<Begin Segment 26>

BK: So then when did Mits join the army?

JT: I think that was in August of 19... oh see, that was 1944, I think it was. He was among one of the few, well the first selective service fellows that was called up for service.

BK: He was drafted?

JT: He was drafted, uh-huh. He was thinking of volunteering, but then he figured, oh heck, he would just wait 'til he got drafted, which was right after he got out of school, of course, high school. He was not quite almost eighteen then. So he would be eighteen in October so school gets out in June or so, so he was drafted almost immediately. And he was in Fort Shelby, Camp Shelby, I mean, for his basic training, he went there for his basic training.

BK: And where is that?

JT: That's in Mississippi and he said it was so hot. When it rained, it didn't just rain, it just came down in sheets. And so he got his basic training in Mississippi, Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Let's see... what else was I thinking?

BK: Because you had graduated at the beginning of 1944.

JT: Uh-huh.

BK: And he left...

JT: He left in, that's right -- oh, he graduated in '43, I'm sorry, 1943. I graduated in '44. So then he was inducted into the service soon after that, and I believe it was August, 1943. And so then he got six weeks or so of basic training, whatever it was, in Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Uh-huh, in Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

BK: So he was gone by the time you graduated in mid-term and then that's when all of your different work experiences started to occur.

JT: Uh-huh, that's right, exactly.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.