<Begin Segment 7>

BN: What other memories do you have of the basic training? Is there anything else you wanted to mention?

GK: Well, they made us to go on a thirty mile hike and things like that. I didn't appreciate that. But you see, L Company was that last rifle company, so we ended up (in an area) next to the swamp. (...) It was terrible.

BN: How were the assignments made?

GK: What?

BN: I mean, how did you end up getting assigned to L Company?

GK: L Company, I don't know. But within the company, it's all by alphabetical order. So I was in 1st Platoon.

BN: Were you aware of, while you're, even while you're training, the 100th was already in Europe. Were you aware of what's going on with the 100th Battalion?

GK: We heard about, while we were training, about the 100th, what they did at Cassino and Rapido River and all that. And one of the things that really struck me was the first to get killed in 100th was Joe Takata. And he was in our camp in Waialua. And the first to be killed in the 3rd Battalion was Fred Kameda, (of the) same camp. And first to be killed in L Company was a guy who used to live across the street from me. So all the first to be killed from the mill camp and our area.

BN: All from Waialua?

GK: That's nothing to be proud of, but that's how it happened.

BN: Joe Takata was also a star baseball...

GK: Joe Takata.

BN: Baseball player.

GK: Yeah. The Kameda family was (in) baseball, too.

BN: You mentioned -- now skipping forward a little bit -- that you were in Newport News, Virginia, in 1944, just prior to shipping out. And you mentioned that the group would get in fights with Caucasian groups every night.

GK: Oh, yes. I don't know, that's the nature of the Hawaii boys, I think. And then on the ship, nothing but gambling.

BN: And then you arrived in Naples?

GK: Yeah.

BN: How were you... what was the reception, or how did the locals receive you?

GK: I didn't get into contact with the locals, 'cause we only stayed in camp.

BN: Then I guess in June of '44 you met up with the 100th and saw your first (combat) action.

GK: Yeah. That I remember. We were in a battle close to Arno River, I think. And we were on the high ground, and we had to go down a hill to a low area where the 100th was stationed. And then we didn't know what war was. So we just took our time, walked down the hill, oh, the 100th boys really gave us hell. They knew that that place was under fire. They told us, "You darn fools."

BN: What happened after that?

GK: Oh, I don't know. It was, to me anyway, my rifle company was kind of calm. But we reached the Arno River and some boys had to cross, and some M Company boys crossed, and I think got killed, I think, shot. And I think the company commander got killed, too.

BN: Did you, in your recollection of this, you also wrote about an incident where you came across a peach orchard?

GK: Oh, yeah. I thought that was just like mango. You eat half ripe mango and it was real good, right? But that peach, you don't eat half ripe. All kind of runs and everything.

BN: You ended up hospitalized?

GK: Yeah.

BN: You mentioned also that after you rejoined the company, the Vada rest area, there was a truck explosion.

GK: Oh, yeah. That was a demonstration of mines, and they had a truck full of mines. And right after the class, we came back to our area, oh, the truck blew up. And gee, I don't know how many got killed at the time.

BN: But that was an accident. It wasn't a matter of...

GK: Yeah, accident.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.