<Begin Segment 11>

TI: So let's go back to Brisbane. And what did you do in Brisbane?

HU: We waited for MacArthur to get all the army he wants, all the equipment, to move north to New Guinea. The day came, we got on an airplane, and we landed in New Guinea. First thing they said, "You dig your foxhole anywhere you want. Make sure it's deep enough." I did. And we had the first christening that evening when we had the bombing. I tell you, it was scared. Next morning, we get up, looked around, the trees like this was just chopped off, you know. The anti-personnel bombs, when they hit, goes scattered all over. But after that, it didn't bother me very much. Oh, the others... but that's the way it was gonna be. And my mother-in-law gave me a Bible, so nothing to read, so I read Bible all the time. I must have read that Bible about three times, all the way up until I came home. And I safeguard that book.

TI: And so when you were in your foxhole sometimes, you would just have the Bible and you would read it while you were waiting?

HU: When I hear that warning, all I do is roll over into my foxhole and keep on reading. [Laughs] We had to make our life the way we see it. Sure, we go out and play poker, blackjack, so the money goes back and forth.

TI: So when you weren't in your foxhole, what kind of work did they have you do in New Guinea?

HU: We moved halfway up New Guinea, there was a great big compound of Japanese soldiers. And there, at least I was asked to strategic information. We asked the soldiers, "You got on a boat, what kind of boat?" "Where did you stop?" "What did you unload?" "Did you see anything defensive?" And some of this information would go to the Air Force, and that was their target. And I met different kind of soldiers, different personality. They were the most interesting experience in my life, meeting human being under stress. And to this day, I appreciate that experience, meeting people. I can just about tell by looking at the face, especially those soldiers, if this is something worthwhile, something I'm going to tell when I go back.

TI: And what, how would you know? I mean, you were trying to see whether or not they were telling the truth or a lie? Or what were you looking for?

HU: We had the background, what regiments were there. We knew who was the general of the officers, so we had pretty good information to start the interrogating.

TI: And so with that information, you could, you would find out quickly if that soldier knew anything?

HU: I can tell by the body language, "Is this guy going to be worthwhile talking to?" or tell him to go back to the compound.

TI: And can you describe what that body language looks like?

HU: That's the beginning of it. When you interrogate every day, you learn. I learned. There were some who said, "I'll never tell you nothing." There were some who were comical. Just like this young man, must have been about five, six, foot tall. I still remember his name, Takahashi. He was a comedian. Every time they stopped at port, he had to go and see a "comfort girl." I tell you, he had stories to tell. But there were, during the conversation, there were some good things I learned from him. Comedy was something else. Oh, he used to tell me how, one "comfort girl" to another, he was a character.

TI: But in between those stories, he would tell you, sort of, military information, and that was useful?

HU: Yeah. That caused, go to the headquarters.

TI: So I'm curious, did the Japanese soldiers, were they ever curious about you? Did they say, "You're Japanese, why are you working for the U.S. Army?"

HU: There were elements of that, which I used. There were some who were standing in front of me, said, "I'll tell you nothing." And I looked at his face, I started telling him about my life, my personal life, being in America, I'm here, I think of my wife, I think of my brothers, I think of my parents. It just started to sink in, and he realized how his brother or sister or father... and I can see his face changing, he wants to tell me. That's how we used to have fun. A human being.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.