<Begin Segment 26>

TI: And then I thought I would pick it up when you landed in France, in Marseilles.

GS: From there, Naples, then the 100th pulled back, 'cause once they got to Rome, they couldn't go into Rome because General Mark Clark went in. So they pulled back, and that's when we joined them as first replacements.

TI: Oh, so you joined then in, you joined them in Italy?

GS: Joined them in Italy.

TI: Okay, for some reason I thought you joined them in Marseilles. Okay, so you...

GS: In Naples, Italy.

TI: Okay.

GS: So then we took some more basic trainings, marching and rifle firing in Mussolini's ranch.

TI: So the question, right, so the question I have is, so when you first joined the 442nd, how did they place the replacements? Did they, like, form separate platoons, or did they put you in already established platoons?

GS: A, B and C, F, G and I, go ahead. S's, Sakato went with E Company, 3rd Platoon.

TI: And so when you went in there, how many --

GS: Alphabetical, different units went to different places.

TI: And so how many replacements, like, joined you in, say, E Company? I mean, how many other replacements went with you?

GS: Oh, there was Futamatas and Kanatani, there must have been twelve, about twelve of us, I guess. Our unit went to the 3rd Platoon, E Company.

TI: And when you... so 3rd Platoon, E Company, okay.

GS: And then some went to 1st Platoon, others went to, like my brother went to the 100th Battalion, he was in Baker Company, 100th Battalion.

TI: So the question I have is, you're really this first wave of replacements for them. I was curious how, how the others accepted you as replacements. I mean, was there kind of the old guys versus the new guys, or how did that, how did that work?

GS: Well, they, for a while they were, by ourselves more or less, 'cause all the recruits were together, but we were in this platoon, this squad. And then each squad we had so many men, so we got to, we finally got to know the guys in different platoons, each squad. Since I knew a little pidgin English, then I was accepted, Buddhahead and not a kotonk.

TI: Okay. So the, so the replacement guys, you're saying, kind of, they were their own little group within the platoon initially, because that's, you were different. How did you guys feel? I mean, were you, because at this point, the 442 had gone through some heavy fighting.

GS: Oh, yeah.

TI: And they were pretty experienced. I mean, how were you feeling at this point?

GS: Well, I, myself, I got together, like Futamata from Pueblo, Colorado, he was kind of quiet. But even during basic training, he used to go out and he would take out notes, you know. So I'm half asleep in the lectures and so I would go back to camp, "What was the sergeant talking about today?" So he would bring out this, this and that. I was a goof off for the whole damn thing, but I, I must have been a good talker, I guess.

TI: Well, that's what I was going to say, because you said even in this case you were kind of the ambassador. I mean, you went out there and talked pidgin with these guys and got to know them, and probably helped integrate the replacements with the rest of the men. So I think that's your gift. So far -- I've been searching, Joe, but I think I found it. I think your gift is you're a good talker. You are able to put people at ease and make these connections, these friendships with people. And so what was your role in your platoon?

GS: I was just a private. The squad leaders was Kozu Nakata from Hawaii, and then other Hawaiians within, and then I was part of that group, and then 2nd Squad had another bunch of Hawaiians. And one of, couple of the other guys with them, but then that, when the whole platoon got together, usually the freshmen recruits, they didn't talk pidgin English. So they more or less just sat by themselves or sat with the other guy, another recruit, and they would talk together 'til I was able to tell them to come get together. So sometimes they would, they had a ukulele, Tachibana was a, he had a, always carried a ukulele in his pack, and he would strum songs and we would sing songs, and then it was Maui, Okumura from Maui, and he always used to sing Oklahoma Kid, he was from Oklahoma and he would sing that song, and somebody else would sing, and the Hawaiians, Hawaiian music and then he would, one of the guys would get up and do the hula and stuff like that. So we, we all got together real good. But like Futamata, they were kind of quiet, so they didn't quite join in much, but then they were still with us.

TI: But it sounds like you tried to include them, you tried to make them feel like part of the whole group.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.