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BN: I was going to ask, I think, whether it was in our conversation or another interview, that one of the things that happens in this kind of experience in Vietnam is that you also form really close bonds with some of the guys you're there with. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that.

NN: When you're in that situation, meaning that there's no pretenses or no need to have any types of fronts that you could... and then, plus, we're all away from home, and you could get in some pretty meaningful dialogues or conversations or form bonds that normally you wouldn't have if you're home. And it's not even a matter of trust, because actually, you're never going to see this person again. So I've met Marines from the Deep South, places where they would probably have lynched, have relatives that were involved in lynchings, and what their experience is like, something totally new also. Because, I mean, they're here in this situation now where white supremacy is no longer rolling. So they see the Black soldiers, like exerting their rights, exerting their voices and their power. And some of them would say, "When I get to know them as people, this would never happen back home." [Laughs] "What would never happen?" "You know, I'm not used to this kind of thing." And they're being honest. I mean, little tidbits like that, were more of a, getting people to know, kind of like that's part of their DNA. But it's probably a good thing that they experienced it.

BN: And then some of the stuff that you're seeing, are you... I guess, I know that you become more politicized later, but does the political dynamic of what's going on start to, I mean, does this experience sort of change the way you see the world?

NN: I think the only thing, like I used to question, it wasn't a deep philosophical thought, but if I have guard duty or line duty at night, and I'm on the perimeter, it's pitch black out there, look at the sky, and it was like something you've never seen before. There's the stars out there, and almost inches apart, but the whole sky is lit up, and they're kind of like, whoa. But I used to think sometimes about why am I... it was almost like why was I fortunate to be born on this side other than that side? Because I didn't give it too much thought, but shit like that'd never been in my mind before. But in terms of some deep systemic kinds of questions that, fortunately, that it didn't enter... I wasn't into that train of thought, or even to explore it at that time. And I think it was probably good, because I might have ended up in the brig or dead or whatever. But I do know that there was a Black Power movement going on right there in Vietnam, where they saw what was going on entirely different. I shouldn't say entirely different, but they saw different than other soldiers, which I respected and admired. And I couldn't be part of that because I'm not Black, but I understood. And it was almost like, you know what, I was a little bit envious, too, because, like I said, we come in individually, so when I came, entered, we called it when I entered "in country," we called, like, Vietnam, that I had no greetings, basically fending on my own. But when a Black soldier came in, I mean, there's a welcoming party. Like all the other brothers, "Hey, brother, where you from?" "You know so and so," or da-da-da, "You been over here?" There's all this commonality, but they were protective of each other, and they understood basically not only why they were there, but kind of like who's the oppressor.

BN: Did you ever run into any other Asian Americans through your whole tour?

NN: Yes. There was a brother from Azusa that I got tight with named Kawata. I never bothered to look him when I came back, but we got pretty close. In his experience, though, he was kind of, he grew up around whites in Azusa. And you know, he had some [inaudible] treated him, and we got along pretty well. There was the Kudo brothers, and they were twins, but I knew one of them was Joji and the other one was Kenji. And I knew Kenji, I mean, I knew Joji because he used to always be at the parties and the dances. So I knew Joji when I saw who I thought was Joji, I think it was riding, he was in a jeep or something, right? "Hey, Joji," he said, "No, Kenji." So we kind of talked. When we got back, we were both in the same veterans group, me and Kenji, and this other, one of the friends that was there when we all enlisted, name was Russell. I found out where he was at, and he was at this other base that was, I guess, close enough to me where if I could jump on a convoy, I could get over there and see him. So I took off on a convoy to go hang out with him one night, and then we kind of chopped it up a little bit.

So Russell was, Russell loved to get high, so they used to have them things they called darvon, and it was a painkiller. But the only thing, it was in a capsule, and they had some powder in there. It didn't do anything, but they had this little ball attached to the capsule, and that's the stuff that kills the pain. So he would get all these darvons and open up the capsule and he had all these little things over there. So said, "Hey, man, you want to get high?" "I don't do that shit right now." [Laughs] But I remember when I was visiting him, we got rocketed that night. And then Russell was kind of a scam artist, so I don't think he was in infantry, but he was out there in the bush. And when I saw Russell, he was in the rear now, and you ever see that series called Gunsmoke? Chester? He was limping worse than Chester. He was like a club foot, he was dragging that foot, and I'm going, "What happened, man?" So he's telling me he dropped some ammunition box on his foot, and so they had to bring him to the rear and they're talking about sending him home. So it got him out of the bush, and then I felt so bad for him, said, "Oh, man, you got to do something, man." So they sent him home, and this is jumping forward. So when I get home, he's already home now, because he got sent back. I go by Dorsey High to see who do I know on the Tigers, playing basketball, and I go in the gym, and I see Russell running full court. [Laughs] I said, "That's pretty slick, man." But he denies it. "They healed me, man." So what was I... what were we talking about?

BN: Oh, I was just asking you about if you encountered other Asian Americans?

NN: Oh, yeah, yeah, okay.

BN: And then he said you were there seven months, was it?

NN: Seven months.

BN: So are you counting down the days?

NN: Oh, yeah, they have what they call short time calendars. And it's like paint by the numbers. So it's a picture of something, but every day, from fifty or a hundred, you start crossing off the days until you get to your day where you get to, they used to call it "go back to the world," they call it going back to America "the world."

BN: And then is there a celebration?

NN: Oh, you know, we just go back to that little hooch kind of thing, then I think the going away song that was the theme was "People Get Ready," by the Millers Brothers. "People get ready, there's a train a-comin'."

BN: The Impressionists.

NN: Yeah, yeah, they did that, too. So we'd do that and we drank it up and pack your bag and you're on the bird the next day.

BN: Do you know the dates, what year you were there?

NN: I was there from... let's see, I enlisted in '68, so probably March of '68. So I think I was there at the end of '68 to '69, that was thirteen months.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.