Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Spady Koyama Interview I
Narrator: Spady Koyama
Interviewers: Tom Ikeda (primary), James Arima (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: March 23, 1998
Densho ID: denshovh-kspady-01-0018

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TI: So after you told us the story about volunteering and, and going to selective service. So after you were sworn in, why don't you talk about what your experience with the army was at that point?

SK: In what area?

TI: Okay, I guess you went -- from there you went to basic training and, why don't you talk about basic training. I guess what I'm looking for is how did you go from basic training to the MIS?

SK: Oh yes. Yes. I was, I was taking infantry basic training in California and one day a Caucasian officer came around to interview some of us Nisei soldiers and when my turn came, I knocked on the door. He said, "Come in." I walked in and stopped and stood at attention and saluted and then he motioned me to a chair and I sat down and then he came up to me and I noticed that he had a big thick book that he was rifling through, looking at various pages and I concluded that he was looking for something. All I could see was just words. No pictures of any kind. And he seemed satisfied. Closed it and he hands it to me and naturally it's upside down for me. So I quickly turn it over and he smiled when I did that. He said, "Very good," or words to the effect. He said, "You qualify, go to the language school." And he said, "Call the next man in," which I did. And so I thought when the orders came not too many days after to get ready to move out, I thought I was going to that language school, which in the meantime had been moved from California to the state of Minnesota, right outside Minneapolis. And when I got on the truck and I was driven down to the railroad station and got off. I noticed about (seven) other Orientals. And I thought, "Well they can't be all be going to the same school I'm going to. Some of them don't look too bright." And then, just then, a long train came in, shutters pulled down and an MP jumped off and, and told us to get on. So we got on board that train and lo and behold. Everybody on board was a Nisei soldier already in uniform and some of them have stripes, indicating that they were old time veterans. And then the train start pulling out and it wouldn't stop until it hit Oklahoma and by that time some of the soldiers were getting nervous and in fact one fella said, "You don't suppose this train is going to stop in the middle of nowhere and we're ordered to get off and we face a, a bunch of machine guns pointing at us?" Others said nothin' doing, this is the U.S. of A. We're in uniform and about that time some names were called off and to the relief of the rest of us, some of the fellas got off. And when the train finally hit Little Rock, Arkansas, my name was called off and I wound up at Little Rock, Arkansas, Camp Joseph T. Robinson to finish my basic training. And there, the same Caucasian officer shows up and when my turn came to be interviewed, he said, "Koyama, seems to me I interviewed a fellow with that name." I said, "You interviewed me sir, back in California." And he said, "What are you doing here?" I said, "Just following orders Sir. Here I am to finish my training here." And he said, "Well you're still going, going to the school, I think you'll be in time." And he wrote something down. So when my orders came for transfer out of Arkansas, I thought I was headed for Minnesota.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.