<Begin Segment 22>

TI: Okay, so you were also in jungle duty. That was...

HN: Oh, yeah.

TI: So can you describe what that was like? I mean, that was pretty intense experiences.

HN: Terrible. Well, what Merrill's Marauders went through was very, very... there was a continuous campaign, they had to. Number one, the jungle has all kinds of diseases. All kinds of diseases, terrible. All kinds of diseases. Dysentery, blackwater fever, cholera, they got all kinds, malaria, they got all kinds of diseases. But they went through, the Merrill's Marauders went through hell, went through hell. Like General Stillwell said, "Man for man, equipment for equipment," General Stillwell said the CBI veterans -- he's talking about the infantry -- the MISers, the whole unit was all volunteers. He said, "Man for man, no one did more than the Burma veterans." He's referring to the Merrill's Marauders, he's not referring to us MISers. Well, they were MISers too.

TI: But you did have jungle duty, so there was some similar experience.

HN: Oh, of course. I know what they went through, yes, definitely. They had a terrible time.

TI: And so in the jungle --

HN: They all got sick, they all got sick. Nobody got killed except Captain Lathin, MISer, he got killed.

TI: So you're in the jungle, so you're really, you're really on the front lines, then.

HN: You can't see any... that's why one or two times, they killed each other, friendly fire. Because you can't see, you're in jungle.

TI: So in the jungle, are there any particular stories that you remember, or memories?

HN: No, no. Well, it's not ideal... you know, there's no comparison between what the 442 did on the open field, pretty much open field. You know where your enemies are, they're ahead of you. Down there, Merrill's Marauders, they were behind enemy lines. They didn't even know who was there, they even killed their own people. Because you don't know where they are. That's the danger of the jungle warfare. So the MIS, especially the Merrill's Marauders. Oh, Tom Takeda, I got to tell you about my army buddy, my army buddy. Tom Takeda was San Jose, deceased. This is... I have to put this in. Sixty-six years, I met him at Camp Savage, he came looking for me after we played basketball. I had no idea who he was, he came looking for me. But anyway, that's how we became friends, he came looking for me. But that was an interesting story. But he served alone, he was the only lone Nisei that served in the combat area alone, single Nisei. He's the only one that I know that served singly in the combat area. Because we all went, we all went, shipped out as a group of ten. Group of ten, then we paired off and then two here, four here, six here and so forth. Tom Takeda shipped out alone and serving in Burma. He was the First Air Commando, Colonel Cochran was... Milton Caniff was a cartoonist, Milton Caniff. He characterized Colonel Cochran as the... I forgot the caricature, comic strip. But Milton Caniff was a cartoonist.

TI: But you were telling me about Tom Takeda.

HN: Tom Takeda, yeah. His unit was, you know, was characterized, the colonel was characterized... but Tom Takeda was the lone Nisei that served, only Nisei that served... he had to be very, very special to serve singly. Because we all paired up with English and Japanese, that's how we paired up.

TI: Right.

HN: For most efficiency.

TI: And you were which side?

HN: I was the English.

TI: English, okay.

HN: [Laughs] I'm not a, I'm not a Japanese specialist.

TI: Right. And so Tom was by himself --

HN: Tom had to be both.

TI: And this was in the 26th Division?

HN: No, he was the First Air Commando. No, he was not with the British.

TI: Oh, got it.

HN: He was the First Air Commando, the special air force commando group, that was a U.S. group. Very unusual.

TI: Good.

HN: He had to be very special. He was special, very special.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.