<Begin Segment 6>

MN: Let's go back to 1941. You got your draft notice from the American military. 1941, you got your draft notice from the American army.

TN: Just a minute. [Adjusts hearing aid]

MN: Okay, 1941, you got your draft notice from the American army.

TN: Yes.

MN: What did Mr. Nakano offer to do?

TN: Oh, he, his health wasn't hundred percent. So he told me -- this is family store, you know -- and the Mrs. doesn't do, and all the children still young, and I'm the only one. And he asked me to stay little longer. I thought about it, but I thought I better go do my part first. So I say I'm gonna join the army.

MN: So he was going to write to the army to have you stay longer? Was he gonna write to the military army to have you stay, not go into the army at that time?

TN: No.

MN: Was that what Mr. Nakano was trying to say to you?

TN: Yeah. He has everything, you know, lawyer, everything, so, "Stay, I'll help you to stay. I said, "Yeah, thank you, but I got to get this over." Anyway, I have to join the army, sooner the better to finish my part. So I say I'm gonna go.

MN: Now, the day of the physical, you were very sick.

TN: Sick.

MN: What happened?

TN: Sick, sick, I have a diarrhea. From Turlock to Sacramento, I had about three, four times. [Indicates vomiting] I wrote it down. So sick.

MN: You threw up.

TN: Yeah. That's the way I wrote it, you know. And they put me into the hospital right away.

MN: You went to a military hospital.

TN: Yeah, military hospital.

MN: But you weren't sworn in yet.

TN: No, I wasn't military that time yet. But they put me in military...

MN: Do you remember what day you entered the American army?

TN: I got it in my diary there. I think fifth, December 5th, I went in, in the army. Sworn in, all myself. This group is already, it's in there. So I think it was...

MN: December 5, 1941, two days before Pearl Harbor.

TN: Yes.

MN: So at that point, how good was your English?

TN: Not too good, I think. But since I was working on the store, I used lot of English, trying to improve. So I think it was all right. [Laughs] No difficulty.

MN: And when you went into the army, is that when you got the name "Tim"?

TN: Tim... in high school. Friend, you know, all the friend. In fact, in junior high, I still write the Christmas card other day, that neighborhood boy, who used to go school, Denair, Stanley Olsen. He's, I visit him after, maybe ten years ago, and we exchanged Christmas card. So that time, I have "Tim." He knows "Tim."

MN: How did you get the name "Tim"?

TN: I think magazine or something. I picked that up.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.