<Begin Segment 13>

TI: So you were able to go up to Rome and things like that. But eventually you got your orders to go. Where did you go next?

TO: We went up to, near Leghorn. And that's where I was assigned to K Company.

TI: So describe meeting up with the 442 guys. What was that like for you and the others?

TO: Well, I don't know. I don't recall anything special other than... you know, of course, by then I was used to being with Nisei because we shipped over together. And the only thing that was a little different was... in the tents, there were some Hawaiians that spoke a little bit differently, but they never looked on us replacements as anybody that they didn't... it was very neutral. They didn't lord over us that, "We went through the war," and all that. I don't recall them ever, anybody ever doing that, you know.

TI: But could you see a distinct difference between the Niseis who were replacement troops and the Niseis who had fought through the war? Was there a difference that you could tell?

TO: Oh, yes, definitely. We all felt, really respected them and kind of honored them. We kind of felt that we didn't do our part and that we shouldn't be, you know, making a lot of noise, so to speak. So we were, kept a low profile around those guys.

TI: Now, could you just by looking at someone know that they were a replacement troop or know that they were a replacement troop or someone who had fought in the war?

TO: Well, by the time I got there, of course, most of 'em were replacements. But even the replacements, they had saw action, you know, and I didn't see any action, so there was an altogether different situation. I really respect them, and like I said, honored them and kept a low profile. I didn't want to make a lot of noise around those guys that went through hell, so to speak. And I knew that much, that part of it, because when you have your, every Friday I think we have a Beer Bust. Normally, the guys never talked too much about what happened. But when they have the Beer Bust, then they'd be joking and laughing, and said, "Remember this, remember that battle?" And then you hear some stories that I don't think they ever told their families when they came back. Then I got a little different picture of what they went through, personal type of thing that... "Remember when he got hit and his leg was half off?" That type of thing, you know. I don't think they ever talked too much to their family about those type of thing that they freely did when sitting around having a beer and feeling pretty good about, you know...

TI: And what kind of things went through your mind as you started hearing, when they started opening up and telling these stories at the Beer Bust? Do you recall what you were thinking?

TO: Yes, I felt that while I'm very fortunate that I didn't have to get their earlier to do it, and I think that there was a real sense of, I don't know, of guilt in not doing my part, and being assigned to the 442nd and people looking at me and saying, "You're a 442nd veteran." This is after the war, of course, but at that time, I felt that very strongly, that I didn't do my part. I should have, you know, maybe been there earlier. But they, the guys that... of course, by the time I got there, all the old-timers, they were already home. I didn't get to meet some of those until we come back after the war.

TI: While you were in Italy, did you see any Seattle area Niseis?

TO: Oh, yeah, uh-huh.

TI: And then were they a little more... what's the right word? Were you able to connect with them a little bit more because of that local connection?

TO: Somewhat, if you're close before. But like George Iwasaki, he was... well, at that time, he was E Company, but E Company and K Company had got together because the 1st Battalion was no longer there. The 1st Battalion joined the 2nd and 3rd Battalion, so he was, he was there. There was Bob Akimoto -- I didn't know these guys other than George Iwasaki, I knew who he was. But I wasn't real close to him, so you form your own guys in your own squad. So, yeah.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.