<Begin Segment 22>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

FT: And I don't know how I got stuck in the army, but one day (it) was, in December, (...) I remember being at the induction center (in Chicago) and spending the whole day (...) taking this test and that test and so on.

TI: But were you, were you drafted? Is that why you went there?

FT: How could I be drafted if I was a 4-C?

TI: That's why I'm curious, how you got there. So then you were volunteering?

FT: Maybe I volunteered. I must have volunteered.

TI: Okay, so you're there getting all your tests.

FT: And so, the last step (...) was psychological, I think it was. And I passed that and (was directed to) three desks (...). Marines had the first pick that day, and then the Navy and (...) the Army. So I went to the Marine desk and (was told to) pick up (...) threads (of) different (colors) and put 'em in (...) piles. Pinks and (...) reds (purples). And I couldn't do it. And then (I was given) a chart that had a lot of (colored) dots in it, and (asked), "What number's in there?" So I (flunked that and was referred to as being colorblind.) (...) So I went to the Navy and the (sailor) looked at me and he said, "(...) we can use you." And he stamped "Navy" on my wrist and (told me to) report to Great Lakes" (the) next day. And (ordered me) to the Army and tell them that the Navy took me. So I went to the Army and the (soldier asked me whether I was) Japanese American. And (when) I said, "Yeah," said, "(...) We got a directive from the War Department (directing) all Japanese Americans (to) go to Camp Savage, to the Military Intelligence (Language) School." So he (told me to, "Go back to the Navy and tell them you can't go," that the Army had taken you (...).

TI: So did the army guy test you at all for Japanese?

FT: No, he just looked at me.

TI: Did he ask you if you could speak Japanese?

FT: No (...).

TI: So at this point, he was saying all Japanese Americans are going to Savage.

FT: Yeah, that's what, I guess the directive (said). So I went back to the Navy guy, said (he should look at) the War Department directive. (The Army told me, "You can report to Fort Sheridan tomorrow, (...) or take a leave." I (chose a leave). He (told me to) report in thirty days (and) gave me a (train) ticket, and told me to get to Fort Sheridan the next month (...). So I, I took the leave. I had quit my job so I had to find (work). I found one in a warehouse (...). It was a big warehouse with a lot of Niseis working (there.) (...) I worked there for twenty days. (...) I heard (later my name was on a big board as an employee now in service).

TI: You mean this was the board at Minidoka?

FT: (No, at) this warehouse in Chicago.

TI: Oh, at the warehouse, I see. And you don't remember the name of the warehouse or what kind of warehouse?

FT: It was a big warehouse. McClure, or something like that, (...) near the Navy Pier. Anyway, (...) I went to Fort Sheridan, and then (...) a haircut and (baggy uniform and was put) on latrine duty for three days. During that time, another Nisei came, George Yamaguchi from Southern Cal, (...) Orange County. I don't know what camp he came out of. But anyway, so the two of us were there and then we (went) on a train and went to Minneapolis where we were met by people from Savage, thirty miles south (...). So then went to Camp Savage and started school.

TI: And then earlier you mentioned that they had two classes. They had the six-month and the nine-month.

FT: We got in the nine-month course.

TI: Which one did you go into? Oh, nine-month. How did they decide? How did they test you?

FT: I don't know. I never did find out.

TI: Okay, Frank, so I'm going to have you move away from the microphone again.

FT: Oh, okay. So anyway, (a friend) was there (in) the six-month class. And there was a Kibei (also in the six-month class). But the rest of us were nine-month. And let's see, (...) Henry Date was (...) the only one from Seattle, the two of us (in our barrack).

TI: In terms of your serving at Savage, how long had Savage been in operation? Do you know like what class you were in, in terms of, like how large was your class going in, that will give me a sense of how early it was.

FT: Oh, about twenty people (...) in a class. I don't know. But we weren't all in the same class. There were several classes. I think Date was in another class, but we were all in the nine-month course. And we had instructors like Tak Matsui (and) Ken Harano, (...) both from Seattle.

TI: Okay. So that gives me a sense.

FT: Yeah. And sometime just before graduation in September, the judge adjutant, (...) Major Walter Tsukamoto, (...) called me out of class. He (just said we were moving to) St. Paul, (...) didn't (...) tell me what we were going for. So we got in a jeep and took off and went to St. Paul, (to) the federal court. (But the major) didn't say anything (about) what was happening. So I went to court and the judge (ordered me to raise my) right hand. I raised my right hand and he (...) gave me the oath, and I (replied). He (then) said, "(...) You're a citizen now." Then we went back to (Savage).

TI: Were there anyone, any other people also getting citizenship?

FT: No, just he and the major and I and the judge, that's all.

TI: Probably there were times when you were going through training or at MIS, you thought that, or realized that you were a Japanese citizen.

FT: No, I didn't even think about that.

TI: Oh, you didn't even think about that.

FT: I didn't even think about that, no. So I didn't know what was happening, and (the major) never told me.

TI: So, they must have looked through the records and realized that they had to do this.

FT: All of a sudden, yeah.

TI: That if you were going to be serving, you had to be a U.S. citizen.

FT: That was September 7th, '44. And then in October, we went (...) to Fort McClellan for basic, in the next month.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.