<Begin Segment 9>

I: Speaking of reunions, the relationship to the Nisei veterans, the 442nd, and also from the Military Intelligence Service. When you go into Japantown, there's an immediate recognition of you being a veteran, being the visible, tangible heroes of a whole generation of Japanese, not only of the Issei, but the Nisei and the Sansei. Did you have that sense, when you go into the Japanese community, that you were the heroes of that generation, this regiment?

CT: No, no, that I don't know. [Laughs] No, I never had that, that never occurred to me. We do identify with the MIS. I don't know if the MIS identifies with us, they fought an entirely different war than the type that we did. But they fought the same enemy, the fanatic, militaristic enemy. They were Japanese over there, and we had the German militaristic group, and they were both fanatics. But the MIS group and, these were Japanese Americans who fought in the Pacific, and there were some eight thousand more as I understand it, and there were some eighteen thousand over in Europe. So overall, there were quite a number fighting on both fronts. We do have a very close connection, we really have... between the MIS and the 442nd and the 100th, there's a high regard for each other. The Sansei is the third generation. I think they really respect our military deeds, but they don't quite understand -- maybe they do -- but all I can say is that the Nisei group understand each other a little better because they had undergone this trial.

I: Are you the heroes of the community?

CT: We never think of it that way. We thought it was something that we had to do, and we did it, and when we get together, we just love to get together and talk about the good old days and some of the bad old days.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1980 The Center for Educational Telecommunications and Densho. All Rights Reserved.