<Begin Segment 22>

RP: And then you got drafted, and tell us about your military experience.

KO: Well, I was drafted and then they put me on hold because they knew the war in Europe wound down, they didn't need replacements. But they drafted me and I went down to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, infantry replacement. I was 4th Platoon, 115th Battalion, I remember that. Learning heavy weapons, machine guns, I was a machine gunner. Then the war ended the fifteenth week. So we all celebrated, Japan, and then the next day they said, "We would like you to volunteer to go to Fort Snelling to study military intelligence." I said, "No, Sir, I want to go the other way and see Europe." Next morning they cut the orders and I was on my way to study at Snelling.

RP: Back to Minneapolis. What was that like?

KO: Oh, it was very difficult because we weren't very proficient, none of us. You know, we studied English, English language, we didn't study, even Japanese school, after while it became a joke 'cause we should have been more serious. But I guess I knew enough, I didn't even take a test, they just stuck me in classes and I graduated, God knows how, but I did.

RP: You went through the whole program?

KO: Yes, six months.

RP: Some people kind of got half of it and then were sent over to, sent over to Japan. But you went through the whole program and graduated.

KO: Six months. I don't know whether it was half or not, but we were shipped over and I was classified a linguist.

RP: And when did you arrive in Japan?

KO: Japan? I'm trying to think. I was there fourteen months, I got out in November of '47. So go back fourteen months, so it wasn't too far after the war, too long after the war.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2007 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.