<Begin Segment 1>

ME: So we are here all again on the 3rd of July, Friday, at the AJA Veterans' National Convention. And we're speaking with Kenneth Okuma, Henry Bruno Yamada, Terry Aratani --

TA: Right.

ME: And Fred Matsumura. Thanks for joining us, guys. Can you start by telling us how you all met each other? Why don't you go ahead and start, Kenneth, and tell me how you met these guys?

KO: When we landed in Camp Shelby, we were assigned to Company I. And I had not known anyone -- oh, no none of these people. So all strangers to me. And during the course of our training, we got to know each other. But I see that we are in different platoons. I'm the 3rd Platoon. These three are other platoons. So actually, by living and training, I got to know a few of them.

ME: Bruno, do you have any particularly interesting stories about the other three?

HY: Yeah, like he say, we all from different platoon, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Platoon. I don't know if you folks did it that way, chosen by platoon or what. But, but I didn't know any of 'em.

ME: You didn't know any of these guys at Shelby?

HY: No.

ME: No? So --

HY: Until we started (our basic) training.

ME: Uh-huh.

HY: Yeah.

ME: No humorous stories to start things off with?

TA: Nothing.

KO: Yeah. About each other? Oh.

ME: Yeah, about each other. No?

KO: No. [Inaudible]

TA: We all good guys, so no, there's nothing bad about --

ME. Ah, okay. Okay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.