Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Fred Matsumura Interview
Narrator: Fred Matsumura
Interviewers: Tom Ikeda (primary), Beverly Kashino (secondary)
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: July 2, 1998
Densho ID: denshovh-mfred-01-0028

<Begin Segment 28>

TI: After France, you were then moved to Italy to break the Gothic line?

FM: Oh, yeah.

TI: So did, again, did you all, did you go with the unit, and were you still sort of in the stockade and -- the four of you? Is that how it...

FM: Yeah. We went back on the line again, then we were released. And we climbed a little -- the big, it's not a little mountain. As soon as it got dark, we start to climb that mountain. We climb all night. We can hardly see the guy in front of you. The engineers, or somebody... they, toilet paper. Here, here, and say, "Okay, just follow the trail of the toilet paper." Step by step, we take one step, tell the guy, "Okay, put your feet right next to mine." Put his feet here. And then we take another step, the guy in the front telling you, "Okay, put your feet here." Because one misstep, and you fall all the way down. In fact, one of the guys fell all the way, not all the way, but about half-way down.

TI: And if they fell, would they be injured then, or...

FM: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

TI: Because it was very steep.

FM: Uh-huh. In fact, he's here -- I don't know if he's here tonight, but one of them fell, and he got pretty well banged up.

BK: In I Company?

FM: I Company, yeah. And just about dawn again, now, we just about at the top of the mountain, all spread right around that ridge there. As soon as day break, we hit. And the Germans were so surprised to see us, they all coming up with their hands up like that.

TI: And this was a very strategic battle. I mean, you get a lot of publicity for the battle of "Lost Battalion." But the breaking of the Gothic line really broke this line. And after that moment, the Germans really went to a full retreat.

FM: Yeah. Because there was, from what I understand, there was a stalemate of six months there. They couldn't move.

TI: Oh. 'Cause my understanding was, when you were in Italy, you had crossed the, what, the Arno River?

FM: Um hm.

TI: And then you went to France. And then when you came back, the Americans were pushed back on the other side again of the...

FM: Oh, I don't know. Yeah.

TI: And then they had to, so they actually lost ground when you were in France, and then you guys came back. So that was good.

FM: Maybe, I don't know. I'm not too, what do you call? I don't pay too much attention to where we were, whatever, I just want to get there, and start, get going all the time.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.