Densho Digital Archive - Gus Tanaka Interview (denshovh-tgus-01-0006)

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LT: So by late fall of 1942, you had gained clearance to attend college. And because you were not able to attend the University of Minnesota, because of the air force pilot project, you went to another college.

GT: Yes. That was Haverford College. It's a unique college. It was established shortly after the Civil War by a group of Quakers, and the Quakers have a moral position in regard to shooting fellow men in military combat. And while they had no objection to serving in the army or navy, whatever, as long as they did not, were not placed in a position where they would shoot and kill another human, they had no objection to people serving. Actually, during World War II, they did not come down too hard on the fellows who took part in the shooting aspect of the war, but they continued to remind them that it's a sin. When I was... of course, when the war, in time the war ended, and I was sent to Japan, that was actually academic.

LT: And actually, I think I'll ask you about that later, if that's okay.

GT: Yeah.

LT: On August 3, 1941, when you turned eighteen, you registered for the draft as a requirement of an American citizen, and you were classified 4-C. What did that mean, and how did you feel about that?

GT: Well, because it clearly said we were "enemy aliens" and we were not aliens. And they had much to do to try to prove that we were enemies by intent, but it was a poorly worded designation. And when I was so classified, I was bent out of shape. I was angry and so forth. I was an American citizen, and I should not be so designated. But it was explained that it was an awkward arrangement done in a hurry, you will not be treated entirely like an "enemy alien." And they said, "Look what's happening. You're applying to be able to attend the college back east. If you were truly an enemy alien, hell, you would not be released." That convinced me that this was an administrative awkwardly worded thing and I should not take personal offense at it.

LT: Well, two years later, in fact, when you were a junior at Haverford College, your status changed from "enemy alien" to 1-A.

GT: Yes.

LT: And you were ordered to report to the nearest army induction center during the summer of 1944. And you mentioned that you went to basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida, and you were the one Japanese American, the one Nisei, who took a series of tests and was assigned to the Army Specialized Training Unit, the (ASTP). What was the responsibility that you had with (ASTP)?

GT: I'm not familiar with those, that designation. But when I was... when I was in basic training, they would periodically pull me out of the field where we were training to be infantry soldiers, and they would pull me out and drag me into the headquarters section. And I would be asked to take some examinations, and they would not explain why, what this was for. I would say that there were about thirty other GIs from the camp that were there to take the same examination. Now -- and I was only Nisei in that bunch -- now, what they apparently did was they looked at the individuals' record and looked to see if they had a background that might be identified so that we might be able to serve in a country more effectively other just being assigned as an infantryman, and shoot to kill or be killed. And so they sent me to the University of Minnesota, which I thought was kind of odd because the army objected two years earlier because they didn't want any "Jap spies" on the campus. And there they were. And would you believe that when I got there, the army had just received a batch of, I think about three hundred of us assigned to this ASTP unit to study about Japan. And we were told that we would learn about their history, their industry, geography, everything you, they wanted us know about Japan and Japanese so that we could perhaps help them live a life other than preparing for war, which seemed to be Japan's only ambitions ever since the turn of the century.

And so anyway, we took these exams. These exams were in different fields. One time they called us in, they wanted to examine this world history. They wanted, another one about geography of the world, the types of government and so forth. And then was, but they would never tell us what it was all about. But we found that when they called me out, they said I'm going to the University of Minnesota, they said that I had taken a number of tests and I remember that. But they had thought that they would take advantage. And I was the only Nisei in that whole program at the University of Minnesota.

LT: And I understand that this was a two-year program. But, in fact, after the a-bombs ended the war in August 1945, the army closed that program, which was intended to support Japan. And you ended up working with the army of occupation in the 4th Infantry Regiment at Osaka Business School.

GT: Yeah.