Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Genro Kashiwa Interview
Narrator: Genro Kashiwa
Interviewer: Brian Niiya
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: February 20, 2012
Densho ID: denshovh-kgenro-01-0010

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BN: Skipping ahead a little to, you went back to Italy in March of '45 and assigned, you mentioned you were assigned to the 92nd Division and then to Azzano. And can you talk about that and about Mt. Folgorito?

GK: Oh. Well, I don't quite remember, but it took us about two days to reach Azzano. And Azzano was on the mountain slope opposite from Folgorito. So they told us to stay hidden in our houses. And one morning, I think it was one o'clock in the morning, they told us, "Okay, we're going to go and attack." So we started from Azzano, and it just happened that that attack, 3rd Battalion went straight down and went straight up to Mt. Folgorito. 100th Battalion was on the left of 3rd Battalion, and they attacked. Mountain called Cerrita or something like that. And 2nd Battalion was on the right. They went straight down, came up, and then they turned right to attack the Germans. Well, 3rd Battalion went down, came up, and that's when L Company was the lead company. So we took all that morning, from the night we started to go down to the bottom, and came up at about seven o'clock the next morning to Mt. Folgorito. And the Germans didn't realize that we were gonna do that and come up in the back of them. So when they saw us in the back of them, they started to shoot. And 3rd Platoon was attacking to the right of us. 1st Platoon was attacking straight ahead for Folgorito. And I was watching this 3rd Platoon sergeant (Sgt. Sagimori), who was a platoon leader, crawling -- not crawling, but half bent and walking forward. And all of a sudden he got hit, and I was watching him. He just fell right down and was dead right there. And from our platoon, this sergeant Masami Kasadate, he was watching over a rock at the Germans, and he decided that he's gonna peer over the rock. And he put his head out, and boom, he got hit. But it went right through his eyes, I think, but he didn't die. And there was this medic named Feb Yokoi, and he was attached to 1st Platoon. He had to hold Kasadari in his lap, and he had to stay there for I don't know how long, many, many hours, until somebody brought up a stretcher. But I know that we couldn't help him, because we had to attack and capture the defense position on Mt. Folgorito. And that's when our platoon leader (Lt. Koizumi), because of all the crossfire, we couldn't advance. So he went back to company headquarters to get instructions on how, what we're gonna do. And while he was in company headquarters, he was the Lieutenant Koizumi, a mortar shell came down and burst nearby where he was. And he was wounded, and the runner named George Yasukawa was wounded. And Paul Matsumoto, he was wounded. And Paul used to be the carrier of the radio equipment. And they all survived, but I got word that they were wounded. So I'm in command, and all this crossfire.

I called the men back in to the mountainside where we wouldn't get the crossfire, and we were there, lined up. And then our objective was straight up, so I got the men lined up, and then I told them, "Okay, we're going to climb up this eighty degree slope. Ninety degrees is straight up, eighty degree slope. So about five of us started to climb. And when we climb, it's just like standing up, you know. We reached the top, we didn't know what it was up there. So when about three or four of us got to the top, I said, "Okay, let's go." So we stood up, we went forward. We didn't know what (was there) then we went a few steps forward, and we see this trench covered with boards and rocks on top. So about three of us put our rifles into the trench, and we all fired one clip, that's eight rounds. Well, the Germans all ran away and came out the mouth of the trench, and they went running down the hillside. Well, I was on the right (side), so I jumped down to the mouth of the trench and saw this machine gun, German machine gun, all set to fire. So I turned it around and fired at the Germans fleeing down the mountainside. Well, later on I found out that the German machine gun had the leaf sight up like this, and the front sight was a pole like this. And you're supposed to aim from the leaf to the front. And then here I was aiming from the leaf to the front of the barrel, (not the front sight), and that put the shots way overhead (of the fleeing enemy). And besides that, they were running downhill. So I shoot the whole belt of machine gun, nobody fell down. They kept on running. But that night, they counterattacked. So we set ourselves up.

But we couldn't go to investigate the cave, because the Germans on the other side were gonna shoot at us. So we had to wait until it was dark. So as soon as it got dark, I took two men and myself, went over to the cave. And I was on top of the cave with my rifle ready to shoot. And Joe Wakamatsu from Fife, Washington, he was a really reliable guy, so I used him. Said, "Let's go and find out what's in the cave." So I was on top of the cave and Joe Wakamatsu's going down, and then he asked the Germans over there, "How many in the cave?" I think he said three, I think. But he reported to me, three. I said, "Oh, have them come out." Only two came out. So I told Joe Wakamatsu, said, "Joe, turn around and fire into the cave." Well, he was turning around, and he pulled the trigger too fast, and that kicked him. He rolled down the mountain. And I thought somebody in the cave shot him. So I told the Germans to come out. This is the way I told my grandson the story. I said, "Comon zee." I was telling the story to my grandson, I said, "I told the Germans, 'Comon zee here with your hands up and your pants down.'" So my grandson remembers that story. He says, "Comon zee here with your hands up and your pants down."

But we captured the two Germans and came up to our trench, and then we had to take the prisoners down to the company headquarters. And there was a trail that came out from company headquarters to where we were. Well, it was a real small trail, and getting dark, they missed the trail. They had to go (all the way down to the bottom of) the valley. And what happened with the two prisoners and this... I think it was Joe Wakamatsu, and I think it was John Kanda, who became a doctor later, from Washington. I think he passed away. Anyway, they couldn't handle the prisoners, so I don't know what happened, if the prisoners attacked them or something, I think they shot at the prisoners because they tried to attack them. Well, here this Wakamatsu, he was one of the guys, he lost his balance and he rolled right down to the bottom of the steep hillside. And then somehow he started to come up. In the meantime, it got dark, and we got to the Germans and sent the Germans back. Well, in the trench on top of the hill, this Sergeant Roy Uyeno, second squad (leader), was guarding the rear end of the trench. And Sergeant Kishimoto, Kiyoshi Kishimoto was guarding the mouth of the trench. And like I said, I was in the middle, but I could only make a small opening to put my head out. I couldn't put my body out. So about two o'clock in the morning, I hear these rocks rolling down (in front of me). And I waited until the time when the rocks started rolling right (in front of) me. So when the rocks started rolling right (in front of) me, I yelled out. I said, "Roy," Roy Uyeno, he was on guard, I said, "turn around and fire to the rear." Well, I thought Roy Uyeno was facing the other way (so he had to) turn around and fire at this German coming up. Well, he was facing (towards me) to where we were. So I said, "Roy, fire to the rear," he turned around and fired. Just then, Wakamatsu came up. He said, "Hey don't fire at me." That was a comedy of errors.

BN: And you thought that Wakamatsu had been shot.

GK: Yeah. He rolled down. And he came up. And when he came up, I scolded the Germans, I said, "You killed my friend," and all that. And Joe came up and he says, "Kashiwa, I'm okay." And after that, he rolled down again when we were taking the Germans down. But I had to use him because he was really reliable. That's why I asked you, "Where are you gonna take this thing?" Because he was from Fife, Washington. And there was another guy from Bainbridge, I think, Washington, and I think it was this guy Kanda.

BN: I'm sure they all know them. Is he related to the Wakamatsu who played, who was the manager of, baseball player, played major league baseball?

GK: No, not that one.

BN: Not that one. They're from up there.

GK: Wakamatsu? He's from Fife.

BN: Uh-huh, Fife.

GK: In fact, I brought over this thing. Just to... when I heard that somebody from Seattle, you know, I wanted to make sure that Wakamatsu was mentioned, and I want to give you his army serial number. My job during the war was platoon guide. And platoon guide had to keep track of the men in the company, so I made this list. And Wakamatsu, Joseph Wakamatsu, 39913345. That's his serial number. And I wanted to make sure that you have that, because you said something about Seattle. That's him. See, all of us (from Hawaii had) 3010 serial number, but he's from the mainland, so 3991. But the interesting thing about this is that my duty to keep track of the roster for the 1st Platoon, and I crossed out those who got killed, and I added the names of those who came afterwards, joined us. Like... gee, I don't have it. But you know who finally joined us, 1st Platoon? I don't know whether it was 1st Platoon or he joined our Company L, Matsuo Takabuki and Stanley Watanabe. You see, they were left as cadre for the 1st Battalion. And they train all the recruits coming in. But just before the end of the war, they sent them to join the 442nd and they happened to be assigned to Company L. And that's how we got Matsuo Takabuki and Stanley Watanabe. And then we had lot of replacements starting with (3,991), all mainland. Yeah, they're all mainland.

BN: So you remained as a platoon guide throughout the...

GK: See, the platoon guide didn't have any squad. But he was second in command of the platoon, noncom. But I didn't have any men, so relieved me. But the platoon guide in the parade is the first to march. In the war, he's the last man. That's how I survived.

BN: But on a couple of occasions you ended up taking a leave because of...

GK: Oh. That was during the second time... no, no. Just before we left France, because all the people got injured and nobody but I became the command of the platoon.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.