James Oura oral history interview, October 23, 2005

Oura begins the interview talking about how his family came from Miyagi prefecture to Honolulu, Hawaii. His father came to work at the sugar plantation, where James and his siblings would grow up with very little money and food but surviving…

Oura continues his recollection of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the subtle discriminations that he felt. After this, he decided that he would volunteer for the Army without his parents knowing. However, he was told the quota was filled, but…

Oura discusses more about the discrimination he saw while in Mississippi and the struggles between the Hawaiian and mainland soldiers. He also talks about his captain that made a big difference in training them and readying them for battle. He and…

Oura talks about the various combat campaigns that he was involved with and the different experiences he had. He would first go through Belvedere, followed by Livorno-Leghorn and Rome-Arno where they would occupy various villages and do…

Oura discusses the Gothic Line battle and what it took to push out the German soldiers that were there to finish off the war. After this, they would be allowed to take passes to certain European cities, but if you had enough points, you could also…

Oura looks through a couple of pictures, including one of him from Camp Shelby and another from when a journalist had joined K company during the war.