<Begin Segment 16>

TI: So let's talk about the MIS. So you go, where do you go for the MIS?

CS: Camp Savage in Minnesota. And they just opened it. It was a brand new facility.

TI: So the MIS started at the Presidio in San Francisco, and then they, the first class moved to Camp Savage.

CS: 'Cause no Japanese were allowed on the West Coast. [Laughs]

TI: So you joined right after that. So you were like the second class?

CS: Right.

TI: And describe... tell me about the first class. How would you characterize, or what interaction would you --

CS: They went overseas already by that time. And then we took a test, and they put me in what they called advanced class, a three-month class. Normally it's a sixth-month class, but they put me in the so-called "advanced students" class, and I think there's only two Niseis in there and the rest of them were Kibei. And I couldn't keep up with them, and boy, I was studying like hell. [Laughs]

TI: And so who was running the school at this point?

CS: Oh, John Aiso.

TI: And describe how John Aiso ran the program. What was that like in those early days?

CS: Well, I didn't even think about it. I didn't know who he was at that time. I knew of him, but all I knew is we just, I had to study like hell.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.