Densho Digital Repository
Katsugo Miho Collection
Title: Katsugo Miho Interview IV
Narrator: Katsugo Miho
Interviewers: Michiko Kodama Nishimoto (primary), Warren Nishimoto (secondary)
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: March 2, 2006
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1022-4-2

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MN: And so I'm going to jump a little bit and take you to Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. And I just wanted to find out from you, what were your thoughts on the Pearl Harbor attack at that time?

KM: Did I mention that we were getting ready to go to church? Well, trying to place the time in time... in what sense are you asking me? Before Perl Harbor happened or when Pearl Harbor happened?

MN: When Pearl Harbor happened, when you heard about the attack and realized that it was Japanese attacking...

KM: The radio announced that this was no maneuvers. The planes going over Pearl Harbor had round, red balls on the tip of the wings. And then shortly thereafter, the call came out that all University ROTC members were to report to the gym, which was just down the road, across the street from Atherton House where I was dorming. And so at the first opportune moment, after changing clothes, and I think we had to get into our khakis, the regular ROTC so-called uniform. And by nine o'clock, I had reported to the gym already. We were one of the first ones to get to the gym, it was an automatic reaction, radio call for ROTC students to report, and we reported.

And as soon as we got there, after a while there was somebody in charge, and they brought out all these old-fashioned rifles, which was thick Cosmoline, Cosmoline is a gooey, thick oil in which these guns were stored. And for most of the day, we spent getting these guns ready for, available for use. And later on in the evening, we were assigned to different squads. And as I said earlier, we spent the evening standing guard out in Iwilei. But thinking, there was very little time to think, actually, because we were so busy doing what... of course, we were anxious wondering, knowing what was going to happen, but by that time we were already mentally in the army. We were regimented already, to listen to, waiting for orders. And I think the ROTC are evidently, in that short time that I was there from September to December, had done a pretty good job of indoctrination, now that you think about it.

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