorable for me because I don't like to talk about my experiences per se, but this Italian farmer -- and I didn't know him from Adam. We were on a mission, a night mission, it was a reconnaissance patrol to go into the town of Pisa, because our intelligence had heard that the Germans were gonna be evacuating Pisa. So they wanted to send a reconnaissance patrol in there to make certain that the report that they had heard was correct, that the Germans were pulling out. Pisa is along the Arno, close to the Arno River, and so this was a time when Pete was still living, Pete had had not been killed at this point. And they asked for volunteers, and in the army, there's a saying that you never volunteer for anything. But Pete, for whatever reason, volunteered to, to go on this patrol. He was the first guy to say, "Yeah, I'll go." And eventually, there were twelve of us GIs that went on this patrol. And the mission was to go there and return by dawn, so we were to observing things in, while it was still dark. But we didn't get to Pisa until almost dawn, and it was getting light, so we were stuck in the, in enemy-held territory. And the, the Italian partisan who was guiding us led us to this farmhouse. And we never thought much of it, but he, this farmer, it turned out to be -- I learned years later -- sixty years later, that the farmer was a brother of this partisan guide that we had, and that's why he took us there. But this farmer took us upstairs to his living quarters, and, to hide us during the day. And in the early morning, a German patrol came to the house, and while we were upstairs, the German soldiers were downstairs. The downstairs is not a living quarters, it's where they kept the cattle. And so the German soldiers down below, and we were up, up above. And the farmer had to go out and do his work, and interact with the German soldiers, but he never gave us away. He had two kids, one was a little girl about two years old, and a boy that was, I think, seven at that time. Anyway, when darkness came...

TI: Explain, I want to know a little bit more. So the Germans that came, that were down below, so there were twelve of you upstairs, and how many Germans were down below?

JS: A squad. So there were about twelve.

TI: And if they knew that you were upstairs, what would have happened?

JS: Well, you know, there would have been a... we would, there's a couple of possibilities: we would have surrendered, or there would have been a gunfight, a firefight. And we had the advantage of knowing they were there, but they didn't know we were there, so if there was any firefight, we probably would have had the advantage. But our orders were not to engage in a firefight unless necessary, out mission was to get information and get back to our own lines. But the, this farmer allowed us to stay, he had a wife, and I remember her, and he offered us, or they offered us bread. And you know, during wartime, bread is very important, any food. And, but he recalls something differently, the farmer, that is. He recalls that we were good to his kids by giving them candy bars. And we used to get bars of chocolate with our rations, and so we shared them with the, his kids, and he remembered that for years afterwards.

TI: But then more than just the candy bar gift, if he were found out by the Germans...

JS: Yes.

TI: ...he would have been at risk, not only him but his family.

JS: That's right.

TI: And so he was taking a huge risk by, by hiding you upstairs and not turning you in.

JS: Exactly. Sure, right. And we didn't know his name, we didn't know who he was, and then...

TI: But go back and tell me, while the Germans were downstairs, what was going through your minds? I mean, I imagine you guys weren't saying anything, you were just totally quiet.

JS: We were quiet, yes.

TI: What was going through your mind when this was happening?

JS: Well, I don't really recall what was, except that this could be it. This could be a fight or whatever, but it was a, we had two officers with us, and we were all to remain quiet and not engage in any fight unless it was, became absolutely necessary. And fortunately, it wasn't. But I can't really tell you what went through my mind, but it was obviously a combination of fear and trying to think ahead. And if we did get into a fight, what would we do? But nothing happened, fortunately, so we didn't have to face that.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.