<Begin Segment 21>

TI: And then what happened after that?

TK: Well, then the people from Camp Savage came down recruiting for interpreters and translators. And luckily I knew how to write Nippon, so they accepted me.

TI: So they were looking for... so this is the MIS.

TK: MIS.

TI: Military Intelligence Service, looking for Japanese speakers who could interpret Japanese.

TK: Yes. At that time, we didn't know what the 442 was gonna do. To guard prisoners, Italians that had come over, or what were we gonna do? What was gonna be our duty? We didn't know.

TI: Well, that's interesting. So in retrospect, if you had known what the 442 was gonna do and you knew what the MIS was gonna do, would you have taken a different path? Would you have wanted to stay --

TK: No, I think I would still go with MIS.

TI: So let's talk about the MIS and what you did. So how did they select you? When they came in...

TK: Well, I don't know how they selected me because I did go to Japanese school and learn how to speak. But we had to learn military lingo at Camp Savage, and how to translate and all that. So especially kanji was pretty tough.

TI: And so memories from Camp Savage that...

TK: Oh, Camp Savage, we had to get up, of course the reveille, I think it was maybe six o'clock and then go to class from eight to, I think, eight to four. And then after that, we had to go back to the barracks and study 'til... some guys were studying under their blankets, 'cause it was tough.

TI: And how was it for you? How tough was it for you?

TK: It was tough for me, kanji.

TI: And so how would you rate yourself in terms of, with your other classmates in terms of how good your Japanese was?

TK: One to ten, let's say? Well, the ten would be good. And those would be those, what do you call, Kibeis. They had gone to Japan so they would know kanji. But to us, I would say one/two, or so.

TI: For you? You were like a one/two compared to...

TK: I would say, let's say, put it two.

TI: So the real, the real stars in terms of language was the Kibei who studied...

TK: Well, if they... because kanji was hard for me. I'm not a very bright guy, you know. [Laughs]

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.