Thomas Sakamoto oral history interview, June 3, 2001

In this video clip, Thomas Sakamoto talks about his parent's immigration to the United States, where they permanently settled in San Jose, California. As the eldest Nisei son, Thomas completed his middle school education in Kumamoto, Japan, where he…

Thomas Sakamoto talks about the wartime atmosphere in Japan prior to the outbreak of World War II. He returned to the United States in the 1930's, where worked on a farm and started a Kendo school. He was drafted into the army in February 1941 and…

In this video clip, Thomas Sakamoto talks about saying good-bye to his family before being shipped out for military service. He was shipped to Camp Savage in Minnesota to teach at the Military Intelligence Service Language School. He later decided to…

Thomas Sakamoto talks about his experience as a Military Intelligence Service linguist. His responsibilities were to translate captured Japanese documents and interrogated Japanese prisoners of war. He explains the conditions of jungle warfare in the…

Thomas Sakamoto talks about his experience witnessing the official surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri. He also talks about the time when he escorted the American press to the Hiroshima atomic bomb site. He believes that it is important to…

Thomas Sakamoto shares more personal photographs from his World War II military experience. The first two are from his time spent in Japan at the Lutheran Missionary School in Kyushu. He shares a photo album from the Military Intelligence Service…