Densho Digital Archive - Roy Matsumoto Interview (denshovh-mroy

<Begin Segment 7>

JD: Let's go back to Marauders and the fourteen Nisei and your experience getting to know those people. It sounded like you knew Grant and you knew Henry at the beginning of that, but how did you all work together and how did you become part of the different combat teams?

RM: Well, at first, as I told you before, they put us in segregated, separate from other people. All fourteen Nisei together, and put 'em in staterooms, big staterooms. So we were lucky because not in the hole, we could see the ocean and view. But anyway, we didn't have anything to do, so played card games and things like that, get to know each other. Then I played, too, 'cause they called me Unconscious. See, I had a hand there, but I mean, I don't bet big, so suck them in because they think they'll win. Then end up with me winning, so Unconscious they'd call me. I didn't talk much, but anyway, the one, like Gosho, same class next to me. And he didn't tell me, but I think he's the one responsible for me get in there. I know I'm qualified, but probably they knew I was qualified, too, that's why maybe picked up. But without interview, I was surprised I was a member. Anyway, see, I didn't talk too much to Gosho.

But anyway, when we first got there, down there, made Hawaiian boys was a team leader, 'cause he's already a regular soldier, he's a tech sergeant already. Anyway, what they did was, they picked Miyazaki and Akiji Yoshimura as Merrill's assistants, so made him their interpreter, assigned to him, too. That's the picture, the three soldiers, Merrill and Akiji, Miyazaki and Yoshimura. And the others assigned to company first, then each different rifle company, Company F or Company C. But all of a sudden, they change around and what it did was regular army, they have, regiment has a battalion, and three battalions. But they did it British way, they divided battalion into two combat teams. Then they decided to put two Nisei to each combat team. What they did was they pair one that's strong in Japanese and one is strong in English. The Kibeis is strong in Japanese, then non-Kibeis, Nisei, were stronger in English because went to English school, and the other was Japanese school. So pair up so that they could... one understand Japanese, then their English strong, would make a good report, translation. So I end up in the 2nd Battalion, and Gosho end up in 3rd Battalion, and Grant ended up 1st Battalion. Those are top three. I didn't say I'm the top, but anyway, section 2, high as 3. Rest of 'em down there, 6 or 15 or something like that, lower classes. But then they're soldiers, so put together, and they had... so two Kibeis in 2nd Battalion, it's me and... let's see, I got a list here. Sugeta, Ben Sugeta, then Roy Nakata, Bob Honda is Hawaii, see. Two Hawaiian boys, two mainland boys, so each battalion same way. Two Hawaiians, two battalions. But anyway, right now, Hank Gosho is gone, and top two, Grant and Roy, myself. And in Hawaii, Howard Furumoto and Tom Tsubota is only left. The rest of them are deceased now.

JD: Tell us a little bit about the work that you did as these translators and interpreters. That part is very interesting. When you were in Burma, what were you actually doing and how were you helping the battalion?

RM: Well, in Burma, I got involved with a lot of small things, but the two main things was a roadblock at the place called Walawbum, and the other one is called Nhpum Ga in Burma. The first one is, we arrived about 13th of February in Burma, and finally we started off, the 24th of February, got into real combat zone.

Off camera: Hold on a second. How did you get into Burma? How did you first get into Burma? Tell John, don't tell me.

JD: How did you get... you were training in India, how did you get to Burma?

RM: Oh, we got training in India, combat jungle training, and when you finished, this happened to be British camp first and then create our own camp there in [inaudible]. Well, we got on a train, and have to change the train so often because they have a regular gauge and narrow gauge train, so we had to stop and then transfer to other train, and finally get into Calcutta, then get on the ferry. And Brahmaputra River there go up to north toward the Himalaya, and end up in the ferry, two ferries, and then went to a place called Ledo. Then from there, hiked to Shingbwiyang. And, well, already, General Pick had a combat engineer and made a road there, they used bulldozer and grater and so forth. And reached to Shingbwiyang. But we didn't ride on the truck, already rode there. We hiked from Ledo to Shingbwiyang and took ten days, 110 miles, and on foot we got there. From there, we set up and separated battalion, go to different directions. Then we found the enemy were located at a place called Walawbum.