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gky: What kind of documents did you translate?

DO: Mostly diaries and company order, or something like that. But one important one was Japan's directory of heavy industry where the war-making part is, and this was in Hawai'i. It was assigned to about half dozen of us, and about half a dozen officers. We're supposed to translate these document as quickly as we can, so we worked long hours and whenever we find factory's location, we dot it on the map and it went to army command, I'm sure. But I don't know if they use it or not. But after the war, when we landed in Japan, they were flattened. The city was bombed with a fire bomb and all that. I don't know if they used the hard work of meticulous translating and indicating where the factories are.

gky: Well, because you're Kibei, you probably could read sosho pretty easily.

DO: Yes, uh-huh.

gky: Were there any diaries that you remember translating, any passages that were poignant to you or that you identified with, or that you saw, I guess, how human the Japanese were?

DO: No, I haven't had that much chance of doing diary because this heavy industry directory was two volume and it took, I don't how long. More than ten months straight, and about six or seven of us and another half a dozen officers. It was a big assignment, and I thought we were doing a good job.

gky: That's huge. Ten months. That's a lot. What do you think your greatest contribution was in the MIS in terms of all your translating? You didn't interrogate prisoners, did you?

DO: No.

gky: And, other than what you did with the civilians on Saipan, what do you think your greatest contribution was?

DO: I think to both sides, by serving loyally and doing our best, all the Nisei have done is one great thing of letting people in the United States know that we're Americans. And I'm so proud of these young guy that came out from camp, relocation center, concentration camp, to volunteer. And to even this day, I know my friend Harry [Akune] and Ken [Akune] and Chris Ishi, and many others that came, I saw them the first day they came into Camp Savage to our barrack. I still can't believe they have done it, because I think that's the most beautiful, noble act I have ever seen of any American. If I were in their shoe, I very much doubt I would have done it. I might have, but I doubt it.

gky: Yeah, that was pretty tough when you think that their parents were behind barbed wire and that they would volunteer.

DO: Yes. Even today, I think of these boys in the Fairfax Avenue where a lot of Jewish people are, just in case we went to war against Israel, how many would take up their guns to fight. Or my neighbors, many Mexicans American; what if we went to war with Mexico? I wonder if my neighbor would take up arms? I doubt it.

gky: Yeah, I hadn't really thought of it in those terms.

DO: So, this -- I think what we did at that time we may not feel like this much, but as I get older, I do realize it, because even when I got out of the hospital and went to art school and was working, there was a client came into our office and they were in the conference room, and after it was all over, they left and one of the guy that was in there, account executive, he said to me, "You know what happened in there?" I says, "No." The owner of the studio was asked if that man in front, meaning me, can be trusted. And this owner said to the client, "That little guy is more American than all of us in this room put together, and if you don't believe that, he doesn't want the job." And we got the job. And we did a good job for the company.

gky: How long after the war was that? What year was it after the war?

DO: Probably -- I was in the hospital for seven, so after that five more years.

gky: Twelve years?

DO: Probably twelve years after the war.

gky: Gee, doesn't that surprise you that twelve years after the war that attitude still existed?

DO: Yeah. And this company was a big company in Southern California, still there.

gky: Gee. Will you talk a little bit about being in the hospital, and the tuberculosis and how long you were laid up?

DO: I was -- after the, anyway, after I was discharges, I didn't know what to do and decided to go to art school and I wasn't feeling that healthy, sick most of the time and going to school, then I got kind of sick. So, I -- Japanese doctor checked me out and he says, "I think you got chest problem," you know. So in order to get well, since you are a veteran, the hospital should take care of it. And they took me to Long Beach Hospital, Naval Hospital. And, from there, they sent me to Arizona. And I stayed there for about seven years. But at that time I had surgery on my chest and my right side lung collapsed to get me well.

gky: Where did you get tuberculosis? Somewhere overseas?

DO: My service record claimed that I must have contacted overseas, because my case was far advanced, and must have happened in service because my disabilities are considered service connected.

[Interruption]

gky: This is tape two with Don Oka, O-K-A, in Los Angeles on the 14th of December, year 2000. You were talking about being in the hospital. Can you just -- what else was it like? You were flat on your back for seven years? That's so hard to believe.

DO: I went to veteran's hospital in Whipple, Arizona, and just laying on back. And I looked around; there were whole bunch of sick people there, and I couldn't believe some from World War II and all these people, and they are just getting care by the veterans. I was amazed how well they were treated. But being on the back that long, it was a learning period for me. Because when I was in the service, I was so naive. And if somebody asked me to stand, you know, at some islands, if they told us, I'd still be there. I mean, I didn't know what to do by myself, you know. The hospital was something else. They took care of me.

gky: You know, that gives you a lot of time to think...

DO: Yes.

gky: ...and think about the last few years, about being in the war, about -- what kinds of things did you think about?

DO: I thought about my younger brother. I thought about father, mom, and all the other brothers and what I could have done. But most of all, I didn't think I was going to come out. I was that sick. I think I was a hundred pounds. So had to start taking new medication. Streptomycin was just discovered and I was one of the guinea pig to take it, and I think it did help me. But later, doctor said I need surgery, so I had it. And that was a very tough thing for me because being only hundred pound. I remember after the surgery, the doctor came up and said -- usually doctor, you think of having fine hand and everything, this doctor was huge. He said, he stuck out two finger and said, "Let me see you grab my finger and squeeze." So I squeezed, and this side the rib was gone, so he want to make sure I have enough power on that. And I squeeze. "You're fine," he said to me. "I've done all I can for you. Now it's up to you and the man upstairs." That night, the next morning, the nurse came to me and said that, "We thought we lost you last night." You know, I was that sick. But, there's two of us in the room. There's another man from L.A., African American, and he had the same kind of surgery. But I was getting better faster, and one day the nurse said, "Would you mind holding his hand?" because they were giving him intravenous feeding, so I was holding his hand. She said she would be back in a minute. I was hold his hand and all of a sudden he held my hand real tight, and I didn't understand what for. And then he let go, and the nurse came back and I said, "Something wrong here." And the nurse checked him. This man died. Right there. I couldn't believe it. He's a young guy, healthy-looking guy, and here I'm a hundred pound weakling and survived.

gky: But I guess it must have been more poignant than some of the combat zones you were in.

DO: True, because he's also veteran, you know, and right there it happened. I couldn't believe it.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2000 Bridge Media and Densho. All Rights Reserved.