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MN: And so you returned to Camp Pendleton and, you mentioned earlier, you were not able to be in the same unit as Bob Madrid, and then you ended up in a tank unit. And you were given this choice of land or amphibious tank unit, and which one did you choose and why?

RW: Well, that was kind of comical and I think that I didn't do much for the Nisei because when we got assigned. When I got to what they call receiving barracks, I was there and then when we were outside in formation then they start reading names where you're going, and when they read my name and said, Wada, Supporting Arms Training Battalion, guy next to me says, "Oh shit, man, that's machine gun stuff." Then it all of a sudden dawned on me, whoa man, the shortest life in any combat is a machine gunner. They measure his life in seconds, not in hours or days. So I thought, well, I don't have any choice. Then when they took us, actually to the supporting arms, tank training school, they assigned me to tank school. Then they were interviewing each person individually and there were three officers, and each of us would go in there and they'd interview us. They start asking me, "Wada, you've been assigned to tank school. You have a choice of land or amphibious tanks." I said, "Sir, I don't want tanks. I'd like to get transferred over to my friend's unit at Camp Pendleton." So they said, well, we can't transfer you, 'cause they're a couple of weeks ahead of you in training. "You can only choose a land tank or amphibious tank." And so I says, "Well, Sir, isn't there some way I can just go somewhere else instead of tanks?" And then the one officer says, "Wada, what is it that you don't like about tanks?" And I said, "Sir, every movie I've ever seen I seen guys jumping out of the tanks just burning." And I said, "I think I'd rather die some other way, maybe with a bullet down my head." And they started laughing and they said, "Well, Wada, you'll find out this is not the John Wayne Marine Corps. These tanks are the best outfit in the corps," they said, "but you got to make a choice. We got to talk to these other guys. You got to make a choice." So I said, "Well, I guess I don't want amphibious tanks either 'cause I don't want to drown either." [Laughs] So at that point they must've thought, "Jesus, is this one of these guys that was from the 442nd?" And so then they gave me the land tanks, and I have to admit it turned out to be the best thing for me. I got to see action, but I was safe most of the time. I had a big tank to crawl under when we got shot at, and the infantry guys and Madrid and them didn't have that kind of protection.

MN: Now, at the same time you also apply for Naval Flight Training and you pass this rigid oral exam, and after you passed this exam what did the interviewing officer tell you?

RW: Well, when I was in tank school this one guy was saying, "I can't go training today. I'm going for an interview for flight training." And I said, "I didn't know you were a college graduate," and he says, "I'm not, but you can be a pilot if you have a GTC score," which is a general, it's like a IQ test, so if you had an IQ test over 120. The guy said you can apply. So then I start thinking to myself, I thought, wow, that's all you need? I remember now I had a score of 136, so it was quite a bit higher than the minimum to get into flight training so I applied. Then they gave me the same interview, and there were three real high ranking officers, so they were questioning me about why I wanted to be a pilot and things like that, and so I told 'em I took a navigation course in junior college, just told 'em things why I thought I wanted to be a pilot. So then finally they came up with a question and said, "Well, Wada, if we approve you and send you to Pensacola, Florida, you know you're gonna have two strikes against you when you go there because of your race?" So I said, "Yes, Sir," and they said, "Well, you still want to go?" And I said, "Sir, I played a lot of baseball, but I was never out 'til I had three strikes." They kind of chuckled and excused me from the room and called me back in, and they approved me. But when I took the final physical exam in Korea they flew me back to one of the airfields and I failed the test. My right eye was focused a little lower than my left, and that doctor really tried to get me approved, but he said he tried every way he could, but that's a defect that really affects landing on an aircraft carrier because the depth perception changes. And so he was sorry, but, and now over the years I've seen these planes landing on little tiny aircraft carriers in the ocean and I always think to myself, was I that stupid or that dumb in those days to want to be a pilot and land on one of those little aircraft carriers? It's mind boggling, but then, I guess when you're twenty years old you're not as smart as you are at eighty. [Laughs]

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.