<Begin Segment 23>

TI: So you're in Tokyo, then after Tokyo, where did you go?

SO: Then after the first assignment was, 5th Cavalry outfit wanted to borrow us for a week. That was to look for Western-style homes since all the dependents were being planned to come over to move with the officers. So this was our first assignment. And the next assignment was going to Yokota air base because they had to build it. Yokota air base was a dummy air base with one airplane. And now they had to build a new airfield over there. They had a big, Atsugi air base, but they're gonna replace that with Yokota air base. So now we're with them and then now we had to move in the old Japanese barracks. And the Japanese barracks were, they used thin lumbers, so it was really cold. And then first they issued us two blankets, but they said, they told the officers that that's not enough. With winter, Japan winter, is our first experience, we don't have enough warmth with only two blankets. So they gave us... no, the boys went searching in all the barracks to look for more blankets, and they found some more blankets. And here this colonel, the committing officer, came to talk to us. His name was Colonel Barbsing. He said, "Oh, I used to be at Hickam airfield in Hawaii, so I used to see you boys from Hawaii. You'll finally get nice and warm." [Laughs] Nice and warm, nothing doing. So that's where we stayed, and then later on, they installed the heaters, so not too bad.

TI: That's good. When you were in Japan, you're a businessman, and when you saw Japan after the war during this period, did you ever see lots of business opportunities in Japan and think about that?

SO: Saw all the war-bombed damage and then all the dust and everything, Japan. Not much over there.

TI: So you didn't think there was much opportunity when you saw it. So when you see Japan, like, later, after the war in the '80s and '90s, I mean, what do you think of Japan and what happened to Japan?

SO: Well, there's a big difference, a big improvement. And then today, I thought the first New Year in Japan, 1941 -- no, 1945, December, the first year, right after the New Year, all the people came back from hiding. And then everything was crowded: the train station, the subway, everything was just packed. Before that, it was so easy to commute on those trains. But after, it's just so packed, that even the train conductor's helper, they were pushing all the crowd in to shut the door. It was that much crowded, and the children were all yelling. For us it was a different experience, so we had fun riding. But the unfortunate guys didn't realize that Japan had plenty of people fast on their hands, they were pickpockets. [Laughs] So this guy, next time, when he went on the subway, he tied his camera to the button, and nobody touched the camera.

TI: That's interesting. So why don't we come back, so you finished at Yokota, and then about then, were you discharged?

SO: Well, Yokota was being rebuilt, was built, so said, no furloughs, or everything's frozen. And then we were just like World War II, Nisei weren't allowed in the navy or air force. So they just had to... TDY, it's temporary duty. The detachment service means they're gonna borrow for long-term. But going with the 1st cavalry of TDY, temporary duty, for one week only. So we were with the detachment service, with the air force. And they borrowed us from the army. And then we stayed at the air base, and then we were assigned to do (interpreting) using Japanese workers. Every day, the Japanese workers would come into the field to work, and our job was to help them interpret. So that was our first assignment at the air base.

TI: So anything else about your military career that you want to talk about?

SO: Since the air base was being built, we couldn't get any leave. Leave is one-week leave. So the officers were nice enough to give us two three-day pass, so we were able to visit our relatives. So that's how we traveled.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.