1 100 7 https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/b44e6705c821c1b8182161017cdedd1f.pdf 5481d049de03b0f4541b7f2738ae9831 PDF Text Text Go For Broke National Education Center Oral History Project Oral History Interview with Yukio Hibino, February 24, 2001, Gardena, California 153-Hibino-Yuke-1 INTERVIEWER: [00:00] It’s February 24, 2001. We’re here at the Holiday Inn in Gardena interviewing Yuke Hibino. Irene Tanaka is doing cataloguing, Karen Nakamatsu is doing sound, and Jason Inouye is on camera, and Richard Hawkins is asking questions. Okay, good afternoon, Yuke. Please tell us your name and when you were born. HIBINO: My name is Yuke Hibino. I was born December 5, 1920, in Berkeley, California. INTERVIEWER: Your mom and dad, their names and what they did for a living? HIBINO: My dad’s name was Junzo, and he was a custodian in a building in San Francisco. My mother’s name was Ito, and she had a part-time day job in Berkeley. INTERVIEWER: What did she do? HIBINO: Well, she was working in a home, doing housework. INTERVIEWER: How many brothers and sisters did you have? HIBINO: I have one brother, no sisters. INTERVIEWER: What’s your brother’s name? HIBINO: His name is Yosh, and he lives in Connecticut. INTERVIEWER: Is he younger or older? HIBINO: He’s an older brother. INTERVIEWER: You were born in Berkeley. [02:00] Your childhood, you grew up in Berkeley? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 1 of 34 �Yes. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Tell me about---did you live in Berkeley proper, or did you live around Berkeley? HIBINO: No, we lived close to the center of town. INTERVIEWER: Okay, what was the ethnic mix in your neighborhood? HIBINO: Well, it was mostly Caucasian, but there were a few Japanese families. As a matter of fact, there were about three of them right in our immediate neighborhood. But other than that, like I said, it was mostly Caucasian. INTERVIEWER: Did you associate much---or how much did you associate with the other Japanese American families? HIBINO: Well, let’s see, a lot of us went to the same church, and growing up, we played sports. And I guess we grew up as a typical Japanese family in Berkeley. INTERVIEWER: And what was a typical Japanese family in Berkeley like at that time? HIBINO: Well, most of them, a lot of them had mothers who worked like mine did, in a home. My nextdoor neighbor was---had quite a large [04:00] family. He was a barber, and the wife took in laundry. They had something like seven, eight kids, you know, a big family. But that was an unusual size, most were a lot smaller than that. But let’s see, there were families living several blocks away, I remember. But we all, the kids all went to the same schools, grammar schools, then junior high, and so forth. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the names of any of the other Japanese American families? HIBINO: Mm-hmm. Well, there was this family, one was Hurano. Hurano, and one was Sagemori, and one was, I think his name was Haratani. And another one was Higashi. Those are all that I remember. INTERVIEWER: You went to grammar school. In your classroom, were there other Japanese American students? HIBINO: No, not in mine. No, we were the only ones, me in my class and my brother in his class. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 2 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: Who was your best friend in grammar school? [06:00] HIBINO: My best friend in grammar school was this Caucasian boy, his name was Bill Miller. I went through grammar school and junior high with him. I think he was, he was my best friend. We were good friends, of course our Japanese friends were pretty close, too. One of them was Sagemori, Tom. He was killed in Italy. And also my barber’s younger boy also was in the 442nd, and he died in France. So in our small group, we had quite a percentage of casualties. INTERVIEWER: What kind of activities did you do as a young boy? HIBINO: Well, we had football, and all the sports like baseball, football, basketball. We’d play schools. INTERVIEWER: How often did you play these sports? HIBINO: Well, whenever they were in season, you know. Basketball in the winter, football in the fall, baseball in the summer and spring. INTERVIEWER: What was your fondest sport? HIBINO: Well, I suppose it was football. I liked most all sports. INTERVIEWER: Who was your favorite player at that time? HIBINO: Well, let’s see. I would say in baseball [08:00] it was Joe DiMaggio. He played in San Francisco before he went up to the big leagues. And, let’s see, there’s a few other names, but, you know, DiMaggio, the brothers, there were three of them playing baseball. Joe DiMaggio was a top player. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever get to see Joe DiMaggio play? HIBINO: Yes, I did, in San Francisco, when he played for the San Francisco Seals, I think that was the name. I guess it was like semi-pro, it wasn’t like the big leagues. It was a Pacific Coast league, what they have now. I think they still have a Pacific Coast league. That was way back in the ’20s and ’30s. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 3 of 34 �What did you want to be when you were growing up? HIBINO: I really didn’t have any goal, that was my problem, I guess. INTERVIEWER: Besides sports, was there anything else that you enjoyed doing? HIBINO: Not particularly, not growing up. INTERVIEWER: Growing up Japanese American in a predominantly Caucasian area, tell me what that was like, how you felt about that. Did you recognize differences in appearance? HIBINO: Well, as far as being treated, or interacting with the white kids, you know, we felt it was quite [10:00] normal, we didn’t feel any inferiority complex or whatever, because they treated us real well. We went to their families, you know, into their homes. I remember having lunch there and eating with the family on occasion. So it was quite normal, I would think. I didn’t run across any prejudice, like maybe other kids might have, living out here. INTERVIEWER: What difference would it be living out here versus growing up in Berkeley? HIBINO: Out here, well, let’s see, what would be---I guess there were more Japanese down here in Southern California. There’s not really---I don’t know, maybe they had---well, they had a big Japanese community, you know, J-Town, which we didn’t have in Berkeley. San Francisco had a smaller Japantown. Berkeley itself, we had the central Japantown, pretty well mostly residential, a few businesses, like my next-door barber. And we had a few auto mechanics and gardeners, [12:00] but that was about it. INTERVIEWER: How much time did you spend in Japanese school or studying anything particular to Japanese the homeland, or Japan the homeland? HIBINO: Well, we just, you know, we went to Japanese school after school, more or less because our parents wanted us to go. Most of us resisted quite a lot, but we went to satisfy them. Of course, I kind of wish I’d studied more, studied harder, because at the time we didn’t realize, you know, learning Japanese could have helped later on. Even at Japanese school, we enjoyed the other, just socializing with kids that we went to the regular school with, because they had to go too, forced to go learn Japanese. So we didn’t---I didn’t go very long, just a few years. INTERVIEWER: Did you have any social activities outside of junior high or high school, or grammar school, where you would celebrate your Japanese heritage? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 4 of 34 �HIBINO: Well, I remember they had---let’s see, the emperor’s birthday, every year the Japanese community would have a [14:00] big celebration. And, well, other than that, I can’t recall too many occasions of celebrating some Japanese occasion. INTERVIEWER: What kind of---for the celebration of the emperor’s birthday, what would they do to celebrate? HIBINO: I guess they must have given many speeches, you know. I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Of course they’d come up with this banzai, and it was very Japanese. INTERVIEWER: How did you feel about that? HIBINO: Well, at the time we didn’t join in too much with the celebration, you know. We were too young, we didn’t know much more. I guess our parents---at that time, I guess back in the ’20s, I think Japan and the United States had a fairly decent relationship, you know, but as the years went by, it got a little strained, to Pearl Harbor. But I think there was a time when Japanese customs and things were quite---the American public seemed to be interested in. So they got along quite well, the two countries, and as a [16:00] result, I guess the people felt more comfortable with the relationship. INTERVIEWER: How did you become aware that you were both American and Japanese? HIBINO: At that time when they were---most of us, I guess, had dual citizenship. But I think we were allowed, at one time, to get rid of our Japanese citizenship if we wanted to, if our parents wanted us to drop our Japanese citizenship. I remember just hearing about it. I was only, what, grammar school at that time, so I wasn’t too interested in it or involved in it. But our parents did drop our Japanese citizenship. Most of our friends, I think they did, I don’t think they carried dual citizenship, at least in Berkeley, anyway. Maybe other communities were pretty strong about keeping their Japanese citizenship. INTERVIEWER: What did you think about that? HIBINO: Well, I think the parents were beginning to realize that we were going to be living in the United States, so we should try to be more Americanized that way, although they still had their feelings for the old [18:00] country. INTERVIEWER: Were there any other ways that your parents wanted you to be more American? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 5 of 34 �My particular family, my particular experiences, I really can’t say they outwardly told us we should do things this way, the American way, and so forth. I suppose they just assumed we were being taught these things in school and we’ll absorb it, so to speak. So we felt quite comfortable. I did, anyway. INTERVIEWER: The phrase “being more American” or “being an American,” what does that mean? HIBINO: Well, not being more American, but just being---let’s see, hard to say being more American. I thought just being the way I was, it was American enough, you know, learning these things in school and playing around with the same kids. I don’t know, I can’t really articulate this part too well. INTERVIEWER: No problem. [20:00] What was your fondest memory of grammar school and junior high? HIBINO: My fondest memory? Just running around with the same kids that were in my class, my grade. Playing sports with them, on the picnics, and---I can’t really pinpoint, put my finger on any special experience. INTERVIEWER: What was high school like for you? HIBINO: Well, it was just---not much different from, say, junior high. Going to high school, I know it was a little tougher in some classes and subjects, but I think from there we kind of gravitated, I think, more to the Japanese friends of mine. We did more things as we grew older, you know, we seemed to kind of separate from the Caucasian. At least we [22:00] didn’t mingle as much as we did with our own---my group, anyway. Because I think those kids, Caucasian kids, had their interests, too. And we were living in, well, the friends I had, we were kind of the middle class, whereas some of the Caucasians were more living in upper-class areas, so maybe there was kind of a line there. We were kind of below the tracks, so to speak. INTERVIEWER: What happened to Bill Miller? HIBINO: Bill Miller, he graduated. After going to high school, we kind of drifted. He went more with his group. Like I say, we seemed to gravitate to our own ethnic group. But last I knew, he did go to college, I believe, but I kind of lost track of him. I did hear that he went to work for one of the oil companies in Arabia after high school, after college. INTERVIEWER: It’s interesting in high school, how groups began to separate more to their own kind, be it economic, ethnicity, I’m assuming religion. Talk to me a little bit [24:00] more about that, in the sense of not just the economics, middle class, but were there any other things you could point This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 6 of 34 �to, characteristics, events, anything that would help us understand why people began to separate one from the other? HIBINO: Well, I can’t say really why it was, but we did seem to go our own ways. Why that was, it might have been economic reason, mostly. You know, their parents probably were in jobs like---the better jobs, like in banking, where our folks were working as gardeners or housekeepers and so forth. It was a difference in economic status. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever get a chance to get out of Berkeley and travel into San Francisco or surrounding areas? HIBINO: Yes, I did go to San Francisco a lot, because our grandparents lived there. We either went over there or they came to Berkeley almost every weekend. So we did see quite a bit of San Francisco, it was a nice treat for us to go there, go to Golden Gate Park and different places in San Francisco. [26:00] And they liked to get away from the city too, so going to Berkeley was kind of nice for them. We lived in a---we rented a house, an old wooden house, but we had our little garden in the back, and it was kind of nice that way. In San Francisco, my parents lived and worked in this home of one of the---he was in---he was a bachelor, I think he was in banking, some kind of job. And they liked to get away from that setup once in a while, so they would come. And their daughter, my aunt, was going to UC Berkeley, so we saw quite a bit of her. My mother was born in Japan, but my aunt was born in, I think, Tennessee, of all places. INTERVIEWER: Where in Japan was your mom born? HIBINO: She was born in Yokohama. And my dad was born in Japan too, in Gifu. I’ve never been there. Been by there, last year when we took a tour to Japan. It’s the first time I’ve ever been to Japan. [28:00] It was interesting, I liked it. INTERVIEWER: Did you speak mostly English at home, or a mixture of Japanese and English? HIBINO: Well, it was a mixture, but mostly English, because our Japanese was pretty bad. But our parents understood enough of English so we were able to communicate after a fashion. INTERVIEWER: How happy were you with your childhood? HIBINO: Well, not exceptionally. I don’t think any---can I---I don’t see any especially exciting time. I had a very nondescript childhood, I think. I don’t really have anything that stands out, any particular experience. [29:09] This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 7 of 34 �END OF AUDIO FILE 1 BEGINNING OF TAPE TWO 153-Hibino-Yuke-2 INTERVIEWER: [00:00] Tell me a little bit about your grandparents coming from Japan, and your parents coming from Japan. HIBINO: My grandparents wound up in San Francisco and they lived in---they worked, actually, they worked for this bachelor. And they would occasionally come and visit us on weekends to Berkeley. They had---my grandparents had several children; a couple of them, I think, were in Japan. One was in the Japanese Army, he was in the Russian-Japanese war. My aunt, she was born over in Tennessee, though. The way she got out there, my grandparents, while in Japan, they were working for this naval officer who was stationed in Yokohama, and when his tour of duty was up, he went back home to Tennessee and he asked my grandparents if they would go live with him out there, take care of the house [02:00] as the housekeeper and gardener and all this other---butler for this naval officer and his family. So they said yes, and they went out to Tennessee, where my aunt was born. So it’s always kind of strange when they say they raised a daughter in Tennessee. But she did grow up in Tennessee. My parents, I think they just came over. I don’t recall the occasion for their moving to the United States, but I think it was a time when they could make a pretty good living in the United States, so that’s where they settled and decided to live in Berkeley. My mother was born---my mother and father were born in Japan, and my mother would be, I guess she would be an Issei. But my aunt was a Nisei, you know, a Nisei, and [04:00] she came back to live in San Francisco, where my grandparents settled down after leaving Tennessee. My aunt was of college age, and she first went to medical school, applied and got accepted in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. But after a couple of years there, she either got sick or something happened and she couldn’t finish her medical education, so she went back to Berkeley. I believe she went to school, went to UC Berkeley for a while. And that’s all with my parents and grandparents. INTERVIEWER: How did having your grandparents so close and seeing them so often influence you as a child, growing up? HIBINO: Well, I know we were considered quite fortunate to have them out there, especially in the way where they used to come across the bay to Berkeley. Usually they’d bring little presents or, you know, something that [06:00] they’d pass---give to my brother and me. And it would be so unusual that my friends around would, you know, they’d be quite envious of us getting all these things from them, and I don’t blame them, you know. Like I guess we were about the only ones who had grandparents who were within such short distance, and being able to see them so regularly. But I guess it kind of helped, you know, it was good, and nice for my parents to have them come over, and for them to be able to go over there and see them so regularly. And I remember seeing them, going over there, and very often going to Chinatown and having a Chinese dinner there, and spending a New Year’s celebration over there in their home. And then some years, they’d come over to our place at New Year’s, which was a big thing among This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 8 of 34 �Japanese. So it gave us, I guess you’d say a feeling of security to have our grandparents around, for my brother and me growing up. INTERVIEWER: Were you close [08:00] to your brother? HIBINO: Yes, I was, being he was the only sibling, you know. So yeah, there was only about a year and a half difference. Yeah, he was always looking---kind of looking after his younger brother. He was asked to by the parents to look after the young one. So we grew up fairly close, I’d say maybe more so than some families that have a lot of kids. I mean, I only had one brother, and I could show him all my attention, not three or four other kids. And he was a smart, he had all the education. He grew up, he---in his high school, he was valedictorian, which was pretty good in a high school that was 99 percent Caucasian. He had very great---good grades right up through junior high, high school, college. When the war broke out, he was able to leave the relocation center early to finish his education. He got his degree, bachelor’s [10:00] degree, in UC Berkeley, but he wanted to go beyond that, so he was able to go for his master’s degree in Texas, University of Texas, was where he wound up finishing his education. From there he went to work for this Japanese relocation---student relocation association, or commission, in Philadelphia. I think it was run by Quakers at the beginning. The Quakers were very good to the evacuees, they were very good. So from there he moved to---he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, he and his wife, who got married out there in Cambridge. And when they were fairly well settled, they called my parents out while they were spending all their time in Topaz. That’s where we all went to, the bay area. So they joined my brother and they were able to stay at this place in Boston, I think it was run by the Quakers also. And they stayed there [12:00] while I was in the service, until the end of the war. And they---when my---well, before the end of the war, my dad came down with cancer and he passed away while he was living out east, out in Boston. My mother remarried, and her and my stepfather moved out to Palo Alto, where my mother lived till she passed away herself at the age of 95. And my stepfather passed away before that. So anyway, all this time my brother and I lived back east. He moved to Connecticut, where he had a business, and also at 50 years of age he got his law degree. So he worked as an attorney for a while, until his---he retired. And he’s still there, and his family and all his kids are still there. I moved out here [14:00] just a few years ago. I have two daughters living in---one in Culver City and the other in South Pasadena. I have a son living in South Carolina, where he’s been working ever since he got transferred from his job in Massachusetts, after he got out of school. So we’ve kind of come full circle, I guess you’d say. We live in Gardena. INTERVIEWER: Tell me what year you graduated high school. HIBINO: Let’s see, that was ’38, I think, somewhere around there. INTERVIEWER: What were you looking to do for work after you graduated high school? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 9 of 34 �You know, I had nothing. That was my problem, I had no goal or any idea what I really wanted to do. Although at one time, I did see about---there was a school in Pennsylvania for horology, watch working. I don’t know if---I think it was in Pennsylvania, and I was interested, possibly, [16:00] in going into that. But I wound up going into engraving, which I thought was kind of associated with watch work. INTERVIEWER: What work did you do immediately after you graduated from high school? HIBINO: I worked, let’s see, I worked in a florist for a couple of years, but that was up till the time the evacuation, Pearl Harbor came. INTERVIEWER: Tell me where you were on December 7, 1941. HIBINO: Well, I just remember being at home, having the radio on, and hearing the news. Of course it was pretty unbelievable, and it didn’t sink in for a period of time. But anyway, I just remember being at home. INTERVIEWER: Your first reaction was it’s unbelievable. When did it, and how did it, become realer to you? HIBINO: Well, one of my good friends I went to school with, a Caucasian fellow, he joined the Navy right after high school, and he happened to be stationed on the [18:00] USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor right at the time. So he was one of the crew members that went down, and I heard about that. And around that time, I suppose, I must have---it was, you know, it was coming on as the real thing. I guess the reaction was like, some of these fellows who were in Hawaii, of course a lot of them---some of them, at least, were actually there when the bombs were dropped. They had a firsthand, you know, view, so they knew for sure that it was the real thing. We had kind of listened to the radio to hear about it, yeah. When I heard that he was killed in that, I think that was through my brother, because he was a good friend of his brother also. And that’s when it really kind of hit home. So I see his name---I’ve gone to Pearl Harbor a couple of times, I’ve seen [20:00] his name, I’ve seen his name on a plaque. INTERVIEWER: What’s his name? HIBINO: His name was Nye, Frank Nye. We used to play football together, too. INTERVIEWER: When you first went to the monument of the Arizona in Pearl Harbor, you saw his name? What did you feel? HIBINO: It kind of brought back memories of him. Well, I really don’t know. I can’t express. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 10 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: The first couple of weeks after December 7, what was your life like? Did you--HIBINO: Well, it was pretty hectic, for one thing. You didn’t know what was going to happen, really, you know, how our lives would be affected. And I saw some of my Caucasian friends, their reaction was, well, they didn’t really blame [22:00] us. But I suppose they felt quite a shock, you know. And the first impression, I suppose, that they---I think all these things that you see about the stores and store keepers, they were the ones who were really affected more than us, I suppose, those who had property. But we, as far as what happened or what we experienced right after Pearl Harbor, I suppose it was kind of fear, too, fear of the unknown, as far as what was in store for us. There was talk about repatriating all the Japanese, and being American citizens, we didn’t think they could do that, that that wasn’t reality. So I guess we had to see what was in store for us. Found out, of course, when they had the orders to evacuate us. INTERVIEWER: [24:00] When did you hear about Executive Order 9066? HIBINO: Oh, the order to evacuate us? You mean when? Well, I guess we got this notice, I don’t know how it was passed around. We were told that we had to assemble at a certain area, and I think before that they were giving us shots. I remember having to line up for shots. Then we had to get rid of our property, what little we had. We didn’t have our---buy our old house, we didn’t own it, we just rented it, so we didn’t have to go through that selling property or things, furnishings and all that. We did have a little furnishings. We were fortunate, in a way. Those who had property, farms, and businesses, they had it very hard. They---well, I can’t imagine how some of them must have felt, because we were in a different position altogether. So in a way, to the younger ones, [26:00] this evacuation was kind of an experience. Well, it was a real exciting experience, in a way, you know. I’m sure our parents didn’t feel that way. It was, to me anyway, it seemed like a kind of the unknown out there, we were young enough and foolish enough, I suppose. And it was kind of a---I don’t know what kind of experience you’d call it. Maybe it might not have been positive, but it was just an experience that I guess you’d never go through again. [27:08] END OF AUDIO FILE 2 BEGINNING OF TAPE THREE 153-Hibino-Yuke-3 INTERVIEWER: [00:00] Once you and your family---you were 22 years old when the order to evacuate came to you, correct? HIBINO: Let’s see, Pearl Harbor, ’41. Yeah, to evacuate, I would be 22. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 11 of 34 �Where’s the first place that they sent you? HIBINO: First place was the racetrack at Tanforan, below San Francisco. INTERVIEWER: Describe what you saw when first got to that racetrack. HIBINO: Well, we first got there by bus. They took us, I think it was around the grandstand area where we assembled, and they told us where we were going to be put for, I don’t recall how many months or how long a time. Anyway, my group, most of us had to go to the stalls, our living quarters were the horse stalls, because they hadn’t completed putting up barracks, they came up later. But we had to get our apartment number, I don’t remember what ours was, in this stall. And to---we all had to get our mattresses, straw-filled mattresses, that was to be our bedding. And [02:00] these stalls, oh god, they just put plywood, thin plywood, over what was underneath there, which was a lot of manure and horse droppings, anyway, you know. They did put plywood, but you can smell who was there before us. Yeah, it was kind of discouraging. I’m sure our parents were very sad about this, discouraged, angry, all the emotions. So that’s where we were. We tried to make the most of it. We stayed there, I think, I forgot how long. It was too long. But I think it was---was it in the fall when we got word to go out to Tanforan? But anyway, Tanforan---rather, when we found out we were going to go to supposedly a better place, they told us it was Utah, a place called Topaz. We had no idea where it was or what it was like, only that it was a kind of hot, dusty, desert-like area. That’s where we wound up eventually, after they moved us out of Tanforan. So Tanforan was just our assembly area. It was bad [04:00] enough. We were all glad to get out of there. INTERVIEWER: Let’s see, the first time you had been in such a large group, large number of Japanese Americans. Even under those conditions, what did you think and feel about being among such a large group of Japanese Americans? HIBINO: Well, it wasn’t too bad. I mean, to say we had a lot of kids in our group, age group, you know, all families. I guess we were too young to get the full impact of what was going on, so we just made do with what we had, by forming clubs. I think the kids had something to do and areas where we could play baseball and sports. But when we first went in there, I think the plumbing wasn’t complete, or it didn’t have separate stalls. I remember hearing women, especially, complain about---I don’t blame them, to be herded in a place like that. Privacy was totally gone at that time. That’s the worst part of it. INTERVIEWER: How did you travel from the [06:00] racetrack to Topaz? HIBINO: Well, they had a railroad line running alongside the racetrack. I don’t know what line, Southern Pacific or one of those. So it was just a short distance from our area, stall area, to get to where they were loading the evacuees. When we all eventually got onto the trains, they pulled the shades down so we wouldn’t be able to see where we were going, that was kind of crummy This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 12 of 34 �there. But that’s how we traveled from there, I think through the Sierra Nevadas out to this town called Delta, where Topaz was situated. INTERVIEWER: What’s your first impression of Topaz when you saw it? HIBINO: When we first got there, Delta, it just looked like nowhere, just this expanse of desert. I don’t think we could even see our barracks from the train depot there, at least I don’t recall seeing any barracks where we were going to eventually wind up. So from there, they took us by truck or bus to where the actual camp was. INTERVIEWER: Were there armed guards? HIBINO: That’s where we saw the guards, the barbed [08:00] wire, and the enclosure, which was to be our home for we didn’t know how long. It was pretty discouraging. But being young, I think, you know, I think we were lucky in that respect. We could kind of survive, or put up with a lot more than our older parents were. INTERVIEWER: How did your parents react? HIBINO: Well, they were kind of discouraged, I guess, pretty sad about some of the conditions. But they all kind of pitched in and did what they had to do to make the barracks half decent, livable. INTERVIEWER: How did you show feeling discouragement? Or what did you do with that feeling of discouragement? HIBINO: Well, I think the younger ones, like I say, you know, we could get around and check in with our friends, I guess, and kind of commiserating with them. We were all in the same boat, so we just had to get down and, well, we had to do what we had to do to make---because [10:00] we knew they weren’t going to do it for us. So we started getting organized. I think the mess---each unit area had a mess hall, laundry facilities, and these were pretty---at least they were in operation, not like Tanforan Assembly Center. INTERVIEWER: Where were your grandparents sent? HIBINO: Oh, they were sent to the same, Topaz, in a different block, because the San Francisco people went in a different area. We were in the bay, Oakland, East Bay group. So those barracks were--well, you’ve probably seen some of those. Have you seen the barracks, the part of it at JTown? Have you gone to the museum? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 13 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: Yes, I have. Tell me about them, though. HIBINO: Well, that’s what the barracks were like, just tarpaper. And you didn’t realize, you know, the dust, the regular dust storms that came across the whole area there. And of course the windows weren’t very tight, cracks in the walls, the ceilings. When the storm came you could see the dust, sand, simmering down, you know, coming down, then covering everything with sand. So that was pretty miserable, trying to live through [12:00] that, keep things from being totally covered over. INTERVIEWER: How did your---what did you do as far as work in camp? What were you assigned? HIBINO: Yeah, they did assign certain---depending on what you did before. So I guess professional people, they had a hospital operating, so a lot of them worked there, I suppose. Then there were others who might have had some carpentry background, and they were used for building different things, you know, for the camp. They had to do a lot of it themselves. They did have big piles of lumber, but unless you knew how to operate a saw and work with carpentry---a lot of the older Japanese, they were very handy that way, see, they could build things out of nothing. It really amazed me, and it amazed a lot of other people, too, to see some of the woodwork that they produced. But there were other things to do, like setting up the library. I don’t know where they got the books, but they did have books. And they tried to make life, you know, similar, [14:00] a livable area, condition. There was work to do, even construction, even digging trenches, I remember, for the water line, sewer line, and that was a pretty tough job. INTERVIEWER: What did you do for entertainment in camp? HIBINO: Well, let’s see. They---well, I was there---I wasn’t there too long. But they did have a community hall like, it was big enough for a basketball court, and I remember the kids were playing basketball. And I think they had some play---another---maybe it was the same, I guess it was the same building, where they had shows and I think, from what I hear, I don’t remember seeing any of it, because I was already out of camp, but things that they tried to make as normal as possible. INTERVIEWER: The questionnaire that you received--HIBINO: You know, I wasn’t---that was for the people in camp. By then I was already out, working with my uncle. INTERVIEWER: You were out working with your uncle? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 14 of 34 �Yeah. The people who were able to leave camp were those who had somebody sponsoring, say, sponsoring like my uncle was sponsored by this fur farmer. He had---he was raising foxes [16:00] and minks. In those days they were raising animals for fur. Of course nowadays you can’t do that. But he was sponsored by this fellow who had a fur farm, and he also wanted to do a little other truck farming besides. So my uncle had a little experience when he was living in Salinas in truck farming, so that’s---he went out, and he asked me if I’d like to join him, so I did. And I went with him and I lived with this person who sponsored us. He set up a place over the shed of his operation, where he’d bring the animals, some of the animals, after they had been executed. He’d bring them to the shed and skin them for fur. And that’s what I did a little bit of. It wasn’t too--I don’t think I can do that anymore. INTERVIEWER: Were you drafted or did you join the Army? HIBINO: I enlisted. INTERVIEWER: When? HIBINO: Oh, about March of that year, ’43. But by the time I was called, it was August. INTERVIEWER: What had you heard about Japanese Americans in the armed forces [18:00] during that time? HIBINO: Well, I knew they weren’t taking them until they formed the unit in Shelby. But up till then, regardless of, you know, your education or anything, they wouldn’t let you go into choice of service. I’m sure a lot would have liked to have gone in the Air Force or any other service but the Army. INTERVIEWER: When did you---you got called in August of ’43. When did you start your training? HIBINO: Oh, just about a little after I was inducted. I was---I went through Fort Douglas, Utah. Then my training, I originally went into this what they call rookie school, you know, when we go through basic training. So that’s when I went and took my basic in the infantry. I was assigned to B Company, I remember, with a bunch of other rookies, guys, friends of mine, some of them that I knew before. A couple of them enlisted, volunteered a little before I did. That’s where I had all my basic, was in the infantry. INTERVIEWER: [20:00] What did you think and/or feel when you were inducted, swearing allegiance to the Army while your grandparents and parents were in Topaz? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 15 of 34 �Well, I thought---like my parents, I figured it would be a way for them to---I had a feeling they wouldn’t be leaving camp to live outside, you know. I felt that if they had somebody in the service, may think a little more easy for them because they’d be among the Caucasian families, where they’d have at least one person in the service, because I’d seen many---when I was in Utah, you’d see these flags in the windows with stars, hopefully not gold, blue were the stars they had. Well, I think they felt more comfortable having somebody in the service. My brother was, he was rejected for some little, I think his---anyway, he was---I was glad he wasn’t in the service, he was able to finish his education and go out east and at least look after my parents while they [22:00] were out there. Well, you know, there’s this question about why did you enlist and all of this. I thought it was, you know, at that time, you’ve got to understand that a lot of people, even my daughter questioned me, you know, after the parents are put in the camps and lose your property and all that, why would you enlist? Well, at that time I thought it was the thing to do. In my case, I’m glad I did. But those who didn’t want to, it was their decision, so I don’t begrudge them that. INTERVIEWER: You did your basic training at what camp? HIBINO: Shelby. That’s the only camp that they took us, you know, when they opened up, when the service took us, the Army. INTERVIEWER: What was basic training like for you? HIBINO: Well, it was tough, in a way, but I had ROTC at Cal, so I had an idea what it was---it’s nothing like the real thing, though, I mean real basic training. You never had to take a 25-mile hike. [24:00] If you do any bayonet drill, it’s all on paper, you know. I don’t know if you’ve---did you ever go in? INTERVIEWER: No. HIBINO: Well, we all had to take that, ROTC. It was just a joke then, before the war, you know. So it was totally different once you’re in the service, and you have to go through---go to maneuvers and all that. INTERVIEWER: Did you have enough and the correct kind of equipment with which to learn? HIBINO: Yes. When I went there, they had all the equipment. I think prior to that, before that, I remember hearing about the lack of real ammunition and guns and all that. You had to put up phony cardboard tanks and stuff like that. [Laughs] But I, yeah, I was---I had this BAR, you know, Browning automatic rifle, I was one of the BAR member. But that was a heavy gun to lug around. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 16 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: Once you completed basic training, where did you go for further schooling, or where were you assigned? HIBINO: Well, after basic, some of the fellows in the unit, most of them, [26:00] as a matter of fact, were dispersed into the other companies. Some of us were left behind, I was one of them. But I remember seeing---going to other companies in our regiment. And then later on, they’re---after basic, or even during basic, they were asking, calling for replacements for the 100th Battalion because they were getting such big casualties over in Italy. So some of our group were assigned to the 100th. That still left me and another fellow, we were still wondering how come we were still not assigned to any other group. And that’s when, I think I mentioned, when I was, me and this other fellow were transferred to the artillery at that time. INTERVIEWER: Did you leave immediately to join the artillery unit? HIBINO: Yeah, right after we were just hanging around the barracks, just this fellow and me, without any idea where we were going to be assigned. And then we got word, somebody came over and told us to pack up because we were going across the road where the artillery was training. That’s how I found out I was transferred, this other fellow and me. At that time, I didn’t realize how lucky [28:00] I was. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to be transferred out--INTERVIEWER: Why lucky? HIBINO: ---from the infantry and artillery, because at least, I heard anyway, that we don’t do much walking, no marching. Always on a truck. Wherever we go, we’ll be transported by truck, so--and besides other reasons, like you’re pretty well behind the hill. The infantry is up there. The only possibilities if, of course, there’s a breakthrough, like it happened in the Ardennes, when they were overrun by the Germans in that winter offensive there. Then you may be in peril. But other than that, it isn’t too bad. Artillery is fairly safe. [29:13] I’ll admit it’s easier than infantry. END OF AUDIO FILE 3 BEGINNING OF TAPE FOUR 153-Hibino-Yuke-4 INTERVIEWER: [00:00] You were trained as an infantryman, then you were assigned to artillery. What training did you have to perform as an artillery---in an artillery unit? HIBINO: Well, I had no training in artillery at all, so it was such a---it came on so quick there. So all my experience with the artillery, I had to do it by learning on the job, so to speak, on-the-job training. So eventually I was assigned to a gun crew and spent all my time in the artillery in that position. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 17 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: When did you first arrive in Europe? HIBINO: Well, we left the States in, I think it was April, something like that. I think it was April or May, and 22 days later we wound up in Bari, Italy, and that was our port of debarkation. INTERVIEWER: What mode of transportation did you use to get to Europe? HIBINO: Well, we were in a convoy, a large convoy going across the Atlantic. And the reason we took so long to get across was because we had to---instead of going in a straight line, we had to [02:00] zigzag to avoid submarines, so I was told. So we---after 22 days, we wound up in Bari. The harbor itself was---had masts sticking up all over. The Germans had just sunk---they sank a whole bunch of Allied ships in the harbor there. We were lucky we came later on. But that’s where we landed, in Bari. INTERVIEWER: How was the crossing, weather-wise, comfort levels, knowledge about U-boats might attack you, might not? HIBINO: Well, the weather was all right, we were lucky we didn’t hit any storms. But I myself got seasick just in the harbor the day before I shipped out, left there. Yeah, you see all these other people around you there, you know, so that’s what got me going, too. But that’s the only time I got seasick. But there were some people, from what I heard, they were in the hammock there through the whole trip, got real sick. INTERVIEWER: What was the sleeping quarters like? Describe them. HIBINO: In the ship, the liberty ship, all I noticed, there were hammocks, I don’t know how many, three in a row, something like that. I don’t know for sure, but that’s how we were, assigned a hammock. INTERVIEWER: Did you get topside ever? HIBINO: Let’s see, [04:00] I don’t recall, not while we were going. I don’t recall going above, at least I don’t myself. INTERVIEWER: When you arrived in Italy, in port, you mentioned seeing masts sticking up out of the water. What else did you see that would explain the ravages of war? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 18 of 34 �Well, it’s---I don’t recall seeing---well, I can’t say for sure, but they must have had buildings on wharfs, on the wharfs that got hit by bombs, too. But we only got off the ship and got onto these boxcars, because our destination was Naples. So we had to take this train ride across the peninsula there, across the foot of Italy, to get over to Naples where our unit had the assembly area. INTERVIEWER: What was your feeling or thought about going into war, going into combat? You were now part of the Allied forces. HIBINO: It was [06:00] kind of like we were still new, you know, none of us had seen combat, so everything was quite new to us. Then we were, we were the 5th, joining the 5th Army, which was a conglomeration of many units, like the British had Hindus or Sikh, and there were all different nationalities. The British had Canadians and Australians, and it was just the whole commonwealth 5th Army, and Burmese, Gurkhas. So we felt part of a big group. INTERVIEWER: Did any of those others you just mentioned react to the U.S. forces of Japanese Americans? HIBINO: Well, I suppose they wondered what kind, what---probably never thought we’d be Japanese, because they aren’t supposed to be over there fighting over in the Pacific. So they might have taken us for Chinese. I don’t know what they---I didn’t talk to any, actually. If I did, I probably would have said---if we had told them we were Japanese Americans, they’d be probably pretty shocked to see we were out there. INTERVIEWER: Did your father or grandfather or brother give you any advice or words of encouragement prior to you leaving [08:00] for service? HIBINO: Well, not any more than any of the other parents, I suppose, saying goodbye to somebody leaving for war. I guess they must have had feelings, maybe anxiety possibly, that I wouldn’t be coming back. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever think you would come back? HIBINO: Well, I never really gave it a thought, you know. You just can’t dwell on something like that. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember any, specifically any words that your dad or brother or grandfather had said to you prior to leaving? HIBINO: Well, not really specifically, although I’m sure my mother must have, and possibly my---well, my dad was a man of few words, like most Isseis are, I think, parents, fathers. But we knew what he This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 19 of 34 �was feeling. And my mother was a little more vocal, “Take care of yourself,” “Change your socks.” [Laughs] All of that. INTERVIEWER: Once you boarded those train cars to get up to Naples, the trip up, what did you see around you? What was the countryside like? Could you see the war around you? What was the talk? HIBINO: No, the---it just looked like a regular farm, farm scene. [10:00] Orchards, fields. It was real nice, very soothing. But then, of course, we realized that was just passing by, you know, because the other stuff would be coming sure enough. And as far as war, effects of war, the field of arms, I don’t think we---I don’t recall seeing any blown-up buildings. Further north, I think, they probably would have, where the 100th came up through North Africa, and I think they fought in Sicily, those areas might have been pretty well war-torn. But just crossing the peninsula there, it wasn’t---to me, anyway, it wasn’t a big deal, it was just scenic trip. INTERVIEWER: When did you know that you were in a combat area? HIBINO: Well, let’s see. When we were told we were going to go to a particular area that had been picked out by the officers to set up the guns, when we actually made that trip, I think it was nighttime, then we had to set the guns in place, that I recall required putting up sandbags, camouflage nets on top. [12:00] But we had no firing at that time. I guess we didn’t have any specific targets to shoot at, so we just had to wait till we moved to the next position. And it went on like that, and sometimes we were able to dig in long enough to shoot at different targets, like moving tanks. I remember we were told to fire at these tanks that were on the road. At times we would see---the Germans were retreating at the time, so you could see graves, places where they didn’t have time to bury their dead, so they’d just pile a bunch of rocks on them. I remember seeing that, with the cross on top. That’s when you know they’re out to kill you, you can do the same to them, you know, really shoot. So that was kind of a telltale thing there. Then occasionally we’d see burned-out tanks, where we were able to hit them with artillery. But as far as the close combat, the artillery, we were lucky we didn’t have to experience any of that, although we were afraid possibly that, you know, the Germans would counter, what they called counter battery fire, [14:00] you know, they’d shoot, figuring when we’re going to be at a certain place, they’ll shoot first before we shoot at them. But we, or our position gets overrun, that’s happened in different areas. But we were lucky we hadn’t been attacked that way. INTERVIEWER: Just a couple of quick questions about being part of a gun crew. Specifically, what was your job on the gun crew? HIBINO: Well, I first started out with ammunition. We’d get the shells and you put in so much powder, depending on what your target is and how far away, then you put the shell head in, and lugging ammo from the truck to the position, that’s the early stages. And then from there you become--you can become the person that puts the gun, the shell into the gun. And then the fellow that, fellow on the right adjusts the elevation by turning this gadget, and the one on the left, he’s the main person, he sites the gun to get the correct position that’s called to you from the telephone, This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 20 of 34 �that comes from the center, firing center. So anyway, I just did the elevation part mostly, [16:00] and locked the gun into firing position. That’s what I did mostly. But a lot of times, we changed jobs too, just won’t get too bored, although using---being the number-one gunner is, I guess, the most responsible position to get the correct deflection, or whatever they call it, so you get whatever are the right numbers come through. Because you make a little mistake adding or subtracting, then you’re liable to hit your own troops, and you wouldn’t want to do that. INTERVIEWER: How did you transport the gun from location to location? HIBINO: Well, we’d---the guns have those trails, you know, triangular trails, like where they dig into the dirt. You might have seen---yeah, you’ve got to fold those, close them. The truck that hauls your battery’s gun will come in, and you hook it up to the hitch. It’s like hooking up a trailer truck. Then we get in line there and go to the next position. Then you hop on and get on with all your luggage and stuff, you get on to the next trip, next site.[18:00] INTERVIEWER: When you’re in a position---when you’re in a position behind the gun and you load it, describe to me firing the gun off, what’s that like. What it sounds like, what it feels like, what you can see, what you can’t see. HIBINO: Well, like I say, you get that ammunition and you load it into the breach, and the number, the one on the right who works the elevation, he’ll close the breach block, and the command of “fire” to pull that lanyard, that sets the gun off. When you’re in the back there, it sounds---it’s pretty loud at first, but after a while it becomes so calm, you hear it all the time, it doesn’t bother you at all. At first you can hold your---put in plugs, but it’s best not to in case you don’t hear something you’re supposed to, get an order that you can’t hear. So we just let it go. I haven’t had any problem when I hear, although I’ve had perforated drums. But as far as losing my hearing, I do--I’m not [20:00] 100 percent on one side, but I can get by. So, well, the gun is the, that’s the first time, the first time we were in possession, I saw the gun being fired, because I came in before I was able to take the artillery, artillery basic training. So the first time I saw a gun, saw a howitzer, is when we went overseas. The rest of it I had to pick up along the way, as far as being a crew member. INTERVIEWER: What’s the technical name of the artillery weapon that you fired? HIBINO: Well, it’s a 105-millimeter howitzer, and it’s a very, very versatile gun. It was one of the better pieces of artillery you had. Well, there were bigger ones, but this was most mobile. Of course now they have it---even while we were still at war, they’ve had tanks mounted with these 105millimeters, because before, the millimeters---the guns were, I think, 75 and they were too small, they wouldn’t do any damage to the German tanks that were really tough, well-made pieces of equipment. And they had this 88-millimeter gun that they can practically use as a rifle, it was so accurate. [22:00] Gee, that was one of the scary things that the Allies had to face, that particular gun. We heard a lot about that. You can tell that it really was a good piece of artillery. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 21 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: What was the name of their--HIBINO: Eighty-eight millimeter, I don’t know what they called them. I think there was a name to that, but it wasn’t 88. We used to just call them 88s. INTERVIEWER: If you would, just a timeline. From the time you’re ordered to go to a position, you get there, you’ve got to unhook the howitzer, set it up, load it, fire it. Take me through those steps. HIBINO: I wish I could. INTERVIEWER: Okay. [Laughs] HIBINO: I don’t know if I could. But it’s got to be fast. Quicker the better, you know. They see the forward observer calls in for fire, they see a tank going off. Unless you get it right off, you know, the thing’s going to be out of distance, out of sight, so you have to really be fast about getting the guns in position, getting ready to fire, and get that first firing mission. INTERVIEWER: Were you proud of your gun crew, were they good? HIBINO: Yeah, I think we did quite well. And of course, we---I think if we talked to some of our infantry, they’d vouch for us. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever see a target that you were aiming at? HIBINO: I didn’t, being on the gun crew, no. But our forward observer [24:00] up ahead would let us know whether we were hitting near or hitting the target. But no, we were just---I was, anyway, just more concerned about getting that gun off, as far as to be able to fire accurately as soon as that fire mission comes through. INTERVIEWER: We were talking before the interview and you told me something very interesting about standing behind the gun and watching it as it fires. So go a little back, set that up for me. Don’t just give me the quick answer. I need the whole thing, okay, Yuke? HIBINO: Yeah, somebody told me that you can see the shell leaving the gun and going off. And I didn’t believe it, I don’t think anybody would, but I found out that was true. When you get behind, and we had many chances of doing it, get behind the gun and watch it after the line is pulled and fired and the smoke, you can see like a football throwing out. That’s because of course a gun This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 22 of 34 �has rifling, it gives it a spin, and by god, you can see that shell taking off. Not the shell case, but the front end of the---and it was interesting. INTERVIEWER: Were you ever fired upon while you were trying to fire your weapon? HIBINO: Yes, I think up there we had an occasion once early on. But it wasn’t too heavy firing in Italy. But [26:00] at one period of time, we were stationed in the so-called Champagne Campaign up in the Italian Alps. I guess it was the French end of the Alps that comes down towards the Riviera. We had that time---this was after the Lost Battalion episode, where we had to---the infantry, particularly, had to get back and get replacements to replace those that were wounded or killed up in that campaign, the Lost Battalion campaign. At that time, they pulled the whole regiment down, gave us a kind of a little vacation down on the Riviera. But we still had to have our guns along the border there, because the Germans had theirs, they had their artillery out there. As a matter of fact, from our high point we can see the Germans walking around, and because they’re so far away, our guns wouldn’t bother them at all. They had bunkers to jump into anyway. At that time, we had some German fire but it wasn’t sustained. Just like us, we were just firing just to let them know we were there. I think that was the purpose. So that was a kind of an easy period of time, because we were [28:00] able to take time off from the guns to go down to the Riviera and really enjoy ourselves down there. They had a USO, and the city of Nice was near our area. They had all the stores, and life was almost normal. And it was pretty---and it was the time of the year, middle of winter, but it was like being down in Florida, you know, or even Southern Cal. You could see oranges and citrus fruits growing. But then too bad it didn’t last longer. [28:54] END OF AUDIO FILE 4 BEGINNING OF TAPE FIVE 153-Hibino-Yuke-5 INTERVIEWER: [00:00] Okay, you were in the Riviera, and then something happened to get you moving again. What happened? HIBINO: Well, I think at that time, there were---the Allies were up near the Rhine, Rhine River, and to cross that would be to get into Germany, and it would be, you know, the last stand of the Germans, because they were backed up all the way to---would be backed up to Berchtesgaden, where Hitler had his place there, and everybody wanted to be the one to get there first. So anyway, before they can get there, of course, they had to cross the Rhine. And they wanted to, from what I hear, they wanted to get all of the artillery they could get to make the crossing of the Rhine. So that’s how we were ordered to go up to the Rhine area. So that’s how we separated from our infantry, which were returned to Italy for their final push up the Italian countryside there, up to [02:00] the mountains up there, the Po River. I believe that’s where their objective was. That’s how we were assigned to go out to the Rhine, and we set up our gun positions there, I remember. We had fired I don’t know how many rounds. There were all these guns from all the Allies, it was quite a big operation. It was successful enough that they made the---breach the This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 23 of 34 �Rhine, they were able to get across that. I think there was one bridge that they were able to use to go across. I don’t know whether the Germans tried to blow it up or not, but we were able to get across, and from there it was just almost a continuous retreat of the Germans, they just weren’t able to hold any position to amount to much. And by then the Allies had all their big bombers, they had them flying day and night, I think, a thousand bomber raids. One incident, we were on the outskirts of, I think it was Nuremberg, and that night the Germans, or the Allies, rather, they bombed Nuremberg almost [04:00] to rubble. I remember there were still places on fire that we had our convoy go through after the bombing, when we were still pursuing the Germans, they were retreating. That was a bit of an experience I thought was interesting. So most of the time, we’d spent---I don’t think we stayed in one position too long, because the Germans were withdrawing all the way out back to---all the way back to, where is it? Near the Alps, anyway, in the German area there. INTERVIEWER: When you went through Nuremberg in your convoy, the city was just bombed, you referred to it as an interesting experience. I need you to elaborate on that and describe it to me, make me understand what it was like to drive through a city like that. HIBINO: Well, to drive through a city that was totally bombed out like that, I mean, I’ve never gone through, I don’t think any of our unit ever seen anything like that, where the whole city is just pulverized. And that night, when we were gone and driving through there, the convoy, of course we had to have [06:00] these guides take us through where they were cleared, because there as so much stuff laying around. Anyway, that was one of the scenes that sticks to me, anyway. INTERVIEWER: Did you see any civilians? HIBINO: No. No, they were either left the place, evacuated, or some that couldn’t get out, I suppose they were really trapped in all that stuff there, the rubble. So I imagine, like Berlin was hit pretty bad, and there were some other German cities that were also targets. I think Nuremberg especially was---they wanted to hit bad, because that was the center of Nazi Germany. INTERVIEWER: Once you were pursuing the Germans who were on retreat, and you were at the mountain range, what was your next assignment? What were you supposed to accomplish, and then where did you go from there? HIBINO: Well, let’s see, it wasn’t the end of the war yet, but by then, I think the Germans must have knew that the end was coming. So there were many German soldiers, divisions, that just gave up, you know, we can see them being sent [08:00] to the rear. So what they had by then, they were recruiting kids, old men, you know, whatever they can put a rifle in their hands, so there was very little resistance. INTERVIEWER: What personal contact did you have with German citizens and/or German prisoners of war? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 24 of 34 �HIBINO: Well, after the war, when we were in occupation, my group moved from artillery, we had to man this checkpoint at this bridge that went over---done over the Danube River. So that was one of the roads that these refugees were traveling on, and we had to check their papers, although they could have been forged, many of them, you couldn’t tell anyway. They just wave the thing, paper, we’d make like we were checking on them. So they were coming through in big numbers. Now these were civilians, supposedly, but we had no way of checking whether they were soldiers, too, ex-Nazi soldiers who just threw their uniforms away and put on civilian clothes. There could have been many of them, could have gotten away that way. But that [10:00] was one of the jobs we had. INTERVIEWER: Explain to me, and set it up, the backstory, the context, like we were talking about before, just context, about Dachau. HIBINO: Yeah, well, Dachau, the only way I remember it was when we got to that area---now there were other units, troops in that area also, and what I hear, the concentration camp, there was more than one---there were more than one. They had other, they called sub-camps, but the one I saw, this was after the Germans let most of them go because they just wanted to get out of there in a hurry. The ones we saw were---we saw them on the road in their striped pajamas, and some were in very bad condition, poor condition, malnutrition and probably sickness, ones they barely made it. It’s a shame, because after going through all that, what they did to be alive at the end there, still they were too sick to even survive. And they were telling us not to feed them, but they were in our kitchen area, field kitchen, rummaging [12:00] through the garbage cans trying to get nourishment whenever they could. Later on we heard---we didn’t know at that time what the circumstances, how they arrived and were prisoners like that, until we saw it in the papers. And there were pictures of, you know, mass burials you probably saw. But we never, I never saw anything like that while we were in that area. But we did see some PWs, our unit, we were in that area at the time. There was some, from what I hear, were able to free more prisoners, because they were able to break the gate. By then, you know, the German guards were all gone. But we could still see--we saw the ovens that they used, cremating all the bodies. That’s---that kind of stuck with my mind, too. I think something like that would remain with you forever, to see them, you know, and hear, read about them, what happened [14:00] in these camps, you know, compared to what we called a concentration camp. They called them concentration camps too, of course more like death camps. Once you’re in there, you just go up in smoke. You see where they gas them, you know, they use gas. That was really a terrible scene. Then there was some of those who survived one way or another, and that’s a real miracle, when you get out of something like that. So they say---some people say it never happened, these anti-, these die-hard Germans. Even those living in that area, they say, well, they don’t believe it happened, deny everything that took place. But we saw them. Yeah, we saw them. INTERVIEWER: Take five? [Pause] This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 25 of 34 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. You guys crossed the Rhine. When you were shooting the shells, you had described earlier that there was a tremendous amount of artillery [16:00] firing. Estimate for me the number of rounds that you fired, how long you were firing, what the ground felt like, the air, the smell. HIBINO: Gee, I can’t---I don’t know how many shells were fired. INTERVIEWER: Long time, though? HIBINO: It could be up in the hundreds, I suppose, when you figure four batteries of artillery and one--four guns, four guns and one battery, and there were three gun batteries. I don’t know the amount, because like I say, I had no contact with artillery until I got overseas. So I wasn’t in any of the artillery basic training, I didn’t even go to---when they had big maneuvers down in Louisiana, I never went on any of those. INTERVIEWER: Once you crossed the Rhine, describe to me the advance that you were ordered to take on. HIBINO: Oh, I recall we were using pretty good roads as far as getting from one place to another. As a matter of fact---oh no, we didn’t [18:00] use the autobahn, but it was there, the German autobahn, because the Germans were using it, using the autobahn for take-off and landing strips. They had their planes in the woods right off the autobahn. They’d wheel them out and take off. But then they couldn’t do that, because they were running out of fuel, you know, they were short on gas, so they were just abandoned. We saw some of those later on. But we were traveling quite---oh, I don’t know how many miles a day by then. Like I said, there were so many Germans just giving up, they were glad to get captured by the Americans, because they were deathly afraid of the Russians, because they were coming from the other side. They wanted to give up to the Americans in the worst way, because they knew they were going to be treated pretty well, which they were. So it went on like that until we got way up near---way in the German Alps there. And it wasn’t too long after that, you know, the war was over. And I think we were in a place called Augsburg, that’s where I heard about the war, about [20:00] the surrender, the German surrender. INTERVIEWER: What time of day, what were you doing, who was around you when you heard the war was over? HIBINO: Well, I think we were just chewing the fat around our guns, and this medic, I think this fellow was a medic, told us first about the surrender. Of course we were all happy about that. But then we figured it was coming sooner or later, you know, the way they were being chased, they couldn’t go much further back. And so that’s---it was kind of an anti-climax, I guess you would say. But it was nice to have it all over. But then we thought maybe they were going to transfer us over to the Pacific, there was that possibility, I think, with all this kind of---not that factual, because I This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 26 of 34 �think they kind of thought we may be, you know, being over there in Japan as a unit, for fighting in the Pacific as a unit, it would be so easy to be confused by the Americans, who knows what could have happened. It might have been a little embarrassing there. So anyway, we thought possibly---as a matter of fact, they did call for volunteers for MIS, and some of our guys volunteered. [22:00] But some of them got over the Pacific when the war was over there, so they went into occupation and had a pretty good life over there, from what I hear. INTERVIEWER: Did you think about what if you would go to the Pacific Theater and fight against your ancestors? HIBINO: No, I had no qualms about that. Not a bit. INTERVIEWER: Did you have family back in Japan during the war? HIBINO: No, and maybe that’s one reason I felt that way. If I had family, possibly I wouldn’t feel that strong. But, you know, you take that oath when you enlist, you have to kind of stick by it, I think. INTERVIEWER: Okay. I’m going to ask you just a bunch of questions, and they’re kind of unrelated, but I just want to run through some stuff. After the war, or when the surrender happened--HIBINO: Which one? INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry, German. Germany surrenders. What was your job? HIBINO: Well, that’s when I went into occupation work. I mentioned we had this territory to be the SP, special police, designated by I don’t know who, somebody on top. And we were given a certain post to man 24 hours, [24:00] and that was this bridge. Went into the bridge. So that’s what we did. We had a small group, took shifts, checking the papers and so forth. INTERVIEWER: Who was at the other end of the bridge? HIBINO: The other end, we had nobody there because the traffic was all going one way. INTERVIEWER: Did you have the opportunity to meet or talk with or shake hands with any Russian soldiers? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 27 of 34 �No, not the Russians. No, we had---we weren’t that close to them, I don’t think our unit was. Of course there were others that they joined up one of the rivers, I think the [Inaudible] River, or someplace. But the Russians weren’t in our immediate sector. INTERVIEWER: What was your impression, or feeling, or what had you heard about the Russian Army, Russian soldiers? HIBINO: Well, we gave them a lot of credit for doing what they did. After almost getting---losing, was it Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Germans would ride up to the gates, and still they couldn’t take over. No matter how many casualties they suffered, they would come back and kick the Germans out. INTERVIEWER: During the war, how many letters did you write home? HIBINO: Oh, geez, I don’t know. A few. But not as many as I probably should [26:00] have written. I did write a few airmails. INTERVIEWER: What did you write about? HIBINO: Well, we couldn’t write too much. They censored, like blacked out areas of operation, we couldn’t tell them where we were, what we were doing. Just about probably meals, what we were eating, what we missed. INTERVIEWER: During the war, hearing about family, friends, events that happened, like the 4-4-2 rescuing the Lost Battalion, how did you find out about information on others? HIBINO: Let’s see, I think we heard some of it through our forward observers, because we had some of them that were up right with the front infantry that were able to---the infantry that broke through the Germans’ lines there. Our battery and battalions, I think we got our information more from them, because our forward observers were rotated, we didn’t have the same people all the time. So the ones that were in that particular action, after they---this was surprising, because the forward observer, the one [28:00] who led one of the forward observer group, said out of his bunch, there was not one casualty. And they were up in the line, you know, getting---viewing right in front of the infantry, practically. But he said they all came back unscathed. We nearly had how many, 800 casualties in infantry. But that’s because, of course, they’re in a certain period, in a short period of time, compared to the infantry. So anyway, that’s, I think that’s how I heard from this other fellow in the battery, he told me what the Lost Battalion, how they broke through. [28:53] END OF AUDIO FILE 5 This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 28 of 34 �BEGINNING OF TAPE SIX INTERVIEWER: [00:00] Talk to me about when you heard about the 4-4-2 rescuing the Lost Battalion, you knew a lot of those people in the 4-4-2. HIBINO: I knew a few, not a lot. But some, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did you worry about them? Were you proud of them? HIBINO: Yes, we all were. I think I mentioned that I lost my neighbor, my neighbor’s boy. He was---we were very close. And he and another one of my---one of the families that lived in our neighborhood, yeah, he was also killed. And at that time I wrote home, saying about these people, friends of ours who lost their lives there, but that’s one my lieutenant, I guess he was a censor, he cut it out. He wouldn’t let me, they wouldn’t pass it, so he couldn’t tell them about that until after the war, I guess. And anything like that, they censored, cut out. So what they knew about Lost Battalion, I guess they had to read it also. Yeah, most--- [02:00] we read it through some of the publications the Army put out, like the Stars and Stripes, they had articles on it. And that’s how we in the artillery, because we’re just firing, we didn’t see the actual combat, hand-tohand stuff that they were going through. Yeah, there were some heroic actions by some of the infantry boys. When I think of some little guy, about five foot tall, you know, barely as tall as the gun he’s carrying, he’s slugging it out with some big six-foot German, you got to feel proud of them. INTERVIEWER: Over all, as you look back, 80 years old, and with time---oh, God bless you---now that some time has passed and more of the history is filled in, because the war, you don’t know all the time what’s going on to your left or right--HIBINO: Yeah, that’s for sure. INTERVIEWER: ---and you see the Japanese American contribution. Start off talking to me about that. HIBINO: Well, I think that Lost Battalion episode was something that really helped, I think, after it got [04:00] into the news out here, especially in Texas, because that’s where the Lost Battalion was--I think the feelings they might have had towards the Japanese, I think it’s kind of made them realize that maybe, you know, we could be considered as good an American as any of the Texas bunch, anyway. [Laughs] INTERVIEWER: How did you meet your wife? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 29 of 34 �HIBINO: Oh, actually, I met her through her sister, who was going to UC Berkeley, and Janice was still in high school, I think. Yeah, high school. And she came out to Berkeley to visit with her sister, at which time I met her, and her sister kind of had her---well, set up a date for her. That’s how I met her. And we were going to some of the dances they used to have at school there. They lived in Stockton, you know, in the valley, so it’s kind of far. So I didn’t really---I think I saw her only once after I met her. Then from there, [06:00] Pearl Harbor came and they sent her to Rohwer, Arkansas, that was the camp that got a lot of Stockton people. And of course I went to Utah. So we just corresponded occasionally, but that was all that during those days. But after I got in the service, I went through Chicago. She was going to secretarial school in Chicago for, I think, two or three years. So when I had my transit through Chicago, I dropped in on her. After I was in Shelby, one time I had a weekend pass, so I took a quick trip up there. But, you know, train travel is not too fast. Anyway, I had a little time to spend with her. And that was the last time I met with her while I was in the service. I got out of the service myself a little earlier than when my outfit came back, because when I was in Germany, I got this telegram from my brother saying my dad was in terminal cancer, so the Red Cross would allow me to get back home as soon as possible. So I was in this [08:00] place in Germany by the Danube River, and when my papers came in for emergency departure to the States, they sent somebody out to tell me and pick me up in a Jeep, and that’s when I started my trek home. I had enough points, as far as, you know, they gave points for service time, so when I got back to the States, I was discharged at Fort Devens, because that was close to Massachusetts---that was in Massachusetts, and it was close to my home address, which I gave as Cambridge, where my folks were living. So that was the end of my---I think I had a month’s leave or something like that, before they gave me my separation papers. And that’s when I started---stayed with my brother, lived with him until I can decide on where I wanted to live or what I wanted to do. So that’s when my life in Massachusetts started, because I didn’t come back to California, because things looked pretty good, easier out east. There wasn’t that prejudice as we used to find out west, you know, because of the situation with Japan. Rather than the east, [10:00] you know, there’s not really any, as far as I can see, Japanese sentiment against. It wasn’t as outward, anyway, at least we didn’t see it. Because they were more involved with Europe, with the war in Europe. Maybe that’s one reason I didn’t come across any bad feelings, or any bad remarks, anything like that. When I heard of some of the things that happened to friends of mine who went back, came back to California, what they had to put up with. You know, these friends of ours who lived in Livingston had a farm there, they got their farm back, but they also got buckshots in the window at night, you know. Anyway, Janice’s family had a farm in Stockton, but they didn’t come across anything like that. Well, they had some person look after their house while they were away, but they let it go to pot, you know, didn’t bother to take care of it. But other than that, at least they had a roof over their heads. INTERVIEWER: When did you marry Janice? HIBINO: Nineteen forty-eight. Had to think. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 30 of 34 �How many years you been married? HIBINO: Oh, gosh--INTERVIEWER: Tape is rolling. How many? HIBINO: Forty-eight to ’ 98 is 50, and--INTERVIEWER: I’m [12:00] teasing with you. HIBINO: ---add on four more. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Tell me about your kids. How many kids you have, what are their names, what do they do? HIBINO: I have three, two girls and a boy. They were all born out east. They went to school in the neighborhood, and college. One of them went to Syracuse, the other went to Tufts, Tufts College, you know, that’s in Cambridge. My other daughter wanted to get out of the east so bad in a hurry, she came out to California, went to UC Berkeley, and this was right during the Vietnam protest years. And she went to Cal there and got in with all the stuff there that was going on. She managed to get herself locked up and chained up to the light post or something around Sather Gate, where all the protest was going on. But my brothers---I mean, my son, the youngest one, yeah, he went to---he loves it back east, so he went to Tufts, got a degree in engineering, and went to work for Bose Electronics. And he worked---after he got out of school he went there, and Bose opened up a branch in South Carolina and they were getting people to work that operation down there, so he’s been down there ever since. INTERVIEWER: What are your girls’ names, and what’s your son’s name? HIBINO: Oh, [14:00] Shirley is my oldest girl, June is the one in the middle, and Bobby, Bob is the youngest. June’s married to Mike Murase who’s an assistant for Maxine Waters. An assistant, what do you call it that works in the office, the Senate office in LA, Watts, I think is Maxine’s office. And my other, the oldest one was married, though she’s divorced right now. But my other, my boy is---he was married to a girl from Massachusetts. He likes it down there because there’s a lot of golf courses down in South Carolina. INTERVIEWER: Do you have any grandchildren? HIBINO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 31 of 34 �One grandchild, a granddaughter, from my younger daughter. INTERVIEWER: And her name? HIBINO: Her name is Sachi Lisa. Sachi Lisa Murase. INTERVIEWER: You told me earlier that you had gone to Israel. HIBINO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Tell me about that. HIBINO: Well, I think it was six---five, six years ago. Our battalion was invited by, [16:00] I think, I don’t know exactly who, some organization in Israel to come visit them and go on tour and see all the places in Israel. So I did, I went with the battalion, and they took us to Parliament and introduced us to the mayor, mayor of Tel Aviv, I think, one of them. I’ve kind of forgotten who it was. But we went there and we saw---we went on a tour that took through all these biblical sites and places that we might have read about when we were kids. INTERVIEWER: And they invited the battalion over because? HIBINO: Because they knew we were at Dachau, and we had kind of an association with some of the inmates, as a matter of fact, that lived out here in the LA area, who had either parents or even, I guess, some relatives might have been in, who were in one of the concentration camps there. INTERVIEWER: At the time of the liberation of Dachau, when you were there and passing through, did you have an opportunity or---yeah, did you have an opportunity to talk to any of the inmates or any kind of [18:00] personal contact? HIBINO: Well, I did with---he wasn’t in there long. He told me---he was an officer in the Czech Army. He was picked up, he was sent into one of the camps, Dachau. And he spoke a little English, so I was able to talk a little bit with him how it happened that he was in there. But he was in there for so short a time, he was still healthy, he didn’t have any emaciated look like all the others, most others did. But I didn’t have a chance to talk with him too long. And he’s the only contact I had in any of those. INTERVIEWER: After the war and in subsequent years, did you talk much about your war experiences with your family or friends or children? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 32 of 34 �HIBINO: No, not much. I might have talked with my friends, you know, the ones that I’ve known all the years, some of those that I was in the service with, but other than that---I know my kids often say they kind of regret not having me talk to them more about evacuation and stuff like that. But it’s still bad. In a way, I couldn’t communicate much to my parents, either, you know, while they were still alive, my dad, [20:00] because I guess I had so little knowledge of Japanese that I really couldn’t express myself too well. But knowing that we came back, I guess, was good enough for them. INTERVIEWER: Is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you’d like to say now or talk about, bring up as a subject? HIBINO: Well, not really. Geez, this is about the most I’ve ever talked to anybody about my total experience, which wasn’t much, because, you know, some of my friends, even the ones I--Caucasians that I’ve talked to, some wound up in the Marines and the Navy, you know, and their experiences were pretty tough. Besides the enemy, they had to fight the jungle. At least we had a half decent, a more civilized area. INTERVIEWER: Future generations are going to see your tape. Do you have anything to tell? Two hundred years from now--HIBINO: Two hundred years from now. INTERVIEWER: ---they’re going to look at your tape. HIBINO: If it was only 20 years from now, I’d tell them stay out of the infantry. Anywhere else [22:00] but the infantry. But 200 years from now warfare will be totally different, whether it’s good or bad, I don’t know. I hope it’s going to be good. But I don’t know what the---what advice I can give. I’m sure that other people who have given advice. I don’t think I can add to that. INTERVIEWER: I don’t want to press you on that, but there’s a great question I heard one time, a critic named Gene Siskel used to ask people, just in fun, you know, light, nothing real heavy here, but he would ask him, he said---and in your case, you’re 80 years old---he’d say, “You’re 80 years old. What do you know for certain?” HIBINO: That nothing’s ever certain. [Laughs] INTERVIEWER: Very good. [Addressing the crew] Okay, does anybody have anything to add, or any kind of questions or anything? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 33 of 34 �CREW MEMBER: Anything? INTERVIEWER: Did I hit everything? HIBINO: I kind of put them to sleep, I think. INTERVIEWER: No, Yuke, Yuke--CREW MEMBER: No, that was great. I think you asked every question I would have asked. INTERVIEWER: Yuke, you’re the man. Thank you very much. No, seriously, on the tape, I want to say thank you very much for opening up. Greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated. HIBINO: You’re welcome. INTERVIEWER: And your stories will be treasured. Honestly, no bulls***. I shouldn’t have said “bulls***” on tape. Shut the tape off now. Oh, no. [Laughter] [23:30] END OF AUDIO FILE 6 This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 34 of 34 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview transcript [full interview], February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Type The nature or genre of the resource Transcriptions Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Extent The size or duration of the resource. 34 pages, typescript Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-02-24 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Gardena, California Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_T_Hibino https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/f8f852c84a58259e9a05f9b8a1c850df.xml 7a5fb385ceaeb2c5cdff62fb61bc60df Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-6.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Index indicates an oral history item with an XML file indexed in OHMS. Yes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 6 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_06_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino talks about the rescue of the Lost Battalion. He lists the contributions of Japanese American soldiers. He explains how he met his wife. He describes his courtship with his future wife. He discusses his emergency return to the United States. He shares his life experiences in California to his life experiences in Massachusetts. He talks about his marriage, children, and grandchildren. He describes his trip to Israel. He discusses his interactions with Dachau prisoners. He explains the extent to which he has shared war stories with his family and the public. Hibino leaves a message to future generations. Subject The topic of the resource World War II--European Theater--Rhineland Campaign, Vosges--"Rescue of the Lost Battalion" World War II--Military service--522nd Field Artillery Battalion Military service--Veteran history Japanese Americans--Post-World War II Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:23:30 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 442nd Regimental Combat Team children Dachau discrimination grandchildren Japanese American soldiers Lost Battalion wife https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/e746226df54a0ffee057be97f597f3ca.xml c603f77654536d82afe0d8033d40eb67 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-5.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Index indicates an oral history item with an XML file indexed in OHMS. Yes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 5 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_05_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino talks about his combat experiences on the Gothic Line. He describes war-torn Nuremberg, Germany. He discusses his interactions with civilians. He explains what happened when his unit found Dachau Concentration Camp. He talks about advancing through Europe. He describes the end of World War Two. He discusses the Pacific Theater. He talks about the special police. He explains how he communicated with his family while overseas. He also explains how his unit communicated with other units. Subject The topic of the resource World War II--European Theater--Central Europe Campaign--Liberation of Dachau Subcamps (522nd Field Artillery Battalion) World War II--Military service--522nd Field Artillery Battalion Military service--Veteran history Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:28:53 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 civilians Dachau Gothic Line holocaust Japanese American soldiers Nuremberg post-war Russian soldiers https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/c8b2ea9bbd8e2adc8b29bdcc0e510825.xml aadb4266515ed52824b5d34cf9394c4d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-4.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Index indicates an oral history item with an XML file indexed in OHMS. Yes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 4 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_04_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino continues to explain how he was assigned to an artillery unit. He describes his journey to Europe and landing in Bari, Italy. He talks about joining the allied forces. He discusses how other soldiers reacted to Japanese American soldiers. He talks about the advice that his family gave him before shipping out. He describes his journey to Naples, Italy. He discusses his first time in a combat zone. He explains his job in his artillery unit. Hibino lists the weapons used in warfare. He describes his artillery unit. He talks about the Champagne Campaign. Subject The topic of the resource World War II--Military service--522nd Field Artillery Battalion World War II--European Theater World War II--European Theater--Rhineland Campaign, Maritime Alps,"Champagne Campaign" Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:28:57 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 ammunition artillery Bari Champagne Campaign Italy machine gunner Naples https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/fa2bfe60e639e231caeb4120c90cfc9f.xml 7acb76d15453913c93891d43fc7d79d3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-3.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 3 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_03_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino describes his experiences while living at the Tanforan Temporary Detention Center. He talks about the journey to Topaz Concentration Camp. He shares his first impressions of Topaz. He discusses the living conditions in Topaz. He lists the employment opportunities at Topaz. He describes what he did during his leisure time while at Topaz. He explains how a work sponsorship freed him from Topaz. He talks about enlisting. He shares his knowledge of Japanese Americans in the military. He discusses his feelings about his induction amid the discrimination against Japanese Americans. He describes his basic training. He explains how he was assigned to an artillery unit. Subject The topic of the resource World War II--American Concentration Camps--Topaz (Central Utah) World War II--Temporary Detention Facilities--Tanforan World War II--Military service--Basic training--Camp Shelby Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:29:16 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 artillery basic training Camp Shelby enlistment induction living conditions Tanforan Topaz https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/9790d316097623a09b3944e5eeac3536.xml 717871b28b8921325cb64036c180a0ec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-2.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Index indicates an oral history item with an XML file indexed in OHMS. Yes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 2 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_02_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino explains how his parents and grandparents immigrated to the United States. He briefly talks about his aunt. He describes the influence of his grandparents. He discusses his relationship with his brother. He shares his brothers life story. He talks about his parents final years. He briefly discusses his own children. He talks about his high school graduation and his employment ventures after high school. Hibino describes the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the aftermath. He discusses the death of his friend Frank Nye. He talks about Executive Order 9066 and the forced removal of Japanese Americans. Subject The topic of the resource Identity and values--Family Education Industry and employment World War II--Pearl Harbor and aftermath Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:27:08 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 Berkeley children Executive Order 9066 forced removal friendship grandparents parents Pearl Harbor and aftermath https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/209903d267838940cc8931687a779be5.xml fb2bfbd5c400330bb3a0598fd2e2ad49 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, February 24, 2001 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/153-Hibino-Yuke-1.m4v Date of Birth [YYYY-MM-DD] 1920 Dec 05 Location of Birth Berkeley, California Incarceration Facilities Tanforan Temporary Detention Facility Topaz Concentration Camp War or Conflict World War, 1939-1945 Branch of Service Army Entrance into Service Drafted or Volunteered Volunteered Nickname Yuke Location of Basic Training Camp Shelby, Mississippi Unit of Service 522nd Field Artillery Battalion Campaigns/Battles Champagne Campaign Bruyeres, Belmont, Biffontaine Rescue of the Lost Battalion Central Europe Campaign Index indicates an oral history item with an XML file indexed in OHMS. Yes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yukio Hibino oral history interview, part 1 of 6, February 24, 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hibino, Yukio: narrator Hawkins, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2001OH0153_01_Hibino Description An account of the resource Hibino and the interviewers introduce themselves. He talks about his family. He describes his early life in Berkeley, California. He discusses his involvement in the Berkeley Japanese American community. He talks about his experiences in primary school. He lists his childhood activities. He briefly discusses his childhood aspirations. He describes what it was like being Japanese American in Berkeley, California. He talks about his experiences in Japanese language school. Hibino describes his family's participation in cultural celebrations. He discusses his Japanese American Identity. He shares his fondest memories of primary school. He talks about separations in friend groups based on class and race. He discusses his extended family. He lists the languages spoken in his home. Subject The topic of the resource Education Social activities Identity and values Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 0:29:12 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001 February 24 Berkeley childhood activities cultural heritage family high school Japanese Americans primary school