<Begin Segment 30>

TI: Okay, so we're now in the third, the third hour, Joe. And so the way we ended on tape two was we were at Bruyeres right after, you were talking about a tank, a Tiger tank that shot right between you and someone else, that...

GS: Me and Friday.

TI: ...that ended up right behind you. So why don't you pick up the story now?

GS: After the, the Tiger tank shot at us, between us, me and Friday, it went uphill so the shrapnel was, all went forward. So we were able to get out of there all right, but the Tiger tank turned around and started heading back because somebody was coming down with a bazooka, fired at it, so he, so we got out of that area. So we had to travel, next, we had, going towards Belmont area, they called, and they had won this one hill, following the ridge, on top of that was, since I had -- before, I have to tell you that I found a tank that had, was blown up, the tracks were blown up. And then I crawled into the tank and I pulled out the Thompson submachine gun, took all the ammunition I could find, and I, 'cause another fellow, Shigematsu, on the other squad, had a Thompson submachine gun and I said, "That's what I need."

TI: So let's, talk about this a little bit. So this is a, so you got this from a U.S. Sherman tank that was already blown up.

GS: Blown up.

TI: And so whenever you saw something like this, would you kind of, like, look around to see what kind of things you could find?

GS: We wondered what happened to that tank, so we went and found this Thompson's submachine gun and took ammunition and the Thompson submachine gun.

TI: Because, because previously, you were carrying, what, a M-1 or something?

GS: Grand M-1.

TI: And so why, why would a Thompson's submachine gun be a better weapon?

GS: 'Cause mostly of your fighting was within 50 yards. But my rifle, I couldn't, like I said, during basic training, I couldn't hit the target, 'cause I used too much windage or too much elevation. So I wasn't sure with the rifle. But Shigematsu had a Thompson's submachine and he was, close range, and that's what I need. So I was able to, when I found this, that's what I took, threw the rifle away. And I carried all the ammunition I could carry, two in each, one in each pocket, three in the backpack, took the clips out, two clips taped together, went out and reversed it, thirty rounds in this one, thirty rounds in this one, so I had enough firepower.

TI: So you had, for each clip, about sixty rounds that you could fire off rapidly?

GS: Thirty, thirty rounds, sixty rounds all together. So when I fired it, but then it would go up, up like this, and that wasn't very good either if I didn't hit the target right, so I reversed it sideways. And I, if the target was in front of me I would start to the left, and to the right, went fine.

TI: Okay, so let me make sure I understand this. So just the machine gun, the torque, if you held it straight up, it would go up, but if you held it sideways, you'd use that same torque, as long as you started on the left side, it would just bring you across, okay.

GS: So that way I fired it this way, from my hips and fired back, so I had enough firepower.

<End Segment 30> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.