<Begin Segment 19>

TI: Well, so after you finished training, what happened next?

HN: We shipped out to India and Burma.

TI: And tell me about that. What was your duties in India and Burma?

HN: Fifty-eight days on the ship. Fifty-eight days on the ship.

TI: And then what? After the ship, where did you land?

HN: In Karachi, India. It was India. Now, it's Pakistan, but it's Karachi, India.

TI: And for what purposes were you being sent to...

HN: We were linguists, we were translators. I was an interrogator and translator. So I was overseas for about two years.

TI: And who were you assigned to?

HN: British 26th Division. See, the Nisei, the Americans, we were joined up with, we were on loan to the British, to help them out, our allies. [Laughs] Interesting story about Burma, yeah. Being, I had a bodyguard. Well, we had to have a bodyguard when you're in the front. Well, one night, we moved into a new bivouac in southern Burma, and especially at nighttime, when you move into a new area, the movement, all the night movement is naturally suspicious. Then we moved into a new area about ten or eleven o'clock, during the nighttime. No lights, of course, no fires, of course, this is the front. But the full moon, and I have a bodyguard. So we moved in, and then said, well, we're digging our trench, foxhole, and then pitch our tent for the night. Then I noticed about six or seven limeys, "limeys" are British, we called them limeys because there were the old British on the training ship, and they were sucking limes to avoid scurvy. We called them limeys, they called us "Yanks." But there were about seven white faces under the full moon, limeys. We were looking at each other for about three or four seconds. So I saw there were a bunch of limeys there. We're digging our trench. Before you know it, we're digging a trench, and before you know it, we're surrounded by six limeys. And the British officer said, "Stand up. Stand up, follow us. Follow us." So my bodyguard and I were surrounded by six limeys, and marched into CP, Command Post. Technically we were prisoners, captured by the friendly force. So I had to stand at attention for about fifteen minutes while the British officer cranked the old field phone, and I gave my name, rank, serial number, British major, Tar, and then the British unit, mobile unit, this and that, while he was cranking the phone talking to different people to give me clearance.

TI: And you were given a bodyguard, so wasn't the bodyguard instructed to explain to people the whole situation?

HN: Well, he had to explain himself, too.

TI: Oh, so both of you, so they thought maybe you were spies or something.

HN: Yeah, they had to clear him up, too. Because there were traitors, too, you see.

TI: And so when, once they found out, do you remember --

HN: Oh, then we were released. But we were their, we were technically prisoners.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.