Densho Digital Archive - Arthur Nishimoto Interview (denshovh-narthur-01-0009)

<Begin Segment 9>

AL: -- interview with Colonel Arthur Nishimoto on August 22, 2006, with Alisa Lynch and Kristen Luetkemeier. We were just talking about December 7th, and recollections or the reactions of your parents and grandparents. I wanted to ask you about that night, that first night of December 7th. What do you recall about that night after it got dark?

AN: Well, at first, I really couldn't sleep, because there were too many activities going on, all activities there. And that was mostly because I wasn't involved in it, but I know by radio broadcast, the wounded were coming in by the hundreds to the hospitals. So we kept our ears close to the radio all night long, what was going on.

AL: Were they able to deal with all the wounded?

AN: Were they what?

AL: Was there enough hospitals to care for all of the wounded?

AN: I guess there were as far as I know. Of course, they were overloaded at all the hospitals, downtown as well as the military.

AL: Could you see the flames from the Arizona burning?

AN: No. All I could see was the smoke, I didn't see the flames, they were too far away. But I know I could see mushrooms after mushrooms, yeah.

AL: Yeah, a friend of mine lived in Aiea Heights, and he said that he recalled, for like three nights, seeing the glow of the Arizona as it burned. What were the days after Pearl Harbor like, those first days and weeks?

AN: It was a chaotic, chaotic condition, of course. At that time, I used to work part-time for the radiogram station, I was a motorcycle rider with a little motorcycle group that we had. And so we all volunteered to carry messages for the government, and that's what we did. The radiograms were coming in fast, and so all of us motorcycle riders volunteered to do that.

AL: So who were you delivering the radiograms to?

AN: Well, whatever office they need to be addressed to, mostly government offices.

AL: What was the effect on the civilian population? I mean, I know martial law was declared eventually, but what, like your daily life, how did it change?

AN: Oh, it changed tremendously. We were restricted, obviously, and the worst thing that happened was that since we weren't prepared, there was a, shall we say, food shortage in the market, people went out and started buying things right off the shelf to, for their survival. And I think that was a great challenge, because most of the things were being shipped in, and so whatever they had at market, people went out and bought it, just cleaned out the market. So that was a challenge for many families.

AL: Did the schools close down?

AN: Yes, uh-huh, the schools closed down at... gee, I don't know. At the time, I wasn't interested. I was not going to school, so it shut down, I believe it shut down for a while at the start there.

AL: How long did it take for... I mean, I know there were a tremendous number of soldiers, sailors, who went over to Hawaii and embarked during the war. How long did it take before people got there to respond? You know, like the infusion of more sailors, more soldiers, more airmen?

AN: That I don't know. That I don't know. You know there were replacements from parts of the United States, I really don't know. I really don't know about the military buildup or anything like that. I'm sure there were, but I don't...