1 100 1 https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/b218c8895d6e846eaa5abe0a515e4295.pdf f8a8053316e39a502bcbcd06c6d654e8 PDF Text Text Go For Broke National Education Center Oral History Project Oral History Interview with Dan Uchimoto, October 14, 2007, Richmond, California INTERVIEWER: Okay, today is October 14, 2007 on a Sunday, we're here in Richmond, California, and we're going to be conducting a oral history interview for the Go for Broke Educational Foundation. My name is John Garvey, I'm the interviewer today. On camera is Tim Yuge, on audio and cataloguing is Kevin Tanouye, and observing is Court Tanouye. And our veteran today---sir, could you please tell us your first and last name? UCHIMOTO: Dan Uchimoto. INTERVIEWER: And, sir, when were you born? UCHIMOTO: October 9, 1921. INTERVIEWER: And where were you born? UCHIMOTO: Loomis, California. INTERVIEWER: And where exactly is that in the state of California? UCHIMOTO: Loomis is a small town East of Sacramento someplace. In the foothills, I think. INTERVIEWER: And were you born in the hospital or at home? UCHIMOTO: At home. I think a midwife took care of my mother. I think. I don't know but . . . INTERVIEWER: And, oh, your name, Dan, do you know why you were given the name Dan? UCHIMOTO: No. No. INTERVIEWER: Or Daniel. Did they ever call you Daniel or was it always Dan? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 1 of 58 �It was always Dan. My father, his name was Zennosuke. And lot of people use to---American white people used to call him Zen. But I don't know why they gave me Dan. They didn't give me [02:00] Daniel, it's just they call me Dan. INTERVIEWER: Now . . . UCHIMOTO: Or maybe it's a Japanese version would be Dan, Dan [pronounced like Dawn], you know. But anyway, I went with the name Dan all these years. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. You mentioned your father, maybe at this time you can mention you mother's name as well? UCHIMOTO: You mean her maiden name or her first name? INTERVIEWER: First and maiden, please. UCHIMOTO: Kane Koyama. K-A-N-E. That's, you know, how you spell the first name. INTERVIEWER: Okay. UCHIMOTO: Kane Koyama, K-O-Y-A-M-A. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. We'll start with your father's side of the family first and then we will talk about your brother--- excuse me, your mother's side. Okay, your father, his name again please. UCHIMOTO: His real name was Zennosuke but it's a long first name. I can spell it for you but . . . Shall I spell it for you? INTERVIEWER: Yes, please. UCHIMOTO: Z-E-N-N-O-S-U-K-E, Zennosuke Uchimoto. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. Was he---what type of business was he involved with? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 2 of 58 �He was a---after about a year and a half, we moved to---I mean my family moved to Suisun, California. Suisun Valley which is about a mile west of Fairfield, you know. Fairfield is about only about---I don't know how many miles away from here, 50 miles, whatever. And my father was and mother were sharecrop farmers. [04:00] They raised canning tomato, you know, and---on a share basis. You see, in the old days, Japanese people, people of Japanese descent, were not allowed to purchase real estate or farming land in California. So, anyway, they couldn't buy any land, but anyway, they were sharecrop farmers as I said. They raised canning tomatoes or a little bite of market tomatoes, but mostly canning tomatoes on this different farm and Suisun Valley. And they would give maybe 25% or 30% to the landowner and keep the other 70% themselves. And out of that 70% they had to pay for raising the crop, cultivating it, harvesting it and all that, you know, irrigation and everything. So here I was, since I was 12 years old, I was working on the different farms. Helping my father and mother raise canning tomatoes. And by the time I was 14, I was doing---working on a---on the--- picking fruit during the summertime. And so it was a hard life, but it was still quite, you know, satisfying. INTERVIEWER: Yes. I was gonna ask you---we'll talk about your---your father, was he born in America or did he immigrate? UCHIMOTO: He was immigrated. He was born in Japan [06:00] and came here when he was 17 years old. INTERVIEWER: Do you know where he was born in Japan? UCHIMOTO: Wakayama-ken, wherever that is. I don't know my Japanese geography. But my mother and father are both Wakayama-ken, wherever that is. INTERVIEWER: Have you ever visited Japan? UCHIMOTO: Never. I have never gone to Japan. INTERVIEWER: Do you have a desire to go there someday or . . .? UCHIMOTO: No, no, I have no desire to go to Japan. I---going to Japan does not interest me. I've gone to Hawaii 2, 3 times, I think, short vacation, and I've seen many Japanese people there. But, no, I have no desire to go to Japan. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. Your father, I believe you said he came to America at age 17. UCHIMOTO: Yes. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 3 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: Do you know how he---did---do you remember the circumstances that he---the ship that he may have come on, the name of the ship, or where he landed in America when he first came here and . . . UCHIMOTO: No, I have no idea. Well, he lived in Southern California around---what is the place called? Long Beach or something. So he was around the Los Angeles area. And he lived there for quite awhile before he came up, you know, north here. So---and then---I just---let's see, I just don't know---it's rather [08:00] confusing to me, but he---when he---I think maybe it was the first time or the second time, I don't know, he went after my mother, you know, he went back after my mother later on. But at one time he came in through this place in Texas. And he was going to . . . So I do not know where he landed when he first came here. But whether---I think, maybe he came through some kind of a port in Texas. But anyway, he was offered this---this white couple said to him, "If you wish to come with us and become our---become adopted by us, we will take you back east and give you education and make---you can make something of yourself." But my father had promised one of his friends that he was gonna go to California and do something different. So that's how I think his life---I don't know when---that was the first time he came to California, the United States, or whether it was the second time he came, because he was . . . He went, see, he went after my mother several years later to get married and, you know, bring her back here. But as I said, he came here at 17 and he was here for maybe, I don't know, 10 years or so maybe, and then he went back after my mother. INTERVIEWER: Did he---do you remember any stories he may have shared with you regarding what life was like in Japan when he was growing up, and what---maybe what prompted him. [10:00] Why did he want to come to America and leave Japan? UCHIMOTO: That I do not know why he came to, you know, America. I just don't know, he never told me, you know. INTERVIEWER: What about his---your father's father which would be your grandfather on your father's side. Do you remember his name and any stories about him or what kind of job he had or . . . ? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no. Except that I think they were farmers, I think. They owned some rice field or I mean they're some kind of a---they were farmers. My father had several brothers, I think, and the family owned some rice field or farm or I don't know what you want to call it, back in Japan. But when my father came here, he gave up his---he was the first born, I think, he was oldest child of the family. But he decided to---he was not planning to go back to Japan, so he, what shall we say, willed or he gave up his rights, and his younger brothers inherited the farm or land that was his share, you know. He was actually entitled to most of the farm as a first born, but he said, "I don't plan to go back to Japan so I shall give up my rights to you, my younger brothers," and so that's my understanding. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember which---these would be your uncle's on your father's side. Do you remember what their names are or did you ever meet them? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 4 of 58 �Not a thing. [12:00] No, no, I have no idea, no. I have, you know, no contact or no---I have no knowledge, knowledge of my relatives in Japan. No knowledge. INTERVIEWER: Do you have any idea that---I know what you just told me, but any---on your father's side, any history of military service in the United States or in Japan on your father's side? UCHIMOTO: That I don't know, I don't know. I have no idea. INTERVIEWER: And your father---what was the time---when did he pass away? What was the time frame on that? UCHIMOTO: What do you mean? What year, you mean? INTERVIEWER: Yes. UCHIMOTO: So, let's see, 1985 is when he passed on. 1985. INTERVIEWER: He had a long life, it sounds like. UCHIMOTO: Yeah, 981/2. INTERVIEWER: That's great. And your---we'll talk about your mother's---and her name again please. UCHIMOTO: Kane Koyama. INTERVIEWER: How did your father meet your mother? Do you have any idea how that happened? UCHIMOTO: It was what you call a baishakunin marriage or arranged married if you wish to call it that. And my mother was a schoolteacher in Wakayama-ken some place. And some relatives or some friends or so, they have them meet and arrange this baishakunin-arranged marriage. So they did not know each other at all [14:00] before, you know, before this marriage took place. She was a schoolteacher somewhere in this, you know, nearby area there, you know, where my father was from. INTERVIEWER: And your---her parents, which would be your grandparents on your mother's side. Do you have anything that you could---do you remember their names or anything you could share with us about them? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 5 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Not a thing. I have no idea, I mean, no knowledge of them. INTERVIEWER: So all four of your grandparents, on your mother's side---two on your father's side and the two on your mother's side. It sounds like you never had an opportunity to meet your grandparents. Is that correct? UCHIMOTO: That's correct, uh-huh. Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did---were there---were you aware of letters going back and forth to Japan that your parents were communicating with the family in Japan at all or . . . ? UCHIMOTO: I have no idea. INTERVIEWER: Okay. UCHIMOTO: I mean I have no recollection or I have no idea, you know, if they were. INTERVIEWER: Now, we'll talk about your family, excuse me, your---do you have any brothers or sisters? UCHIMOTO: Yes, I have one brother and two sisters. INTERVIEWER: And maybe can go from the oldest to the youngest. Who would be the oldest? UCHIMOTO: Myself. I, I was the oldest. INTERVIEWER: And your age today? What's your age, sir? UCHIMOTO: I just turned 86. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You're in great physical condition. UCHIMOTO: I try to be. I try to be. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 6 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: How do you stay for youthful [16:00] looking? What type of . . . UCHIMOTO: Well, I tried to be a metaphysical student or, you know, religious student, and that seems to help. I mean my---I'll be reading books. But anyways, when I was 14 years old and a freshman at Armijo High School in Fairfield, I went across the street to this local, public library and I saw this Mary Baker Eddy book, Science to the Health or something---Mary Baker Eddy Scriptures, I don't know. And I was hooked from then on. My---I wanted to read all the religious books I can, I could. And metaphysical books, I guess, would be also included. And that has been my hobby, shall we say, besides, you know, outside things. But I mean as far as reading goes, I like to read religious books. That seems to give me, you know, courage or insight or---and took care of many of these doubts or, you know, things that I've had over the years, you know. It really helped me quite a bit to resolve or solve all these problems that have come across, you know, as we go along through life. INTERVIEWER: Yes, that's outstanding. So I believe you said you're the oldest child. You were born in 1921 and you have one brother and two sisters. Who's the next born? UCHIMOTO: My brother Warren is [18:00] two years younger. INTERVIEWER: So he was born in maybe around 1923? UCHIMOTO: I think so. INTERVIEWER: Okay. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: And is he still with us today? UCHIMOTO: Oh yes, he's in Los Altos. No, not Los Altos, Saratoga. You know, Saratoga there's wealthy Saratoga and the flatland Saratoga, and he's in the flatland Saratoga, and so he's not in the high price Saratoga but the more common Saratoga. INTERVIEWER: That's interesting you mention that because I read [that] most of the rich have lived on hills, you know, in all communities. Even in the cemetery, the graves that are on the, you know, there's a cemetery of flatland that the graves are on the upper---on the hill portion are more expensive. UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 7 of 58 �Yeah, okay. INTERVIEWER: Anyhow, Warren, did he have a history of any type of military service? UCHIMOTO: Oh yes. He went---he graduated from college and then he went to service. So, by the time he was sent overseas, World War II had just ended, so he was in the occupation forces in Germany. INTERVIEWER: And this was the U.S. Army, is that correct? UCHIMOTO: Yes, yes, U.S. Army. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember what his final military rank was? UCHIMOTO: No, I have no idea. INTERVIEWER: When did he leave military service? Did he continue in the military service as a career or did he . . .? UCHIMOTO: No, no, he left as soon as his---he was [20:00] able to get his discharge, he left the military, uh-huh. Yeah, so he just served his time and so was discharged, but he did not see any action because, as he went overseas, World War II ended, you know. And so . . . INTERVIEWER: Do you remember what unit he was affiliated with? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no. That I do not know. INTERVIEWER: Does he attend veteran reunions at all or anything like that? UCHIMOTO: I don't think so. And I don't even attend, you know, veteran reunions. INTERVIEWER: Okay. The next child is third born which would be one of your sisters? UCHIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 8 of 58 �And who's that, please? UCHIMOTO: That's Amy, and she is three years younger than me. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Is she still with us today? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, and she lives in Costa Mesa which is down near Los Angeles someplace. I don't know exactly where Costa Mesa is, but it's somewhere near Los Angeles. INTERVIEWER: And your---the final child, your other sister, what is her name? UCHIMOTO: Laura. INTERVIEWER: And she's how old? UCHIMOTO: She's, I think, seven years younger than me. I think she's seven years younger than me, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Okay, since we're talking about Amy and Laura . . . UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: . . . and this is a military sort of interview, I'll kinda jump ahead real quick. How did Amy---maybe you can talk about each---Amy and Laura---how did they---what was their reaction when they---about you going into the military [22:00] when you did? UCHIMOTO: Well, I mean, they were---they had no reaction, I mean, no---they were not happy or unhappy. I mean they accepted that as a fact, matter of life. You know, I mean I don't know just how to respond to you, but there was no adverse reaction. We thought we were very loyal people and, you know. I don't---they had---I guess they were happy for me at the same time. They knew the dangers of getting killed and badly wounded so, you know. And the---when I was going to school in Iowa, that's just before I got drafted in the Army, the white American boys there at this Loras College, they said "Oh, we're going to the Air Force, Army Air Force" or whatever, "we're going Navy, we're going to the Marine Corps." They had all these choices or they had to go in the Army. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 9 of 58 �In our case, we had only one choice: Going into the Army, and going into this combat unit, you know, we had no other choices. So at that---in a way---I thought, well, our choices are being limited, but that is the way it is, uh-huh. So I don't know how else I can answer the question to you. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Thank you. So we'll go back to your early childhood now. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: And maybe you can you tell us what elementary---what elementary school that you attended? UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: From kindergarten and beyond or [24:00] if they had . . . UCHIMOTO: Yeah. I went to Suisun. I lived in Suisun Valley not Suisun City. Suisun Valley which is a farming community, mostly orchard at that time, and west of Fairfield. And so I went to Fairfield. I went to a small school just for about 6 months and then I transferred over to Fairfield Grammar School and I graduated from Fairfield Grammar School and then from there I went to Armijo High School which is in Fairfield, California. INTERVIEWER: What is the name of the high school again? UCHIMOTO: Armijo. It's a---it's spelled like "Army-Joe," A-R-M-I-J-O, and---but it's a Spanish name. Armijo, Armijo High School, A-R-M-I-J-O High School. INTERVIEWER: So your elementary school was Suisun, Suisun Valley? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no, Fairfield Grammar School. INTERVIEWER: Fairfield Grammar School. So that was, what, kindergarten thru eighth grade? Is that it? UCHIMOTO: Well, I went thru first grade thru eighth grade. First grade thru eighth grade. INTERVIEWER: Is that school still in existence today, to your knowledge? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 10 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: I think so. I think. I don't know if it's in the same spot, but I think Fairfield Grammar School's there. I don't know. I really don't know if it's there yet. INTERVIEWER: And the high school you mentioned, is that still around today in 2007? UCHIMOTO: I think so. It's not in the same location anymore. Armijo was---Armijo was in this spot, but now I think they have moved the location. But I think they still call it Armijo High School. In other words, it was really [26:00] downtown just across the street from the courthouse and I think they've actually moved Armijo, but they kept the name on another school they call Armijo. I think so. I'm not sure. INTERVIEWER: So before we talk about your high school days, we're gonnafocus on your early childhood. UCHIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: So your grammar school, do you have any teachers that were instrumental in your life that you want to--you remember and you want to talk about how they made an impact on your life. Any teachers or coaches? UCHIMOTO: No, I---myself, I have--I mean I do not say no teacher really impacted me, you know, that strongly except one of the third grade teacher, Miss---I can't remember her name, but anyway, she use to bring us roses and things like that, third grade teacher. That had a nice feeling towards some of the teachers, you know. And then other teachers I felt were kind of prejudice, you know, prejudice toward us. You know, they---and so they had a kind of a negative effect on us, you know. And, you know, but overall it was a good experience, good experience. [28:00] INTERVIEWER: Your class in grammar school, was it---it sounds like it was mixed Japanese and white students and . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. INTERVIEWER: . . . other type of students? UCHIMOTO: Yes, yes. There're mostly white people, and you---just a just a few orientals in my Fairfield Grammar School. Whereas some of the other smaller schools in the rural areas, they had a, you know, preponderance of, maybe, Japanese American, Chinese American students. But in Fairfield Grammar School, we were a minority. In other words, out of 25 or 30 people, there might be 4 or 5 oriental students, but, you know, not too many were. So, I mean, you know, we were more or less a minority. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 11 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: Now at that time, did they refer to you as oriental or as Japanese? Or something else? When they talked about---in maybe the forms you had to fill out or . . . I know this is grammar school we're talking about, but do you remember what they may have---what was the term they may have called you? UCHIMOTO: Oh, I don't think they used the term "oriental" too much. I mean if you're Japanese descent or Chinese descent or, you know, something like that maybe. But, yeah, Japanese descent, Chinese descent. INTERVIEWER: Now I believe . . . UCHIMOTO: I don't . . . INTERVIEWER: . . . I heard you say you thought some of the teachers may have discriminated against you or the other Japanese students. Can you tell us some of the ways they did that? UCHIMOTO: Well, in my case, no one, actually. But my youngest sister---this is World War II had started already . . . INTERVIEWER: This was Laura you're talking about? UCHIMOTO: Laura. And she was an eighth grader. And this [30:00] principal, who was also the part-time eighth grade teacher, she said---when the kids started talking about the---how the war was going, you know, this is after December 7th, the principal and eighth grade teacher would say to the kids and their family, er, kids in the class, "Shhh, don't talk about the war. There might be some spies in this room," you know. And my sister and maybe one other person was Japanese American, maybe there were two Japanese Americans in the class, and he tried to allude or, I mean, that there were spies in the room. In other words, they were---she was---I thought he was discriminating against the---my sister---not my, yeah, my sister and this other Japanese American student in the class. And I thought that was unfair, you know, to say---make remarks like that in the eighth grade, to the class, you know. "Shhh, don't say too much, we might have spies in this room." That was unnecessary. INTERVIEWER: Now, the grammar school that you attended, I believe it's Fairfield Grammar School. UCHIMOTO: Yes, mm-hmm. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember as a youth---like, I have two boys now and they say the Pledge of Allegiance every day at public school. Do you---did you---at that time, did you say the Pledge of Allegiance in your school? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 12 of 58 �Oh yes, every day, I think. Every day we did the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning somewhere in one of the classes, I think. Yeah, I was [32:00] part of the ritual. Ritual or custom whatever you want to call it, yes. Pledge of Allegiance is, yeah. INTERVIEWER: And in grammar school, what were your favorite subjects that you studied? Any favorite subjects, like math or science or whatever . . . UCHIMOTO: I guess science in that---I don't know in grammar school, but certainly in high school, science was a very popular subject, and maybe mathematics. And I found English a little bit more---English literature and all that was a little bit more difficult for me. But, yes. And I did not take shop and that kind of thing in high school, because I was not good at--- I was not, you know, good in that kind of thing, you know, making things. So . . . INTERVIEWER: Were you involved in sports? UCHIMOTO: Oh, no. I was not good sport---was not good in sports. I just was not---so therefore, all my friends were playing baseball, that, you know, Japanese American baseball team in Suisun Valley, Suisun Valley had a . . . And lot of those people maybe---they don't play football too much because they did not have the big size and weight, but they played basketball, baseball in high school. And, you know, whereas I was not athletically inclined. I was, well, my---some of the---my father and mother's friends used to come and laugh at me. They said "Dan, you're slow motion," you know. You know, "Your slow. [34:00] You're slow motion." And I said "Okay, yeah. I'll . . ." My mother said, "Well, you'd better---you can ignore those remarks. Just go to college and make something of yourself." And so that's what I tried to do. I was not athletically inclined, and so even when I went in to the 4-4-2, I was not---consider myself the best infantryman or best, you know, that kind of soldier, because I was not athletically inclined, you know. So I always think that if I was in some other unit, they would've probably put me in a---make me a typist or Headquarter's Company or something. But in 4-4-2, we were limited in our choices of occupations, shall we say, even in the Army, and so I became an infantryman, you know, infantryman. So that's another story that . . . INTERVIEWER: Okay. And we're going back to your school---with your grammar school days or your youth, were you involved in the Boy Scouts of America? UCHIMOTO: Not when I was a student. It's---became a---when my son became a Cub Scout and then a Boy Scout, that's when I was kind of recruited to volunteer for the Cub Scouts, I mean, Boy Scouts, so I was an assistant Cubmaster---assistant Scoutmaster for a year or two, I guess. Yeah. INTERVIEWER: And real quick, you mentioned your son. What's your son's first name? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 13 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: William. [36:00] INTERVIEWER: Okay. Thank you. And regarding sports, you told us that you didn't think you were--- that you were not that---a good---you weren't that good of an athlete. UCHIMOTO: Yeah, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did you enjoy watching sports or hearing it on the radio? Was that of interest to you or . . .? UCHIMOTO: Not so much. Sports does not---oh, I used to go---when I used to go to Cal I used to watch football games every so often, but I was not that excited about watching, you know, sporting events. That, well, I mean, on TV, for instance, watching ice skating, ice skating, you know, events on TV, I---that excited me a little bit or maybe got my interest because I thought ice skating, it could be beautifully done, you know, ice skating. But as far as regular football, basketball, baseball, that kind of thing doesn't---those sports don't interest me much. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Thank you. And as a youth, did you have any hobbies you can remember? UCHIMOTO: Stamp collecting, I guess. Stamp collecting---I was interested in stamp collecting for a while. INTERVIEWER: Stamp collecting. You collect stamps from just the United States, all over the world or certain type of . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. INTERVIEWER: . . . theme or . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. I mean, different stamps. But I mean I was not that much into, you know, stamp collecting, but at one time I was a, [38:00] you know, collected some stamps. INTERVIEWER: Any other hobbies that you can remember? UCHIMOTO: Oh, I like to read about old cars and---old cars, you know, old cars and trucks---interested in old cars and trucks. And I said reading, reading, you know. I can't think of anything else right at the moment INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 14 of 58 �Now when you were a youth, did you---did you get a library card as a youth so you could borrow books from the library? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, as I say, I mean, I spent quite a bit of time in the library, and over the years, I've spent quite a bit of time in the library reading, you know. So I think reading is one of my hobbies, yes. INTERVIEWER: Okay, as a youth, you told us your parent's were sharecroppers? UCHIMOTO: Yes, yes, farmers. Sharecrop---sharecropper farmers. INTERVIEWER: Basically---mainly tomatoes. Is that correct? UCHIMOTO: Mainly tomatoes, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did you assist them or have any other part-time jobs as a youth or young adult? UCHIMOTO: No, I helped them out. In fact, you know, when I was in high school and in college even, the day I came home from say UC Berkeley, I was working on the farm. And all summer long, I worked six days a week. Sometimes seven, but six days a week. And then I worked before I went back to school, [40:00] I worked Saturday, took one day off, Sunday, and Monday, I was going back to school on Monday, I was going to Berkeley. So all I'm saying is all my life has been work, work work, work. And then when I got out of high school, I couldn't afford to go to Cal, you know. So I stayed out of---I stayed out of school for a whole year. I didn't go to Cal until after I---I mean, I stayed home for one whole year working on the farm to make---save enough money to pay the tuition and board and room at Cal. So life has been pretty much of a struggle, in a way, but I'm still grateful, you know, that I had the opportunity to get a college education, you know. INTERVIEWER: So you were a---again, you're born in 1921 which makes you a child during the Great Depression. UCHIMOTO: Yeah, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Can you tell us what---the area you were living in California, what was it like during the Depression for you or your family? UCHIMOTO: Well, I was---well, let's see, that was about 1935 and, you know, Depression was about 1935. Or it was started around there. So I was a freshman in high school in 1935. So I was---my---it was so called the Depression years when I was going to high school. And life was a struggle, [42:00] but we were all--This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 15 of 58 �most of us were farm, I mean---sons--- the children of sharecrop farmers in, you know, Suisun. And so we all had about the similar experience, you know, struggling, and yet we were able to make ends meet. And it was . . . At one point it was---at the lowest point, maybe it was 10 cents an hour, but I worked for a long time for 20 cents an hour. You worked ten hours in the field for $2, $2 a day. And so life was a struggle, and yet everybody else was in the same boat with us. And we all came through okay, you know. So I don't know how else to answer the question that you're asking me. INTERVIEWER: Now, today, in 2007, we have television and the computers and all this other technology. But I believe when you were a child, you had the radio in your home. Did you have a radio? UCHIMOTO: Kind of late, yeah, but we had a radio. INTERVIEWER: Any favorite . . . UCHIMOTO: We had a radio, and then . . . INTERVIEWER: . . . favorite programs that you can remember that you enjoyed listening to on the radio? UCHIMOTO: No, I don't remember. INTERVIEWER: And can you describe for us the home that you lived in. What---where was that---the address and what was that like? UCHIMOTO: Oh. INTERVIEWER: . . . the actual physical house. UCHIMOTO: Well, this is a story there. I was---we were living in, you know, these landlord, landowner [44:00] houses till I was about 6 or 7 years old, 6, 7, 8 years old, 7 years old, that my father and mother---see, we---they could not own land. They could not buy real estate or own real estate, own a home or anything like that in California at that time. So this organization called Japanese Association of Suisun Valley, they had this lease. I think they had a lease on this property, you know, in Suisun Valley. And so my father and mother they leased this land, a little bit of plot of ground, from this association, and they built this home. They had this schoolteacher who was a part-time carpenter build this home for them for about $250 or so they paid. They paid $250---$500, I mean somewhere around there. And so they built this very simple home. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 16 of 58 �And so when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I think, we moved into this house. And it had running water but no indoor toilet. The toilet was an outhouse which was just about 15 feet away from the house, so they make this outhouse here. And our bathroom was the old Japanese style bathroom that a lot of farmers use to make. They---we had no gas, [46:00] hot water heater or anything like that so they used to take wood and burn wood underneath this little tub. You know, it has a metal bottom maybe, metal bottom, and redwood around the side or something. And then we'd all take a bath in this tub of hot water that was heated by kindling wood or wood. So that's the kind of life we had. INTERVIEWER: Did---in the home did you speak Japanese or English or both? UCHIMOTO: Mostly Japanese. It was more convenient so we---to my father and mother we spoke Japanese, and then between each other, the children, we speak English, of course, because of convenience, you know convenience and, yeah, easy, uh-huh. INTERVIEWER: Did your parents or anyone else tell---teach you how to read and write Japanese? UCHIMOTO: No, no. That is something that I never learned. I mean I tried to go to some school, Japanese school, on Saturday, but I gave that up because I found it rather difficult---I mean that Japanese language is very difficult. You have to learn every one. And of course they have kanji, I guess they say, the highest form or whatever it is. But anyway, no, I, to tell you the truth, I---to this day I do not know how to read or write Japanese. INTERVIEWER: And as a youth [48:00] did you every have any opportunity to go into San Francisco? And let's say for example visit---they had a big---apparently they had a bigger---a large Japantown in the city. Did you ever have an opportunity to go visit San Francisco or the Japantown that was there? UCHIMOTO: No. My folks had me working every day on the farm or . . . And my father was the kind of person that didn't spend any time. My second cousin, they, almost every weekend, Saturday and Sunday maybe, they'd drive over to Sacramento and enjoy themselves, you know. And my father and mother---my father was the type that liked to putter around the house, and he didn't like to go baseball game or, you know, anything like that. And he also didn't like to go---drive us to any place, to take us any place, so all I remember was work, work, work, work on the farm. Or farming area, you know. INTERVIEWER: What about . . . UCHIMOTO: So I did not go any place INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 17 of 58 �Regarding, like, family vacations, did that ever happen? UCHIMOTO: No, no, I never had any vacation. I remember every fall, September, when I go back to grammar school, the teacher says to us students, "Where did you people go for your vacation?" And they'd say, "Oh, we went to Santa Cruz, we went so and so, went so and so, Yosemite, we went this or that." And then I raised my hand, "I worked on the farm." "I worked on the farm all summer long." That was my vacation. INTERVIEWER: Now regarding customs in the---at home, for example, [50:00] Boy's Day, they usually fly carp outside the home for---to represent boys. Do you have any customs from Japan that your parents may have had here in California as well? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no. We didn't have any of those Japanese customs. We did not celebrate that kind of thing. No, I mean . . . INTERVIEWER: Okay, what . . . UCHIMOTO: . . . in that sense, my folks were not that culturally or Japanese inclined, you know. They just allowed us to become Americans. INTERVIEWER: Now, for example, Fourth of July, when you were a child, what was Fourth of July like for you? UCHIMOTO: Oh, that was one day they allowed me to go to Fairfield or Suisun. Suisun? Suisun, I guess, Suisun City. And they'd have fireworks demonstrations, or everybody in the town you can light your own fireplacefirecracker and go like this, like this, you know. And maybe at nighttime they'd shoot some rockets up. But anyway, that Fourth of July celebration, my folks allowed me to go to---walk over to Suisun City and enjoy that fireworks, you know, that we participated in our fireworks celebration. INTERVIEWER: Now, I believe you---your family worked a lot with tomatoes, was that something you ate at home a lot or you didn't like tomatoes? UCHIMOTO: Well, I liked it all right, but, I mean, I didn't overdo it or underdo it. I mean, l liked the tomatoes, yes. It was canning tomatoes and, you know, canning tomatoes are those---they're bigger than the regular market tomatoes at the regular stores. They're bigger. But, yes, I eat---to this day, I enjoy eating tomatoes. INTERVIEWER: Now, when you worked on the farm, did you have a problem [52:00] with any type of insects that you can remember? On the farm? Or the canning process? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 18 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Insects. Well, I mean, you have those larvae or caterpillars or something on tomatoes, so you have to pull those off. And then as far as the fruit goes, during the---not the harvesting time but when the fruit is growing, they'd have to spray---put spray all over the different fruits like pears, and not so much peaches, but pears and things like that. They'd have to spray it. But I did not get involved in that. Yes, those---some fruits required spraying quite often. INTERVIEWER: And also in your grammar school days or your high school days, did you have a geography class at all? Any type of . . . UCHIMOTO: Well, yeah, I mean you do geography as one of the subjects that you---they tell you so that you can know at least what parts of the world exist, you know, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember them teaching you anything about Japan or Japanese culture in school? UCHIMOTO: Not particularly, you know, not particularly. Not any more than any other European culture. No. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What about your family, did you practice---your family practice any type of religion in the household? UCHIMOTO: My mother and father they became members of this Japanese teaching, [54:00] Seicho-No-Ie, and it started in Japan. Mr. Taniguchi, Masaharu Taniguchi started this program, oh, 1940, or '40-some maybe. So to this day I find that teaching to be very helpful to me, you know, in my religious belief, you know. So that is one---it's very much like Christian Science, but anyway, it's a Japanese teaching. And I, to this day, I enjoy reading their literature. And they have a monthly magazine that comes out from Los Angeles and I find that to be very helpful to me. INTERVIEWER: Okay, we're going to be switching tapes shortly. I'll ask you another question. This is---before we get into your high school years, the---any famous or prominent people that you as a child or high school student---anyone that you saw, you know, a president, or celebrity or sports person, that you can remember, or a scientist or anything like that? UCHIMOTO: Well, in high school, we did meet this Jim Thorpe. And I think he was a Olympic person but he lost his Olympic medal. He was American Indian from someplace back East. They took his medal away because somebody paid him so much---few dollars [56:00] for coaching something or, I mean, or watching, umpiring or something, they took his Olympic medal away. But finally, I think, they got it reinstated. Jim Thorpe, and then I cannot recall the presidential candidate or something. One day, somebody came through town and was on the train, I think. And all I remember was he waved like this and that was it. I mean, you know, he was on a train passing thru Suisun City or somewhere. But otherwise I cannot recall any other celebrity, you know. No. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 19 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. I think at this time we'll stop the tape and we'll put in a new tape, and you an opportunity . . . UCHIMOTO: I want to, I want to . . . BEGINNING OF TAPE TWO INTERVIEWER: Dan, do you know anything about---does that mean anything in Japanese, "Uchimoto"? UCHIMOTO: That means "original home." "Uchi" is a kind of a residential home, I think. And "moto," it means original, so it's---I think I would translate that as "original home." But this one Chinese person, who was born in China or someplace, used to tell me, "Inside door step," that's what this Chinese person, you know, "Inside door step," that's the way he translated it in Chinese, "inside door step." But I always translated it as "original home." "Uchi" is a kind of a home, and "Moto" means your original home or your basic home or, you know, it's such---essential home or something like that. INTERVIEWER: And, Dan, you did you have as a youth or while you were in the military or later on, any nickname or nicknames that you can remember that people may have given you or . . . UCHIMOTO: No, I can't think of any nickname. INTERVIEWER: Now, when we---we just took a break and changed tapes, we were talking about, during the break, you mentioned your family [02:00] had a goldfish business. Could you please tell us about that---or your parents, can you please tell us about that? UCHIMOTO: Yeah. They made some concrete ponds. And so, since I was 7, 8, 9 years old, maybe 9 years old, something, 8, 9, I can't remember, but my father and mother would be going out in the fields working on their tomato crop, you know, sometime, and I would be tending---taking care of that goldfish business and also taking care of my younger brothers and sisters, you know, feeding them lunch and everything. And I was, from my early age, 7, 8, 9 years old maybe, at least by about 9 years old, I was tending this goldfish business and then pumping gasoline, I don't know, 10, 11, 12 years old I was pumping gas and taking care of this goldfish business. And that kind of thing would not be permitted these days, I suppose, but in those days there was no child labor law, and I had responsibilities way beyond my tender years. And I used to---even sometimes I give 'em too much money back because I didn't know how to count change. You know, people give me---they buy goldfish, 15 cents, 25 cents apiece or something and---or I'd pump gas and they give me a $2 bill, $3 bill, and I'd make a mistake because I was not good, you know, try to mentally---we didn't---we had a cash register, [04:00] but that came in later. And for a while had no cash register. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 20 of 58 �And so life was pretty much a struggle. But yet, looking back, I'm grateful, you know, for the opportunity to do the things that, you know, and be grateful for the things that happened to me, you know. I mean I'll go back and maybe I can fast forward myself, but maybe you can come back to that later on, or shall I bring it up now? But when World War II came along, you know, we had to---I had to--I was a sophomore at Cal and I had to come home in 1942, and then we had to eventually going to---we went to assembly center in Turlock and then we went to a relocation camp in Arizona, Gila River Relocation camp near Phoenix, Arizona. And my brother went to back East to Swarthmore College, you know, he was able to get into Swarthmore. And then my sister went to---schoolgirl in Massachussets near Boston, and then she finally went to Boston University for a year. INTERVIEWER: What sister was this? Amy or Laura? UCHIMOTO: Amy. Amy. INTERVIEWER: Okay. UCHIMOTO: And here I was wanting to go back to school back East, too. And at first they told me, "Well, we'll let you go to Rutgers University," that's in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And I said to myself [that] Selman Waksman, [06:00] the world famous soil microbiologist, was teaching classes there. Professor of soil microbiology, world famous professor. I said "Jesus, I have a chance to take up soil microbiology." And then two, three months later they told me, "There's some kind of a military installation nearby, and so we cannot get clearance for you to go to Rutgers, so you cannot go there." So I said, "Gee whiz, what shall I do next?" Then I went---I got an offer from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, which is a Catholic liberal arts college. And they said they'd give you $500 scholarship from the fall semester for a year. And my mother says, "You better take it. You better go to Loras College," you know. So at the time I said, "Gee whiz, I wish--I would like to go some more prestigious college or university back East, you know, and I'm gonna wind up in a small liberal arts college, Catholic liberal arts men's college in Iowa." But looking back now, I am very grateful for that opportunity to go to a Catholic liberal arts college and take Catholic instruction, you know, Catholic---here I was a Protestant of a sort, you know, Methodist, say. And also I met this very lovely lady schoolteacher from Dubuque High School, and she became one of my good friends. And I'm very grateful for that opportunity to see what a [08:00] wonderful and great country we have in the United States. At that time, my experiment---experience was limited to UC Berkeley and my farming community in Suisun, Fairfield area, you know. INTERVIEWER: The woman that you met, what was her name? UCHIMOTO: Her name was Emma Trenk and she was a schoolteacher, 20 years older than me, but she befriended me. And at Christmas time, we had to leave the dormitory for a couple of weeks, she said, "Dan, I'll let you stay in my house. I cannot feed you. You'll have to get your meals some other place else. But as far This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 21 of 58 �as living, I mean, you know, getting a place to sleep and stay over, you know, stay, I'll let you do that." So I spent two weeks at her place with her mother. She was 20 years older than me, schoolteacher, single schoolteacher, but she was one lady that gave me that courage to, you know, to become something, you know, to be myself and . . . I am forever grateful to Emma Trenk for shaping me to be the kind of person I am. INTERVIEWER: Now, going back to this---the gold fish business, I believe that, at this time in history, the '20's and '30's, people were actually using gold fish---they'd have contests where they would swallow gold fish. Did anyone---did you ever hear anything like that? UCHIMOTO: Oh, no, no, no, no. We used to sell these little [10:00] glass aquarium bowls, and I think people, they--or then some people, of course, had the pools outside, I suppose. But most people, they just had this little container like this [hand gesturing shape of container] of glass, maybe a little bit bigger, maybe a square one, and they'd have the goldfish in this little bowl inside the house. INTERVIEWER: Now you also mention that your family had---your parents, and you worked in it as well, a service station or a gasoline or fuel station . . . UCHIMOTO: We just sold gasoline in the front. Just had one pump at a Shell station. I mean we just had one pump, gasoline pump, just one now. And so we---I don't know if those days if they had ethyl gas or they had these different grades of gasoline. I just---all I remember is just one grade of regular gas that they were selling. INTERVIEWER: Could you---we were talking about it during the break, the story about your family extending credit to people and what that---what happened with that regarding the credit situation? UCHIMOTO: I mean, these people, every so often, they'd buy gas on credit, and they said, "Well, we'll pay you next time, you know, when we get paid." So we used to do that. But many of these people, they would buy maybe 2, 3 gallons at the time, but just about fall coming around or end of summer, they---some of them put 8 gallons or 10 gallons in the tank---gas in their tank, and they said, "Well, we'll pay you next time." And then we never see them again. You know, these people, many of them are Filipino, I don't think that we had too many Mexican American people in those days yet as farmer---I mean farmworkers. [12:00] Most of these people were Filipino people, I think. And so it was rather discouraging. So finally, my folks, then, were losing money on this gasoline business said, "We'll give it up," so we gave that up first. And then, of course, we gave up the gasoline business, too, er, goldfish business. It was---oh, I know why we gave that up, the goldfish business. Before this happened, the road, the route, the highway between Fairfield and on the way to Vallejo and to San Francisco and Oakland, you know, used to come in front of the house. They moved this---they made a freeway which is, oh, I don't know, quarter mile away from the house, and the traffic did not go through our front of our house anymore, and at that time my folks gave up the goldfish business and gave up the---well, I think they gave up the gasoline business first, but the goldfish business---we didn't get as many customers anymore. And so that is the reason why they went out of the goldfish business, I think, and it This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 22 of 58 �wasn't that profitable either. But that was the main reason that they went out of these businesses, because the route, the road, the highway changed; [14:00] they moved the highway over. INTERVIEWER: The goldfish and the gas station, did they have official names that you can rem(ember)? Was it named, the goldfish business? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, my folks called it "Suisun Goldfish Company." And our gasoline station, I don't think we had any name, particularly. INTERVIEWER: How much---gasoline is about $3, over $3 a gallon now. How much was it back then? UCHIMOTO: I think---if I---I mean I can't exactly remember, but 15 cents and it was not more than about 20 cents a gallon. But you see, at---when you're making $2 a day, you work 10 hours in the field [for] $2, gasoline was not that cheap either. You know, I mean, you know, the---our average wages were, as I say, 20 cents an hour, then it became 25 cents an hour, maybe 30 cents an hour, but it was---so gasoline at 15 cents, 20 cents, 18 cents, and your hourly wage at a farm was 20 cents an hour, it's, you know. INTERVIEWER: Okay. I believe in your class of 1936 and . . . UCHIMOTO: No. Oh, you mean high school? INTERVIEWER: High school. UCHIMOTO: '39. INTERVIEWER '39. UCHIMOTO: 1939. INTERVIEWER: Now at that time, were you hearing that the United States might get involved in a war? Any type of talk that you heard that there maybe a war coming to---that we would get involved with? UCHIMOTO: No. Well, I do know that Russia---Germany was [16:00] going to invade Russia or something. I don't know when that Hitler invaded Russia. Was that about 1940? I don't remember. But anyway, there was war going on in Europe, but when Japan invaded Pearl Harbor, that was December '41, then, well, of course, we were in war, you know, December '41. But '39, there was war in Europe, you know, and--This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 23 of 58 �but as far as the United States getting involved, I mean, that I don't know. I mean I do not recollect reading about the, you know, possibility of war for the United States. INTERVIEWER: Now on December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor, could you tell us where you were and what happened? UCHIMOTO: I think I was going to Cal then. I was a student at UC Berkeley and, yeah, I was a student at UC Berkeley and that took place. INTERVIEWER: Did you hear it on the radio or did someone tell you that---what happened? How did you hear about it? UCHIMOTO: I do not remember. INTERVIEWER: And when you did hear about it, did you know where Pearl Harbor was located? UCHIMOTO: Well, I read that it was in Hawaii, you know. I mean I read it was in Hawaii and I, I mean, yeah, I mean, that was part of the news that Pearl Harbor was in Hawaii. INTERVIEWER: Did anyone say [18:00] anything to you because of your Japanese ancestry and the fact that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? Did you get any type of reaction from anyone directly at you or your family? UCHIMOTO: Well, I know that some of the professors at UC Berkeley showed their disdain for people of Japanese ancestry. This professor of anthropology I had, when he used to walk past me, he used to turn his head like that [turned head to the left], you know. And he's a professor of anthropology. So some of the professors at UC Berkeley did show some of the biases, shall we say. And as I say, my grammar school, Fairfield Grammar School principal and teacher, eighth grade teacher, said those odd remarks to my sister, younger sister. So---but many of the people who used to deal with us on the farm, they were very kind, you know, very kind to us. They said---well, many of them were afraid to say something publicly but came to us in private, and they said, "We're very sorry that you people are going to have to evacuate," you know. This was when the evacuations were gonna take place. "And if we can help you in any way . . ." and this. So some of those people were very, very, very fine and sympathetic to us, you know, and some of those people were not that well-educated either. Education, [20:00] higher education level does not necessarily mean less discrimination or less prejudice. INTERVIEWER: This anthropology teacher at UC Berkeley . . . This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 24 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Mm-hmm. INTERVIEWER: . . .was this---that turned his head when he walked past you. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: How did that make you feel? UCHIMOTO: I said---well, it was very disappointing that if he's a professor of anthropology he should have a more unbiased [laugh] belief. But I accepted it that people are gonna be people. And, you know, it's disappointing, but that's a fact of life. INTERVIEWER: This professor was---were you actually in his class? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, yeah. I took a class from him, but he had about 800 people in his class. He had a huge auditorium, of course, so he did not know me personally, you know, he did not know me personally, but I knew him, who he was, but he did not know me personally. It was not a class of 20 or 30 people where, you know, he knew me personally. This is a large auditorium that he used to lectured in so . . . INTERVIEWER: Now, when they probably did the final grade they---he would have seen you were Japanese from your last name, your surname, "Uchimoto" UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Do you think your grade may have suffered because of your ancestry? UCHIMOTO: No, no, because I got an "A" in that class so, no, I didn't. My grade did not suffer, no. INTERVIEWER: And besides this anthropology teacher, and the grammar school teacher, the incident with one of your sisters, was there any other thing you can remember of any kind of [22:00] discrimination directed at you? UCHIMOTO: No. I cannot remember, recall offhand now. I cannot remember, you know. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 25 of 58 �Now this term they used a lot, I've seen in the newspaper at the time, the word "Jap," how does that word---when you hear that, how does that---what do you feel about that when you hear that, or do people call you that? UCHIMOTO: Well, I---it's a---it feels bad, badly, you know, I mean that I think that most people that who use terms like that are ignorant anyway. But it is disappointing that---disappointing, you know, disappointing that people, you know, that show discrimination are, you know, prejudiced or discriminate. It's a disappointment, but it feels badly. But . . . INTERVIEWER: Did you get called that name as a youth or at Cal? Do you remember people calling you by that term? UCHIMOTO: Yes, I suppose so, but I cannot recall---oh, maybe in high school some of these students used to, you know, call me that, too. But it's---I figured many of them were rather ignorant people, and so, I mean, you know, it bothered me but I didn't let it overly bother me, you know. I don't know how else I could answer your question. INTERVIEWER: And at this time, did [24:00] anyone from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, did they visit your family after Pearl, before or after Pearl Harbor? UCHIMOTO: Oh yes. My father was a secretary at this Japanese association in Suisun Valley, so he was hauled away or taken away from our family and sent to---first to someplace, Crystal City, Texas, or someplace. And then he was sent to Lordsburg, New Mexico, or someplace. Or either way, or he went to North Dakota for a while. And then he went---anyway he was taken away from my fa, er, mother's family for about two, three years he was away, he was taken away. So I know my mother had a very hard struggle. And my father didn't do anything illegal or unfair or un, you know, I mean, he did not do anything wrong. He just was this Japanese association had a---needed a secretary so he was the secretary for 'em. He wrote down all the minutes and all that of the meeting. So my mother called me back and said, "Dan, you better come home from Cal right away. They've taken your father away." And so I had to come home right away and help my fa, er, mother pack up and, you know, we knew that we were gonna be moving someplace. And my mother, at first, was gonna go to Utah or Colorado and, you know, we settled there---some of our friends said, "Come to Colorado or Utah and [26:00] let's take up some farming," you know, "volunteer to drive over from California to Utah or Colorado." And then my mother thought about it, and we got our old truck and we were going to get a---pull a trailer over there and do all that. Then she gave up the idea and she said, "No. I think the wisest thing to do is to go into the relocation camp," and so that's what she did. And looking back now, that was the better choice because, people who---many people who voluntarily agreed to drive, I mean, to move over to states like Utah, Colorado, they had a very hard struggle, you know. You'd been better off if you stayed in camp and, you know. So I think she made a wise choice, right choice. INTERVIEWER: And you mentioned a truck, your family automobile that---or automobiles that you had in your youth and during high school and . . . What type of vehicles did your family have? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 26 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: We were always not very wealthy people, you know, we were always on the---didn't have that much money. So my folks had an old Model T Ford for the longest time. And then when I went to high school, we couldn't afford a brand new car so we bought a used car, a 1931 Model A Ford. And then we couldn't afford a new truck. We had a Model T Ford truck for on the farm, so we bought this old Model B Ford, used truck, for $175 or $165. But right away it needed [28:00] a engine overhaul and we paid 'em $100---we paid another $70---$66---$75 to overhaul the engine. So it was always buying used vehicles, and those we had until World War II came along, and then when we're---when we had to go into the relocation camp, we sold those two to another Chinese farmer near us. He bought our old Model A car---oh, and then my father had an old 1929 Chevrolet, 6-cyclinder, and then we had this old Model E, B Ford truck that we bought used, too. And it had been driven in Oklahoma or someplace for a longest time. And this man drove from Oklahoma to Fairfield, California, and traded this Model-B Ford truck for a Chevrolet truck or something. So we bought that truck and we spent a lot of money, you know, fixing it up. But those days life was a struggle, struggle to make ends meet, you know. INTERVIEWER: Okay. After Pearl Harbor, were you permitted---could you drive your vehicle anywhere, or could you--were you---did you have limitations on how far you could drive or where you could drive your vehicle? UCHIMOTO: I don't remember. I don't remember. I mean, when we---I came home from Cal, I was, you know, a UC Berkeley student then in 1940, let's see, '42? Yeah, '42. I was a UC Berkeley student and . . . INTERVIEWER: So you entered UC . . . UCHIMOTO: . . . I was busy getting ready for this evacuation that was gonna take place, [30:00] so I didn't have any time to be driving here or there. There was no reason for me to be driving. I was every day packing up or trying to sell our---whatever we were gonna sell off, you know, selling our car, selling our truck, and getting our business in order, packing, packing up whatever---whatever we could carry with us is all we were allowed to carry---take over. And then we had to leave else---everything else behind or sell everything off like our refrigerator, washing machine, and things like that, radio or whatever you want. We would sell that off. We sold it off and stored whatever we had, you know. So there was no reason for us to be driving all over the place. Yeah. INTERVIEWER: And I think I may have asked you this question regarding going into San Francisco. Let's see, a few years before the war they had---like the Golden Gate Bridge opened up and then they also had the World's Fair on Treasure Island, did you go to those two events at all or . . . ? UCHIMOTO: Yes. I think that I went with a high school group or some other group I think I went to Treasure Island. But as far as my father taking us here and there, he didn't do any of that kind of thing. INTERVIEWER: Now . . . This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 27 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: He was---liked to putter around the house and . . . INTERVIEWER: At the---on Treasure Island, the World's Fair, they had a pavilion of, like, international cities, and one of them was the Japanese Pavilion, do you remember that? UCHIMOTO: No, no. I do not remember anything like that. INTERVIEWER: What was your favorite part of the World's Fair? Do you remember anything? UCHIMOTO: [32:00] I don't even remember anything about the World's Fair anymore. I do not recall anything. I mean I don't remember. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Now, at Cal, you mentioned, in 1942, that's when the---what year at Cal were you? UCHIMOTO: I was a sophomore. See, as I said to you before, I stayed out of high school for one whole year working on the farm to make enough money to go to Cal, you know. And so I stayed out of the high school, er, gram[mar]---high---after high school, I stayed out one year so I was delayed one year. Then I went to Cal in the fall of '40 . . . INTERVIEWER: '41? UCHIMOTO: 1940. In other words, I graduated from high school in 1939, June, 1939, and it was September, 1940 that I started Cal. INTERVIEWER: Did you live on campus at Cal Berkeley? UCHIMOTO: No, I stayed near the campus; I had rented a room. And my fa---mother said, "Why don't you go 'school boy'?" Those were the days when people, Japanese American students, boys and girls, they did "school boy" or "school girl." They live in a---usually a white person's home, and then they help wash dishes or take care of the children or something, and for that they get free room and board. So I was going to do that and I went to this one lady first place. And I broke a few dishes, washing her dishes. And she said "Dan, you will not do. [34:00] I cannot hire you." So then I told my mother and I said, "I'm just not adept---I'm not that skilled in washing dishes and, you know, taking . . ." She says, "Okay, Dan, what we'll have to do is, you will have to do something else." This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 28 of 58 �So I rented a room near Cal, and I stayed on Durant Avenue, there's a little rooming house, $20 a month, $25 a month. And then I became a boarder at the Co-op house. I think that Co-op, Berkeley Co-op, is still in business. They---the Berkeley Co-op is a student cooperative in Berkeley. And I don't know how much a month they charged, but in those days I think it was $32 and a half a month, $25, $32 and a half a month, and you put in 4 hours a week, 3 or 4 hours a week work shift. And they gave you three meals a day, and so I---that's what I did. And then sometimes I used to work---oh, yes, which remembers me one thing. My first year I was working part-time at the Newman Hall in Berkeley. Newman Club or Newman Hall. That's the Catholic School, er, Catholic students, kind of a religious facilities for Catholic students. And I used to do their sweeping, and dusting, and mopping, and, you know, and vacuuming and all that. I used to do that every Saturday. I used to work for $1 an hour, 50 cents an hour? [36:00] 50 cents an hour? It must have been 50 cents an hour in those days. Yeah. And then on---when---they had a parking lot, so when football time between Cal and Stanford came along, they used to take in people to drive into their parking lot. I used to help collect the money for that, you know, Saturday. So I did that for a whole year. So, I mean, even when I was going to Cal I used to do part-time work. I used to---pay 30 cents an hour or so I could go out and do all that, you know, before World War II. And then after---even after World War II when I came back from service, then I was on GI Bill going back to Cal, you know. And I, in those days, I think I was working $1 an hour. On Saturdays I'd worked for this lady on Trestle Glen Drive [Road] in Oakland and making extra money, so I used to work about 7 hours a day, maybe, 8 hours a day. And so I used to work on Saturday after World War II and I was going to Cal. This lady of the house and her---she had a mother and she---two people living together. "Dan, I want you wash that toilet! And you are going to not use those [making circle motion] wooden things, those plastic things. You are going [38:00] to stick your bare hands in there [making digging motion] and take a cloth and or sponge and clean it." You know, so that's what she made me do. She didn't give me any gloves or anything. And her toilet bowl, I stuck my hand in there and went like this [making digging motion]. Every Saturday I cleaned her toilet bowl with my handsm so I know what it means to work, you know. And then . . . INTERVIEWER: This---so what race was she? UCHIMOTO: White lady, white lady, you know, Trestle Glen Road, yeah, in Oakland. Montclair District, I guess you call it. A little bit, not as fancy as Piedmont but a little bit classier than the downtown Oakland area, you know. And then in the afternoon, she said, "Dan, I want you to mop, I mean, wax my floor. You are going to get in your hands and knees, take this polish and put this polish all over with your, you know, you don't use that---go like this [pushing/rubbing motion]. You're gonna take your hands and knees and put this wax all over the floor. Let it dry a little while and then you are going to take this little"---I don't know whether it---I don't think it was an electric buffer. I think it was one of those metal, well, you know, that big heavy thing like this with a handle on it. And go like this and kind of buff the floor [pushing arms sideways]. And so I said, "Okay," and so that's what I did on Saturdays. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 29 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: At UC Berkeley, what was your major? UCHIMOTO: Oh, yeah, well, this---it was called---my mother said wanted me to---see, I wanted to be a pharmacist when I was a freshman in high school. [40:00] I wanted to be a pharmacist. And my mother said, "No, you are not going to be a pharmacist. You are going to be something else. We'll go into fruit products and then we can one day run a---form a tomato cannery someplace." So I took Fruit Products, then the war broke---came on and I had to leave for quite awhile. And then I came back there from service and started going back to school back East. My mother allowed me to come back to California, so I took Food Technology at Cal, you know, Berkeley. And now I think it's called Food Science. And then I went to work for six months in an apple products plant in Sebastopol, and then I said, "That man says I'd better . . ." Then, oh, I decided to go for masters here at Cal. And so I took a wine fermentation class in my masters, you know. I'm a---I could---I learned how to become a wine technician. In other words, if wine season comes along, I could be their wine technologist. I could put the yeast in, I can watch the alcoholic fermentation. See how the wine is fermenting and do this or that. But I never did go into the wine industry, because I was weak to alcohol. I'd take one, you know, glass of wine or beer or something and I'm--- I just lose my sense of balance and coordination. So I said to myself, "Why should I---I better not go into wine field, [42:00] wine fermentation industry." So I did not go into the wine fermentation, but I was trained as a winery fermentation chemist. And one day, when I was getting almost through my course, I went to an interview at Gallo Winery in Modesto, California. Friday afternoon, late Friday afternoon, I got interviewed. And the guy says to me, "Monday morning, can you come to work for me?" And I said, "Whoa, not so fast," you know. And then we couldn't quite agree on the salary. So I said, "Well, let me think about it." And I did not go back. But two or three those professors at Cal, you know, they got mad at me. They said, "Here you have a wonderful chance to get experience at Gallo Winery," you know, that was one of the famous wineries in California---"and you flubbed it. You did not take up on their offer." But I do not regret it to this day, simply because winery business, I mean, if I'm weak to alcohol, then working in a wine industry is not a good thing for me. INTERVIEWER: So, before we go into your future career, we'll kind of---we'll talk about Cal and then your military experience. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: One more question about Cal Berkeley. What about Cal Berkeley did you enjoy when you went to school there? UCHIMOTO: Well, I mean the---this going to Cal was a [44:00] nice experience, I mean, overall. I mean, it was very pleasant. It was tough school toget grades in, you know, a very hard school, but I enjoyed the courses. And some of the professors I met there were wonderful people. And the things I learned, like some of This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 30 of 58 �the---Professor Cruess, [William Vere Cruess', who professor of food tech, food products, or food technology or whatever you want to call it. Professor Cruess was a world famous, you know, food scientist. And then I had this, I cannot remember his name but I had this one course in animal nutrition by this professor. And it was a very---it was a tough place to get grades and a tough place to graduate from, but I appreciate that, you know, when my mother said, "Why don't you..." She was in Chicago at the time, and I stayed in Chicago after I got out of the military. I was in Chicago for six months or so and doing some odd jobs or, shall we say, working for, you know, the government for a while. But she says to me, "Why don't you go back to California to go to school?" And I said, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." I was taking a summer session course at University of Chicago after I got out of the military service, [46:00] University of Chicago summer session, and I can't remember the person's name who was a professor there in bacteriology. And he says, "Dan, why don't you go to some good school back East, like University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, or someplace. University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin or someplace like that, and then get a job in the Midwest someplace, where less prejudice, less prejudice," you know. "You know, your West Coast is a pretty prejudice place." And I said to myself, "That's a good advice you're giving me and yet I can't stand the cold winters in Midwest, you know, it's just too cold in wintertime." So therefore when my mother said, "Why don't you go back to California and finish your schooling?" I jumped at that chance and came back to Cal. INTERVIEWER: You earlier mentioned that your father was hauled off by, I believe, the FBI. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did he have any communication with you or your family when after---when he was taken away, was he able to communicate? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah, he was able to write to family. My mother used to get letters from him periodically. And, of course, they were censored or whatever you want to call it, they were examined for, you know, somebody censored his letter, looked at before he sent it out. But he was able to---because he didn't do anything wrong, you know. I mean, it was just [48:00] that his association with this job, this voluntary job he had. Anybody that's suspect for questions of patriotism, they hauled away to these detention camps. Yeah. So, yes, he was able to write to us regularly. INTERVIEWER: And then I believe, probably after that---shortly after that, President Roosevelt had this Executive Order 9066, the relocation of the Japanese Americans . . . UCHIMOTO: Uh-huh. INTERVIEWER: . . . from the West Coast. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 31 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: When you heard about that, how did that make you feel? UCHIMOTO: Well, I don't know what you mean, "How did that make you feel?" I mean, it was---well, some people, I don't know if this was true, but German and Italian immigrants, they were not really rounded up, only Japanese Americans. So in that sense I thought this is kind of unfair. But what---I certainly was not going to fight it or anything. Which we---which I'll come back to later or even I can mention it now. After---when we were in relocation camp, we had this questionnaire. Will you to be willing to be loyal to the United States or something, and would you be willing to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States or something. There was a---we had this---young people had this questionnaire, and some people put "no, no", "no, yes" and other people said "Oh yes, I'd be willing to serve in [50:00] any way I can." And my mother said---I said, "I think this is unfair." But my mother said, "Say 'yes yes' to everything." And so people who said "no, no," some of my friends that were at Cal, they wound up at Leavenworth, Kansas. There's a kind of a prison. They were there for about three years. And then people who said "no, yes," they were---stayed in camp, and they were not bothered. And people who said "yes, yes," they were allowed to be drafted in the Army and served in the U.S. Armed Forces. And so when I said "yes, yes," my mother said "'Yes, yes,' is the right word---way to do it." I did that. And so as I was going to school in Dubuque, Iowa, at Loras College, I think I got this draft notice that you are going to serve---report for duty pretty soon to the Army, Army in someplace in Iowa, I can't remember. Anyway, I was happy to oblige. INTERVIEWER: Could you---so at that time when you were---you did spend some time in---your mother was sent to Gila River, is that---that's correct, right? UCHIMOTO: I was there, too. INTERVIEWER: You were there. UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Your studies were interrupted at UC Berkeley and you were sent to Gila River. Is that . . .? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, that's right. INTERVIEWER: t This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 32 of 58 �And then from Gila River, you were went to this university in Iowa. UCHIMOTO: Liberal arts college. Yeah, yeah. Liberal arts college, Loras College. INTERVIEWER: And you continued . . . UCHIMOTO: Not a university. [52:00] I would call, Loras College, as college, college. INTERVIEWER: Did you continue with the same type of studies that you were having---were you studying at Cal or another field of study? UCHIMOTO: See, Loras was a very small liberal arts college with about 250 students, 300 students, in four years, you know. It's mostly serving Catholic students who were going to go into the priesthood. So they had college chemistry, college physics, maybe, and then had languages, but they didn't have the fields of studies that the University of California had, you know. So I was taking just plain old college course in chemistry. But the thing is, when I came back to Cal, my one year and one summer session at Loras College could not be transferred to Cal. So it took me five years to get my BS degree instead of four years, because this courses---these courses at Loras College were not really transferable to Cal. I mean, they were not relevant. So, in a way, I did not fully utilize my time. But that was all right, I mean, I came back to Cal, took me five years to graduate. But that's the way it was. Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Now, when you were in Iowa, did you experience any type of discrimination because of who you were? UCHIMOTO: No. That is the beauty of the thing. For the first time in my life, I'd be walking in the streets of Dubuque and I felt like a, I'm free, white, and 21. One day [54:00] I was kind of down and out or I was, you know, maybe not feeling quite right, and then one of my classmates comes to me, one of my---his name was Goltz [ph] or something, a German American from Iowa somewhere. He said, "Dan, I want to talk to you." He says, "You're free, white, and 21, so act like it." You know, he gave me . . . And then I was shy about ladies and women, you know, women, being around women. So when Emma Trenk used to say, "Dan, I'll take you over to this Cath[olic], er, this Methodist Church in Dubuque." She says, when crossing the street, she says, "Dan, take take my arm and escort me across the street." And so I said "Oh, okay, okay." Here I was ashamed to be around women, you know, ladies, but she corrected me. And so for this---for these experiences, I am forever grateful that they helped shape the kind of person I am, you know. INTERVIEWER: Now we'll briefly talk about---we have about five minutes and then we'll switch tapes. Gila River, could you describe what it was like, the process of leaving California, going to Gila River, and what you experienced when you arrived at Gila River, the relocation camp. I believe you said it's in Arizona. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 33 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Oh, you mean how hot it was, and how . . . INTERVIEWER: What do you think you want to share to us about [56:00] that process of leaving California and going to Gila River, and what was it like there? Where did you live? Any type of jobs that you had at the camp? UCHIMOTO: Well, yeah, it was a very hot place, hot and, I don't know, it's not humid, it's just hot, hot and dry climate. And it goes up from 100, people talk about hot weather 110, 112. I mean, it could go up to 115 maybe even---I don't know if it ever got to 121 degrees, but certainly it got to 115 degrees, way over 110 degrees at Gila River. You know, it was a desert, desert climate, and it was a hot place. And then there'd be every so often you'd have these dust storms just go blow through the place. Everything covered with dust and everything, hot and humid---a hot and dry place. And I had a job, sanitary assistant. I was first plumbing, plumber's assistant, helping out, you know. But it was---I don't know how else to describe it. That---at---we---oh, $16 a month we got paid room and board and, of course, you know, they gave us food. $16 a month we got paid. And so---but it was hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, very warm place. So it was---and a dust storm, it's . . . INTERVIEWER: What about the guards, were there---were you guarded by [inaudible; overlapping dialogue]? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. We had---every block or every so often you had these sentries, [58:00] they had these guard towers. People with these rifles or something, you know. And we had guard towers, we could never leave the place. I mean, we have to go outside and do something, you had to ask permission. So it was not the most pleasant place. And then when you get food, you get in line, you know, it's just like being in the Army or any of the---you get in line every time and into this mess hall and you get your food. And it was not the most pleasant thing, you know, but it was one of those things that happened. But we were not mistreated or anything like that. It's just that---oh, living conditions, we had this one room for all of us, so, I mean, there was no privacy. And then there was---our toilet facility was in another kind of a unit, so we had no private---privacy as far as washing our face or taking a bath or anything like that---taking a shower, you know. It was kind of a---for every barrack, barracks, a barrack had about, I don't know, 3 or 4, 5, 6 people lined up, you had these like stalls, and then you have a communal place where you take---do your toiletry and taking your shower. So I don't know how else to describe it. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. I think we'll end there [01:00:00] for the next---then we'll switch tapes. BEGINNING OF TAPE THREE INTERVIEWER: When did you arrive . . . [Addressing the crew.] Oh, you ready to go? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 34 of 58 �CREW MEMBER: Yes. INTERVIEWER: [Back to Mr. Uchimoto.] Okay, we'll get---we'll kind of save those stories until . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh, all right. INTERVIEWER: . . . I ask you the questions. So we're back with our veteran, Dan Uchimoto. UCHIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: And we[re here in Richmond, California, doing a oral history, and we were talking about your days at the University of California at Berkeley. And then you went to the relocation camp [at] Gila River, and then you were over in Iowa, you received a draft notice from the---was it the United States Army? UCHIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: How did you receive that? Was it through the mail or a telegram or how did you get that draft notice? UCHIMOTO: I think so. I think it was through the mail. And they told me that you are going to report to Fort Dodge, Iowa, or someplace, but they told me that your draft board [is] in California. Fairfield, California? Or wherever it was, your draft board. They are going to get credit for your enlist---being---called into the U.S. Army. They told me that, you know, I was gonna be called when I was in Iowa, but the draft was instigated or started by the---and get the credit went to the Fairfield, California Draft Board or something like that. That was what I was told. Okay? Now. . . INTERVIEWER: Now you were in---you were at---in college this time and your mother was at this relocation center and your father . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh, no, no, no. INTERVIEWER: Right? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 35 of 58 �Oh, I forgot to tell you, my folks they left camp. See, some people stayed in camp until the World War II ended. My folks were one of those people that left the camp voluntarily [02:00] and went to---resettled themselves in the Midwest someplace, Midwest or maybe even back East, if you want to call it. But my folks went to this house, this family, husband and wife, in Westerville, Ohio, which is about 17 miles out of Columbus, Ohio. They---one our good friends, who was a younger man, he went to work for this lady for a while during the summer or so. And then he said, "Oh, this lady and her husband are looking for someone to do their gardening and do housework, so would you like to go? They're very nice people." Well, my folks said, "Okay," and they went over there and found out that the lady was really a hard slave driver. Made my father work hard, my mother had to work hard. But I mean for $150 a month plus room and board, they were more or less a housekeeper and a gardener for this couple. This couple was a General Motors executive who used to live in Detroit, Michigan. He was pretty high up in that General Motors organization. When he retired, he went to Westerville, Ohio, and bought this two-acre plot, or three-acre plot. And houses are much cheaper in Ohio than they are in Michigan, you know. Even now, the houses in Ohio are much cheaper than a lot of other places. And so they built this brick house, and my mother, my father and mother [04:00] and my youngest, younger sister, Laura, they went to Westerville, Ohio. And so when I got my draft notice, I left Loras College and went to live with my---stay with my father, mother and sister in Westerville, Ohio. INTERVIEWER: What was the date that you received that draft notice? UCHIMOTO: Must have been around May 19---'44. Yeah, I think so, '44, '44, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And the couple you were talking about in Ohio, what race were they? UCHIMOTO: They were white people. INTERVIEWER: And initially you mentioned your father was---your father was initially taken away first. UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. Oh, I forgot to tell you . . . INTERVIEWER: How did they reunite your father and your mother? UCHIMOTO: Just before, not too far before, my father was released from Lordsburg, New Mexico or someplace detention camp. First they were sent to---he was sent to someplace in Texas, and then he went to North Dakota, then he went to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and then before---in---back in '44---'43? '44? Anyway, my folks were---they had relocated themselves to Westerville, Ohio, and that's where--therefore I spent---went to stay there for two, three months, or two months or whatever time I had [06:00] before I got called to active duty in the Army. Let's see, so then I had 17 weeks of basic training This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 36 of 58 �at Camp Blanding, Florida. That was in '44 then, about October, November, or December, or something like that. INTERVIEWER: What was the name of the camp again in Florida? UCHIMOTO: Camp Blanding. B-L-A-N-D-I-N-G, Blanding. INTERVIEWER: What city is that near? UCHIMOTO: Near Jacksonville, Florida. And there's a small town nearby, but I can't remember the name of the small town. INTERVIEWER: Okay, Dan, when you rec[eived]---when you got that draft notice, when you opened it up and read it, how did---what was your reaction when you realized you were gonna be---you were gonna actually be going into the military? UCHIMOTO: What was my reaction? I mean, I just say, "Oh, is that right?" you know, "I'm gonna finally go in." I have to---I mean, I'm---I---when I put "yes, yes" down, I expect to serve my country in any way I can, you know. When I put "yes yes," it's just that I told you this story before that all my white students at--white [indiscernible] students at Loras College, they said, "Boy, we have a choice. We can go to the U.S. Army Air Force, we have the Marine Corps, we have the U.S. Navy, or the U.S. Army." And I thought to myself, "I do not have a chance." That way, I felt that I was---I don't know if you call it, it was unfair, cheated, or unfair, that I can only go into that Japanese American combat [08:00] team, you know, unit. I mean, the U.S. Army was the only choice I had. Oh, another choice would have been, of course, military intelligence, but I did not qualify because I don't---I'm not a good Japanese, you know, language student. So in that sense I said to myself, "Life is somewhat unfair, but that's the way it is." INTERVIEWER: Did you get---your brother Warren was also drafted. Is that correct? UCHIMOTO: Yes, but . . . INTERVIEWER: Was he drafted after you after the war? UCHIMOTO: Oh yes, yes, because he did not have to serve. I don't remember when he went overseas, but when he went overseas, [it was] just about the time that World War II had ended in---well, at least the war in Germany had ended. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 37 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: Now when your parents found out that you were drafted, what was their reaction when you told them you were drafted? UCHIMOTO: Well, they accepted it. I mean, they didn't make any reaction. They knew that when I put "yes, yes" down, I was subject to the draft and serve my county in any way I can. So they were very---I wouldn't say they were happy about it, but they were not sad about it either, you know. They accepted it. INTERVIEWER: Did your family give you any good luck charms to go---to take with you when you entered military service? UCHIMOTO: Not particularly. But I gave myself a lot of luck charm---good luck charm. I had this---when I went to--the night before we left the service, I mean, not the service, we left the United States, the night before, I went to [10:00] this USO or something, see, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is where we were, and we were gonna board the---we were going to board the transport the next morning, next day. The night before, I went to this USO place, and nearby in this school place---and there was a USO or some kind of a---and they had some books and a lot of magazines, and it says you as a soldier, serviceman, you can have anything you want, you know, of this collection. And there was this magazine called, I can't remember the name of magazine now, but there was one---this little magazine just appealed to me. So I said to the lady there, "May I have this, please?" "Oh yes, you may have it." Elizabeth Town and somebody Town published this magazine. And when I was in combat in Italy, bullets flying, shells flying all over, and I was in my foxhole or slit trench, I used to pull that out of my field jacket and read it like this, and it gave me a lot of comfort. And I still have that magazine. I saved it all these years as a memento. So anyway, that gave me a lot of comfort, yeah. So, I mean, you know, life has been like that. INTERVIEWER: Now, the Army at that time gave soldiers a serial number, do you remember your serial number? UCHIMOTO: Oh yes. INTERVIEWER: [12:00] And what is that please? UCHIMOTO: 3-7-6-9-8-0-7-5 INTERVIEWER: And at that time, what did you use that serial number for? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 38 of 58 �What did I use the serial number for? I mean, it was on the dog tag, and I guess I still have my dog tag someplace, I don't remember now. But that was, when you were in the service, that was your number. And, of course, if you have the unfortunate occasion of getting killed, then they'd take your dog tag number, and I think they put it on this little cross, I mean, this little thing, you know. But anyway, this serial number is what you are identified with when you're in the service. INTERVIEWER: Now when you received your draft notice, you were in Iowa, how did----where did you go next in terms of reporting for military duty? Where did you---how did you physically get there? On a bus or a train? And where did you report to? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. They---either they---from Dubuque they gave us a bus, I think, and we all drafted. Several people all got on this bus and we went to Fort Dodge, Iowa, or someplace, Des Moines or---we went someplace to report for induction, or not induction, yeah, I guess they called it induction. And you swear (holding right hand up) and you get in. And then they give you time off, you see. You don't go into the training right away. They give you about two, three months. So during that two, three months, two months or so, I went to my folks, my father and mother, who were [14:00] working in Ohio. And from Ohio, they---I got this notice to report to Camp Blanding, Florida for my 17 weeks of basic training. And so that's where I---from Westerville, Ohio, I went to Florida. And I found out that so-called Jim Crow, or the black, black, prejudice against the blacks were really something to see. Because one day I had a weekend pass to go to someplace on a bus. I don't know where I went to from my Camp Blanding to some other place local. And so here we were on this bus, either were going or coming back, I forgot now, to this city, and there was this black lady with a small child, oh, maybe 7, 8 years old, 6 years old, 7 or 8 years old. And there were myself and maybe three or four white soldiers on the bus. Two of those white soldiers were way---sitting way toward the back. So when this bus driver was hailed by this lady and her little child, little boy, he stopped the bus and then he says to the two white soldiers in the back of the bus, "Come here, you know, I want you guys to move toward [16:00] the front of the bus." Then [he says to] this black lady and her child, "Now, you go back to the end of the train, you know, bus." And so she did. And the bus was almost empty, you know, it's just only about 4 or 5 of us, you know, there's all kinds of room in the bus that maybe holds about 30, 35 people. But that was the law in Florida: The black people have to sit in the back of the bus, and the white people get to sit in the front of the bus. And then another incident was my brother. My brother worked in Texas for a while. At Fort Worth there is a Lockheed or there's some kind of a big airplane company. He used to work for about, I don't know, a couple of years maybe, he worked in Texas, my brother did. And he told me, "Do you know that a black person can go into these hamburger joints or whatever it is, they can go and buy the hamburger, but they cannot eat it in there; they have to go outside someplace. And then he says to me, "We have in Texas one toilet facility for white people and then we have another toilet facility for colored people," and he told me that, see. And I suppose maybe Florida was like that too, but I don't remember. But things have changed quite a bit since then, you know INTERVIEWER: And we were talking about the---your training camp experience? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 39 of 58 �Yeah. You mean you were talking about camp experience, not the military experience. INTERVIEWER: Before you [18:00] reported to, I believe it was Camp Blanding? UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: You had like a---I believe you said about a three-month period. But did the military give you a physical examination to make sure you were qualified for duty? UCHIMOTO: Well, that was given to me before when I went to that Fort Dodge or whatever that---right after my school ended in Iowa, I mean, Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, I went to this army facility there in Iowa and I got my physical. And here I was, I weighed about 103 pounds, 102 pounds, and I weighed about--about five foot---five and a half years [feet], and I weighed about 102 pounds, and the doctor who examined me says, "Dan, if you were," two pounds was it or three pounds? "if you were two, three pounds less weight, you would not have to come into the Army." That's what he told me. So, is that right? INTERVIEWER: About how much---do you remember approximately about---how much did you weigh at that time? UCHIMOTO: That's what I'm saying, I weighed 102, 103 pounds or something, And I was not ever that athletically inclined, you know, but---so Army---being an ammo carrier in a weapons platoon was a lot of work for me. But that's another story that we'll come to later on, but . . . INTERVIEWER: Did you gain weight when you were in the military? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah, because we had [20:00] C-rations and K-rations and they fed us all that ration that---so that I ate like crazy because I was exercising and, you know, I mean, you know, and all that hard work. So I must have gone up to about 108 or 109 pounds maybe, and then I lost it back again, but during that military service, for a while, when I was in combat, I gained weight. INTERVIEWER: Now, when you went to---was it your initial training, the basic training, I believe you said it was with a group of Japanese American trainees. UCHIMOTO: Yes, yes, yes. INTERVIEWER: What group was that? What was the name of that unit? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 40 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: I, I . . . INTERVIEWER: It had a number. UCHIMOTO: I don't remember. I mean . . . INTERVIEWER: I believe you said 442nd. Is that correct? UCHIMOTO: Well, 442nd is a group that I joined after I went overseas. But this group of trainees over there in Camp Blanding, Florida, we were all Japanese Americans, but I don't think we had any name, as such. I don't remember. The 4-4-2 and the 100th Battalion and all that, that's the name of the unit that I went overseas to. 4-4-2, Company C, 100th Battalion, 4-4-2, that's the unit I joined after I went overseas. But in Florida, I really don't remember the name of that, but we were all Japanese Americans except for the officers and noncom, noncommissioned officers. They were all white people, training us. INTERVIEWER: Could you describe for us the---at that time what Camp Blanding physically looked like? How big it was and . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh, I have no idea. [22:00] All I know you had all these funny . . . No, I can't remember anymore. It was lot of water there, here and there, and I was---I don't remember. INTERVIEWER: What about the . . . UCHIMOTO: It rained quite a bit, maybe and . . . INTERVIEWER: What about the heat or any hurricanes, or alligators, or anything like that when we think about Florida? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no. It was---I don't recollect too much except that the---no, I can't really recall what . . . INTERVIEWER: Now these---the white officers that---were your---were the officers, did they yell or scream or swear at you or anything like that? UCHIMOTO: No, no. They were very---many of them were very sympathetic to us, you know. They thought that maybe we had volunteered or something. They were very fair. And some of those fellows said, "I would really like go into service with you overseas and join with you, and fight with you side by side." You This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 41 of 58 �know, some of those people were very fair minded people that were sympathetic. They felt that we had a hard time, you know, hard knocks in life. And they were, I mean, all of them were---most of them were very sympathetic, even if they were Southerners they, you know, they were, I mean, I have good memories of my basic training. INTERVIEWER: Now, you were there for approximately 17 weeks, UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: What exactly---what type of training did they give you during those 17 weeks? UCHIMOTO: [24:00] Well, the, gee whiz, I can't remember what---but I think it's climbing over, you know, obstacles and this and that. And then taking these marches every day, and, boy, you'd have to be disciplined. If you're marching and you---even a hot day, you're perspiring like crazy, you're not supposed to take a handkerchief or anything and wipe your face. You're not supposed to drink any water. You're under discipline. Army discipline is pretty hard. You can't even touch your face or anything. "Take that hand away!" And they really discipline. Then they---you go crawling here and there. And you go crawling, I mean, getting up things and . . . I think it's you---oh yeah, you must shoot these M1 rifle and . . . It's 17 weeks training is---and at the end of the 17 weeks or toward the end, I forget how many mile hike that you have. You have an overnight hike that you have to have, you know, so that by the time you're through, boy, you're---you've proved that you got the athletic ability to do these obstacles and do these long marches, and you have demonstrated that you have some proficiency, I suppose, and athletic, you know, ability to . . . INTERVIEWER: Did they train you how to salute? UCHIMOTO: [26:00] I suppose so. I suppose you're suppose to, I don't remember, but they tell you simply how to do it. Yeah, you, you . . . INTERVIEWER: Maybe you can show us . . . UCHIMOTO: I can't remember anymore. INTERVIEWER: Okay. UCHIMOTO: I can't use---whether you use two fingers, three fingers, it's been so long ago, so long ago. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 42 of 58 �What was the worst part of basic training or the hardest part of basic training for you at Camp Blanding? UCHIMOTO: Well, I guess that they were all hard because I was not so athletically inclined. But I---that hike was very hard. I forgot how many miles we had to hike or walk or, I mean, you know, and it was hard. INTERVIEWER: Did---were you given indication by the officers that your group was gonna be sent---were you gonna--when you're sent to the theater of operations in war, were you gonna sent---be sent to the front lines or were you gonna be somewhere in the rear? What were they telling you to expect? UCHIMOTO: Oh, they said, "Boy, you guys gonna be in combat pretty soon. Before you know it, you're gonna go out and see action." And that's what they warned us, that we were not going to be---we were going to go into front lines. We were told that. INTERVIEWER: And could you describe your---from your shoes to your whole uniform, what was your, and if you had more than one uniform and your dress uniform as well, what was your Army uniform like? And you can start through maybe your, your . . . UCHIMOTO: Well, at summertime, you have a [28:00] suntan, you know, similar to a color like this maybe, a little bit darker. But in the wintertime, you had kind of a wool thing. And then, of course, in combat, you don't use the regular jacket, we had a army field jacket, they call it. The regular dress uniform is Eisenhower jacket, but I don't think we used Eisenhower jacket in combat. I think we used this kind of a combat field jacket or field uniform. But anyway, we---when we're in combat, of course, you go for days and days without washing your face or brushing your teeth or---you do the minimum and you're staying, you know, outside and, you're, you know, you do the basic, primitive, you know, toiletry. But I don't know how else to describe it. You're . . . INTERVIEWER: And what about weapons that you either used in basic training or in combat. What kind of weapons did you carry with you? UCHIMOTO: Well, this is the story I can---I don't know how much detail you want, but when I first went overseas, I was assigned to the rifle company, rifle platoon. INTERVIEWER: And real quick, I'll interrupt you, when you say "overseas" what country do you mean when you say--when I hear you say "overseas," where---what country are we talking about? UCHIMOTO: Northern Italy. [30:00] INTERVIEWER: Okay. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 43 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: See, I went---when we first went in January '45, the---they had---the 4-4-2 was lost about 800 men or 1,000 men or something in that Bruyeres Campaign. 800 men, 1,000 men or something, and of that two hundred that got killed, you know, and to rescue about 200 men, the 4-4-2 lost so many men. So they were taking a kind of a break or rest at---near Menton, near Italian, er, French Riviera, no, French Alpinini, no, French Alpine that . . . Anyway, between Italy and France there's a place there, they were there and I joined the unit there in January of '45. But then we went to---in April '45 we went into Northern Italy for the final push through the, you know, the Italian front, you know. And so to make a long story short, I had a---I was first assigned to this rifle company, you know, that rifle platoon. Company C, there's about 160 men in Company C of 100th Battalion, about 160 men including soldiers and officers. And you have about 40 men in each platoon, three rifle platoons, and then you have a light weapons platoon of another 40. And I was first assigned to rifle platoon, and this platoon sergeant person [32:00] told me, "Dan, if you stay with me, one of these days you're gonna get killed or you're going to get badly wounded. I'm giving you a chance to get out from my . . . And so would you like to get into---become a Army medic?" And I said to myself, "Jesus Christ, if I became an Army medic, when the enemy is shelling you and rifle fire, artillery shell, and one of your men in your company is wounded, 'Medic! Medic! Medic! Help me!' You are supposed to crawl over there regardless of the fire, artillery fire, rifle fire, you're supposed go over there [and] get that wounded soldier and pull 'em back to your line." And I said, "Jesus, that's a dangerous job." So I said, "Rather than being an Army medic in my company, can you get me into the weapons platoon. He says, "Okay, I'll see what I can do." And three days later, he says to me, "Okay, you're now in the weapons platoon, you're not in my rifle platoon anymore." So, I became an ammo carrier, one of the ammo carriers, for this weapons platoon. They had---you have---in the weapon platoon of about 40 people, they have light machine guns, some squads have light machine guns, some squads have the 60mm light mortar, you know, light mortar. So I became part of this ammo carrier for the light mortar. So [34:00] instead of the M1 rifle, you take the---you carry a carbine which is a little lighter weight. But at the same time, you have to carry a lot of ammo on your back. You have---before we used to carry about 9 rounds of 60mm mortar shells, then later on they dropped it to about 7 or maybe 6, 7. So, you do---here I am weighing about 107 pounds, 105 pounds, and I'm carrying more than half my weight and going up those Italian mountainsides, you know. Boy, that's a lot of work, you know. And I was really tired or, you know, and I had several close calls, you know. And yet, God was with me or something, I was able to come through. The first day I was in this slit trench and this fellow, my platoon sergeant said, "Well, Dan, you stay in that one." This other guy that was there before, he was wandering around, looking around, so he came back and---but my platoon sergeant had told me to stay there. I stayed there. About 15 minutes later, the Germans threw all the stuff all over the place, you know. The guy was killed. But because I was in his slit trench or foxhole, I was saved. And another couple of weeks later, two weeks later maybe, I was in, you know, we were going up this Italian mountainside, and my platoon sergeant said, "Dan, dig your foxhole right here." And I just didn't feel quite right [about] that spot, so I maybe moved about 20 feet over, [36:00] dug my foxhole right there. In about, I forgot how many minutes later, the Germans threw---I forgot what it was, they just threw that---and two or three of them hit that almost spot that I was gonna be in. I would have been a dead duck, you know. But because I had moved in---my range---but I was a little bit away, I was saved. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 44 of 58 �And some of these other people were nearby, that artillery shell threw up all that dirt, you know, and all that---sprayed dirt all over them. We had to go over there and kind of dig them out or we had to kind of a---take the dirt off them, you know. So sometimes you have to heed your hunches. INTERVIEWER: Now, when you---I was just curious how you got to Italy. You left Camp Savage and you took---did you take a ship over to Northern . . . UCHIMOTO: Not Camp Savage, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. INTERVIEWER: Sorry about that, Camp Blanding, I meant. Sorry about that. UCHIMOTO: No, Camp Blanding---oh, this is the story, after Camp Blanding they gave us a two, three weeks of free time to visit with your family. And then from your home, we were---I was in Westerville, Ohio, I reported to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. And then from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, I don't know just how we got to board of embarkation or whatever it is---New York or whatever it was, but from---all I remember from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, somehow we got on this ship and went on this ship to Europe. [38:00] I don't recall---remember exactly just what---how we did it. I don't remember. INTERVIEWER: Was it like a Liberty ship or was it a commercial . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah, yeah . . . INTERVIEWER: . . . a military ship? UCHIMOTO: . . . it was one of those Liberty ships or one those ships that maybe they might have even built it in Mare Island or, you know, those ships that, if I recall, it was one of those ships, troop transports. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the name of the ship? UCHIMOTO: Oh, hell no, I don't remember anything. INTERVIEWER: Did it zigzag across the Atlantic or did it go . . . Do you have any idea about that?. Did it go straight or . . .? UCHIMOTO: No, I mean, we---I don't know anything about that. All I know, everyday, you know, we---I don't even remember how long it took to get over there, but we finally wound up in Marseilles, France. And then This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 45 of 58 �from Marseilles we went by train to this part of Eastern France where we were located. And then from--when the spring offensive started in April, we got on another some kind of a smaller ship of some kind, I don't remember what it was, troop transport, I don't know what it was, but we got on this ship. And then from, I guess---oh yeah, we must have gone back to Marseilles again and then there was no direct route from this eastern part of France. I think we went to Marseilles back again. But anyway, we're on this ship of some kind and then we went to Leghorn; Livorno, they call it. Leghorn? [40:00] Leghorn or whatever it was, that part of Italy that we were. And then we---how we got to that place that we started our assault, I don't even remember how we got there. Whether . . . But anyway. INTERVIEWER: Did you have any contact with the French or the Italian people? UCHIMOTO: Oh. Yeah. I mean---you mean during the war or this is after the war was over there was a . . . INTERVIEWER: During the war. I think initially you went to France, did you have any contact with the---any of the French people before you entered Italy? UCHIMOTO: Well, I mean, we went into some of those stores as we were going through, and bartered some stuff and talked to some of the people. And then in Italy, we---before, I mean, during the war and after the war, I was able to relate to them somewhat. For one thing, I knew Spanish. I had taken three years of high school Spanish, or two years of high school Spanish. And Spanish is very similar to Italian. Like Italian is "uovo" and in Spanish it is "huevo," I think. And many of those Spanish and Italian language is very similar, so therefore, many of my colleagues [42:00] in my company, unit, they did not know anything like that. But here I knew Spanish, so I used to go out and buy eggs for people in my company from the farmers nearby, and I relate to them, you know, the civilians, as much as I could. I had a better chance to do that than some of the other soldiers because I knew this Spanish language. INTERVIEWER: What was your---at this time, what was your military rank? UCHIMOTO: I was always a Pfc, private, private maybe. And I never was that good of a soldier, so I could not, you know, I was not a good soldier, you know. I didn't have the strength or I did not have the executive ability or the athletic ability, so I was always a Pfc. When I retired I was a Pfc. Private and then Pfc. INTERVIEWER: And during the war, what was your---the pay rate? For exa[mple], how much did you earn per month? Do you remember that? UCHIMOTO: [Shakes head no.] INTERVIEWER: Okay. And you conveyed to us you had at least---you had several---you had some close calls and you told us about two of those close calls. Were there any other close calls that you can remember? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 46 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: No, those were the really close calls that I remember. I mean, other times, you know, I mean, we can, you know---but those were close calls that, I mean, if I had, you know, choices I made or somebody made for me. But, see, other, no, there were no other close calls that, you know, [44:00] there was no other close calls. INTERVIEWER: Now the fact that you carried ammunition, did that make you a---like the medic, did that make you a "target" to the enemy because you had all this ammunition on your person? UCHIMOTO: No, not that I recall. One thing, in fact, if I was a rifleman, you're subject to small arms fire. You're quite subject to machine gun fire and rifle fire, whereas if you're a light mortar, you know, weapons---light weapons, I mean, light mortar crewman or even if you're artillery, for instance, if you're in an artillery unit, but mortarman, you don't have to actually see the enemy. You don't have to actually see the enemy. You're always over a slightly incline like this (moving hand downward) so that you don't see the enemy face-to-face, whereas if you're a rifleman, you see the enemy, you know. And some of those people in my company one time told me this: "Boy, I had this guy in my eye sight, that German guy, if he had raised his head one more time, I would have given it to him." But the guy was lucky because he never raised his head again. You know, this guy, this company man in my---rifleman in my company was saying he had put his gun [imitating aiming a rifle] and he saw that guy putting his head up and [down], "Next he put his head up, I was gonna give it to him." But he says the guy was lucky; he never raised his head again there. And so, I mean, I was always behind a small hill, maybe 100 foot, 100 yards away or something, so . . . We see all this tracer bullets at nighttime, [46:00] all these rifle fire and all these fire coming, but unless another artillery shell or a rifle bullet came or artillery shell or mortar shell, our chances were---getting killed were much less than the rifleman in the company. The rifleman, he sees that enemy; he's in direct sight of the enemy. And that---unless you get caught by surprise, you don't have to worry about machine gun fire either, you know. But, of course, we were at a disadvantage in the Italian campaign--Northern [Italy] campaign, especially, I mean. Here we are climbing up the hill here, trying to regain the ground from the German army there, and those people are retreating. They're going back now. They had the ground before. They are the---they have an advantage: They know every bit of the trail you're gonna go on. You know, you can't go Italian alp, er, and climb all over; you have to go along these trails. They got that trail all marked with artillery shell, artillery, or machine gun or whatever you want, mortar. So it's just a matter of how many guys that they can kill. So we were told when we were in combat, "Don't you guys ever bunch up. You guys get more than three guys together and walking up this trail, the Germans gonna say, 'We'll waste a bullet on you, you know, we'll waste a artillery shell on you, mortar shell.' So I want you to be about 25, 40 foot apart [48:00] from each other. As you're walking up this trail in combat, don't you guys every bunch up. Be close---further apart so they will not want to waste a shell on you," you know. So that's what we were told. And so they had the advantage. INTERVIEWER: When you were in combat, how much sleep did you get? UCHIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 47 of 58 �Well, you get as---just as much as you can. But, you see, when you're in combat, like those companies or units in the United States Army, they say, so many people---your---this unit, this regiment, or this company or this group, you know, they're on the line for 280 days or 300 days or something, some big figure like that. Each individual soldier isn't in the line there 280 days or 100 days or whatever. After about three, four days of combat, they pull you back and give you a little rest and another fresh unit comes in, takes over your spot, and you take over, so you're---each soldier---you're not fighting month after month and constantly in combat, you know. Each unit the company pulls back or the battalion pulls back, and then someone else goes in and takes over for three, four, five days, maybe, on the line, and then you pull back. So each [50:00] soldier, he doesn't have to be on line so many days, you know. INTERVIEWER: Now you told me about two close calls but did you get any type of injury during your service? UCHIMOTO: Well, I got, I don't know if you call it injury, but I was, let's see, how shall I put it? I was firing these mortar shells one time, and this is practice. Practice maybe we were doing, you know, 60mm mortar shells. But somebody had built this, and, you know, we were not in combat then, so we were---had this little three-foot wall around us, you know, like this (motioning a circle around himself), sandbag I guess you call it, and I went like this (motioning with his hands) and the echo reverberated and ruin my ears. So that 60mm mortar shell ruined my hearing. And for the longest time, you know, it made a buzzing sound in my ear (pointing to left ear). And I think after I came back from the service, I had my ears tested several times at, you know, local places, and they said, "Your hearing above 5,000 cycles is pretty bad," you know, that's what they told me. So anyway, whether it did permanent damage or not, it didn't do any good to have this mortar shell concussion or whatever you want to call it. But otherwise, I don't really know. You know, it was not yet---my ears buzzed for quite awhile. INTERVIEWER: During your service in Italy and France, were there [52:00] any unusual things that happened that you can remember? UCHIMOTO: Well, I don't know what you mean, "unusual things," I mean, that's, no, I---I don't know, I mean, no, I mean . . . INTERVIEWER: Okay, we can go to the next question. UCHIMOTO: I don't know how you, you know, what you would like me to say, but combat is combat, and it's an experience you never forget. And the thing is---so interesting about military service is that, when people go even, say, overseas to, you know, service, military service, like in the Army, you know that only one out of maybe seven or one out of eight person is in harms way. You know, people go into the Army, we'll say you're going to a place like Europe, only one person is actually doing the fighting. All these other people are truck drivers, some of those people are camp cooks, you know, they cook, and other people do this, do that. Some people are aides to their officers and some people are typists in offices. So that---just because you're in the service overseas, not everybody is in harm ways. As I say, maybe one person out of six, one person out of seven, one person out of eight is [54:00] getting killed. Maybe in Iraq it's different. Iraq, I think, is a---I don't want to go into all this stuff, but just briefly saying, Iraq, This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 48 of 58 �there's no---it's not the same as, say, World War II where everybody had a uniform on. Your enemy had a uniform on most of the time. And Italy, maybe they had some other people, but the German army you had a uniform on. Here in Iraq, I mean, boy, you don't know who the enemy is. You know, he might be in civilian clothes. And so, I mean, I won't go into that. So you're---it's a different situation. INTERVIEWER: Did your group ever, did you have any interaction with the German prisoners at all? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. I saw . . . INTERVIEWER: We have five minutes, and then we'll switch tapes. UCHIMOTO: I saw some German prisoners, including officers, when they surrendered, you know, after the war was over they surrendered, and then later on I had---our unit, our company, had guard duty at this German PW camp in Italy, you know, area. So I got to notice---know many of those German soldiers who, you know, PWs, prisoners of war, I got to know them well. And they were, you know, nice people; many of them were nice people. You know, they're civilian people. They just were, [56:00] you know, happened to be in the German army. Forced---some of them were forced to be in the German army, I suppose, or drafted in the German army, and so, they were very nice people, and so I got to, yes, I got to know several German PWs. And . . . INTERVIEWER: What about your service, did you receive any type of medals or awards? UCHIMOTO: Well, we, I mean, I did not get any special awards for myself. I got a Combat Infantryman Badge for 90day combat time, I guess. And then there's this other whatever---Combat Infantryman Badge, and then Italian Campaign or something. I don't know these blue things for the, you know, I mean, but, I mean I did not---let's put it this way, I did not get any special bravery medal or anything like that for myself. No, I did not get any . . . You know, some people got the Silver Star, some people got the Bronze Star and, you know, some people got the Purple Heart for getting wounded. I did not get wounded so I did not get the Purple Heart, and I did not get any special award, no. INTERVIEWER: When the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August of 1945, where were you and how did you hear about the atomic bomb drop? UCHIMOTO: I think I was just about---[58:00] oh, oh, let's see, I was in Europe at the time. This was August '45? So, yeah, I was still in Europe, I guess, I was still---the war in Europe had ended, I don't know when that ended, June '40, June, July '45 was it, or May '45. I forgot. No, it couldn't have been that. Yeah, no, I mean, the war in Europe had ended, I don't know when the war in Europe ended, but I was in---I was--because I did not get my discharge till 1946. So I was in Europe yet somewhere. Probably Italy. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 49 of 58 �Okay, I think we'll stop now and change tapes. We're . . . BEGINNING OF TAPE FOUR INTERVIEWER: Okay, we're back with Dan Uchimoto. UCHIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Our veteran. We're talking about the atomic bomb drop on Japan. Did you have any feelings about the United States using atomic weapons on Japan? Any feelings about that? UCHIMOTO: Well, I mean, I just found it unfortunate that civilians got killed, you know, so many civilians got killed. But at the same time, it probably ended the war faster, because then Japan knew that they---the end was in sight, I mean, they could not take anymore causalities like that, so it must have ended the war more quickly, you know. But it was unfortunate that that kind of weapon had be to used. It was unfortunate that the civilians, you know, being killed. But war is war, it's a sad . . . There's no such thing as a---you know, it's just unfortunate. But . . . INTERVIEWER: Now, when you left Europe and came back to America, do you remember the---did you took a ship back to the United States or . . .? UCHIMOTO: Oh, yes, yes. It was another ship that took us back to . . . And we---I don't know where we even came back, by the same Camp Kilmer or I just don't remember [02:00] where we landed, you know. I just don't remember. Now, I can't remember. But anyway, I---oh, oh, I know what happened. Oh yeah, anyway, my folks were still in Westerville, Ohio, at the time and then one of our friends was living in Chicago, Illinois, and he says, he told my mother and father, "Why don't you come to Chicago and not stay in Ohio anymore?" you know. Oh, and before then, of course, my folks said, "Why don't we do some truck farming around Columbus, Ohio? Buy a small a five-acre, ten-acre plot and raise vegetables to sell in the market there and do some truck farming." And I said, "Gee, that's a hell of a way to make a living,"-hard work, you know. And then my---oh, they made me buy this old Graham automobile, 1936. So I had only saved about $400 or $500 of my Army pay over the period that I was in the Army, and they made spend 360 bucks on this old car, bought some tires for it and everything. Then I found out the car was no good, you know, and I . . . Anyway, in the meantime they said, "Why don't you"---my friend says---from---Shig said, "Why don't you come to Chicago?" So I said, "Okay," and my folks said, "Okay." So we went to Chicago. And I sold my car at a loss. I got only 200-something bucks instead of 365. I sold it back [04:00] to the same dealer again, used car lot man. And then we went to Chicago. In the meantime, my father stored some---all our household furnishings that we had brought in from California that we had there, you know, our own, our own possess[ions]---worldly possessions, he stored it there, and then the place caught fire and we lost all---everything we had. Everything that, you know, my father had stored, it went up in flames. And my father didn't have any insurance so we lost everything. But we had to start from scratch in This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 50 of 58 �Chicago, and I stayed during the summer in Chicago and then I came back to Cal and---California and started Cal again. And that's, you know, that's how it went. My folks stayed in Chicago for number of years, from 19---to about 1960. '60? '50? I forgot how many years my folks stayed in Chicago, but we--then my folks came back to California, you know, and they lived with my brother in San Jose area there. INTERVIEWER: Dan, what year were you discharged from the Army? UCHIMOTO: What year? INTERVIEWER: Yes. UCHIMOTO: Must have been, [06:00] it must have been, let's see, 1940 . . . INTERVIEWER: Was it . . . UCHIMOTO: . . . must have been 1946, let's see, '46 sometime, yeah, 1946. I don't know when. Oh, it must been, yeah, in the fall of '46, but I don't remember the exact date. But I got in, you know, about '44, 1944, sometime in the fall, and I was in the Army for two years and maybe couple of months or two years and something---26 months I guess I was in the Army. Twenty-six months, so that must have been '46. Sometime, sometime in '46. I mean, I would guess '46. INTERVIEWER: You earlier mentioned you used the GI Bill . . . UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: . . . and you went back to Cal and I believe you got a master's degree in, what, Food Science? Is that correct? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, Food Science, but majoring in Wine Fermentation for my master's. INTERVIEWER: And . . . UCHIMOTO: Whereas Food Science was a broad program, yeah, and you have choices, and I took Wine Fermentation as my master's thesis, you know, how to make wine. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 51 of 58 �Do you remember the name of your master's thesis, the title? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, well, I can't exactly remember, but "Certain Components or Constituents of Wine Fermentation" or something. But the exact title, I do not remember. INTERVIEWER: Good. Probably on file over at UC Berkeley? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah. You can always pull it out if I had to, you know, it'd be on file there and, you know. INTERVIEWER: And [08:00] I believe you mentioned you went into the wine field and you realized that, because your body did not tolerate the alcohol, you went into another---what---professionally, what type of career did you go in after. . . UCHIMOTO: Oh, well . . . INTERVIEWER: . . . the rest of your . . . UCHIMOTO: I had a number of careers. I---when I first---after I got my master's, I went---I---let's see, I---instead of---I went to the Army Quartermaster Corps, U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps as a food, I mean, as a subsistence Inspector. So they sent me over to---after Oakland, California, they sent me over to Yakima, Washington, to work at an apple dehydration plant, and then they sent me over to Seattle, Washington. And then this guy at this jam and jelly plant says, "I'll give you a job so you can go back to California." So he gave me a job. And then a couple of weeks later he says, "I don't think you're the right man for the job." So he fired me. So then I went to---I didn't have a job---so I went to Boeing Airplane Company and I worked there six months as a x-ray technician or something. And Boeing Airplane Company, they had a---what they call a Bomarc Guided Missile system in those days, and we had to take x-rays of the Bomarc Guided Missiles. So I did that. And then I got tired of that. And then I got job in California, in San Francisco, at the Safeway Stores as a chemist in their bakery division. So they were, you know, Safeway [10:00] has a bread making division, and so I worked there for quite awhile. Then I---they moved over to San Jose, and so I said I couldn't see---we couldn't sell our house in Richmond, so I gave that up. Worked as a kind of a technician at the University of California for about a year or so and finally got this job at the State Department of Health Services as a industrial hygiene chemist, and that's the job I had for 20, over 20, 25 years, and I gave, I mean, I retired from that. So . . . INTERVIEWER: I believe you mentioned your wife, what was your wife's name? UCHIMOTO: Elsie. Elsie Yoshie. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 52 of 58 �INTERVIEWER: Did you get married after the war or . . .? UCHIMOTO: Oh yeah, it was after the war. I met her on a blind date from one of my co-workers. Not co-workers, my students at Cal. And she is a dietitian, registered dietitian. And she worked at Alameda Hospital for several years. INTERVIEWER: Was she in a camp as well---during the war period? UCHIMOTO: Very shortly. Just a few months. She went to Heart Mountain, Wyoming, just for a few months, and then she went to University of Wyoming to go to school, and then to University of Utah, and then she got this job at Alameda Hospital. INTERVIEWER: You mentioned a son, William, do you have any other children? UCHIMOTO: No, just one. INTERVIEWER: And did he have any military service at all? UCHIMOTO: No, no, no. INTERVIEWER: And we're talking about this oral history interview. Have you ever done---has your---this military [12:00] service, your life story, have you ever had an oral history before today? UCHIMOTO: No, no. Not that I know of [chuckles]. INTERVIEWER: But you've told many----I believe you told me you were---you've been---you've told people about your military service. UCHIMOTO: Well, people have asked me, you know, I mean, informally. Informally, we talk about different things here and there. And so I---we sometimes swap stories about our lives and what, you know, what we did and when and . . . So, I mean, this is the kind of a informal gathering, maybe, that every, I mean, you relate to your friends or acquaintances, you know. But, no, no, nothing like this, no. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 53 of 58 �Do you believe---I know you experienced discrimination before the war and then you had military service for the United States. Do you believe you had any discrimination or less discrimination because you were a veteran and served the U.S. in combat? UCHIMOTO: Well, I don't think that makes any---I don't think that makes any difference. I think discrimination is less now than it was pre World War II. I mean there's less discrimination now. And I don't know what else to say to you, you know. INTERVIEWER: And have you been back to Washington, D.C., the National World War II Monument? Have you seen it? UCHIMOTO: No, No. [14:00] I have not been to that Japanese American thing in Los Angeles area. There's supposed to be something there that---in the Los Angeles area. And I don't know anything, I mean, I've never been there, you know, just . . . INTERVIEWER: I believe it's in Japantown. UCHIMOTO: Or something like that, yeah. No, I've never been that---in [indiscernible]. Washington, D.C. ? No, I've never, I don't do too much traveling. INTERVIEWER: What about this Ken Burns program that's been on PBS. Have you---recently---have you watched that about World War II? It's called "The War." UCHIMOTO: Well, I saw---it was very confusing when they were gonna do it. But I saw the one---maybe it wasn't Ken Burns but it was somebody else. They had two different times---they had one on the 4-4-2 and 100th Battalion. They had that kind of a program, you know, short program, maybe an hour or so. And both programs I've seen. But this Ken Burns thing, no. This---I don't know when they showed that Ken Burns thing, but the last time which was, you know, about a week ago or two weeks ago, and my friend says, "Why don't you look at it tonight. It's on tonight." But I tried to turn our TV on and it says Channel 9 but it was actually on Channel 6 according to that newspaper, this newspaper programming. And so I did not get to see it. INTERVIEWER: Okay. I believe those programs air, they'll show them again in the future---so you'll get---you'll probably get a chance to see it. UCHIMOTO: Mm-hmm. INTERVIEWER: And some of the people that'll be watching this video in the future will be considering joining the military. Do you have any advice for young people that are considering the military as a career? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 54 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: Well, I'd [16:00] tell those people, I mean, people who want to go into the military, anybody ask me, I said---I'd say, "Instead of going into the military, go to college. Why don't you go to college and make something of yourself." Military as a career, especially now, this type of, like Iraq, I mean it's kind of a---I don't want to get into politics and war and everything, but it's kind of a hopeless situation. And I mean what would it solve? I mean, your---I say to my friends who ask me for my advice, "Go to college and get as much education as possible. Make something of yourself." And join---don't join the military. I mean, that's my thought on the matter, you know. Military service, the way this thing is going now, it is not---it's not solving anything, and it's not productive and, you know. We're wasting a lot of money and not accomplishing anything. INTERVIEWER: Because you're in the Bay area, I believe it was last week and they had the U.S. Navy, the Blue Angels fly around over the Bay area . . . UCHIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: . . . did you get a chance to see them at all? UCHIMOTO: No, no. I did not see it. No. INTERVIEWER: At this point---if---we're basically we are at the end, is there anything that you want to share with us or talk about that we haven't covered. And this is your opportunity to [18:00] tell us anything that you want to----that I---we haven't talked about that you want to share with us? UCHIMOTO: No. I think you and I just covered as much as I could, I mean, that I want to cover. I mean, I cannot think of anything more. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. On behalf of the Go for Break---Go for Broke Educational Foundation, we want to thank you for your service to the country and for participating in this interview. And what'll happen now is Tim will turn the recorder off and I believe they're gonna give you a copy of the interview, and it's relatively soon. So again, I want to thank you for participating. CREW MEMBER: I just want to ask . . . INTERVIEWER: Okay, go ahead. CREW MEMBER: Dan, you mentioned that you had some friends that were "No-No boys," is that right? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 55 of 58 �UCHIMOTO: I'm sorry could you repeat yourself? I can't . . . CREW MEMBER: Did you say you had some-you knew some people who were "No-No boys" UCHIMOTO: I knew just---I can recall one person. Geez, I can't even remember his name now. CREW MEMBER: That's okay. UCHIMOTO: He was from Delano or Sanger or someplace in that Fresno area. And he was at Cal with me. And when World War II with Japan, he was very depressed or, you know. But later on I was told that he put "no, no" and he went three years to Leavenworth prison in Kansas. That's what I was told. Oh, I know, maybe I shouldn't mention his name. SOMEONE OFF SCREEN: No, don't mention his name. UCHIMOTO: I better not mention it. But I did not, well, I shouldn't say that he did the right thing or not. CREW MEMBER: Yeah, I don't want you to get into the politics of it. UCHIMOTO: Yeah, yeah. CREW MEMBER: But just [20:00]---can you tell me the feelings at the time, that was going on? You know, was he strongly against going or did he just feel that he himself couldn't answer those questions "yes, yes?" UCHIMOTO: Oh, because he was not in the same camp with me. CREW MEMBER: Uh-huh. UCHIMOTO: I just heard about it later on that he had done this. But he was not in the same camp with me, I was not talking to him. I was with him during---at school at Cal---at Cal, you know. And then he went back home to whatever that place, Sanger, or whatever that place was. And so I have not talked to him for, oh, quite awhile. So I dn'tt know what his feelings were, but I thought that's---well, I shouldn't say. I don't know what his feelings were. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 56 of 58 �CREW MEMBER: Yeah. UCHIMOTO: But he was---somebody told me that he was very upset or depressed about this World War II and being put in camp. And . . . CREW MEMBER: So that was the---but that was kind of the main point was that having to be put in---was it---having to be in camp and now they're asking us to fight for a nation that put us in camp. Was that the general attitude, you feel? UCHIMOTO: Yeah, I mean, that, you know, they, I mean, I don't know, we---somehow we were told that the Italian Americans and German Americans were not, you know, rounded up like that. And we were, you know, American citizens and deprived of our due process or whatever you want to call it and, you know, put into camp and then asked to go into the military service. [22:00] But this is---it was a very kind of a disappointment, shall we say. But, you know, still, it was a wise, I mean, the right decision to put "yes, yes" and serve your country, and---because this is one of the---probably one of the greatest countries in the world to be in, and to be here with all the opportunities that people have, I mean, you know. And that's why I'm saying---people tell me---some people say, well, join---why don't you join the military or, you know, the young people. And my advice to them is joining the military is---it's not gonna accomplish anything, in my opinion, the way war is being waged now. And try to make something of yourself. Go to college and get the best education you can and, you know, make something of yourself. That's my feeling. CREW MEMBER: And so you felt that your parents supported you in your decision to make the answer "yes, yes?" UCHIMOTO: Oh yes, yes. My---I was debating what to say "no, yes" like some of my Suisun friends, they put "no, yes" down. And, of course, they didn't have to go into the Army and go through all this hardship---"no, yes." But my mother said put down "yes, yes." And then this William J. Furuta who is a bacteriologist that I knew and I was working for in camp, [24:00] William J. Furuta, he became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Medical School, and he died at such an early age, you know, about 39 years old. He says to me, "Yes, put down 'yes, yes' and take whatever comes, you know, take whatever comes." And so my mother and Dr. Furuta says put "yes, yes" down, and I did that and I don't regret it. It's just that is was the right decision for me, you know, and . . . CREW MEMBER: And for yourself . . . [Mr. Uchimoto did not hear the comment.] And for yourself, that's what you feel . . . UCHIMOTO: Oh, yeah, yeah, that for myself. Lot of those people from Suisun who put "no, yes" down, they left camp and came back from camp and went to Suisun Valley again, became farmers and all that. I said to myself---I say to myself even now, "Here we were in relocation camp and you have a chance to resettle or relocate or do something, go to college, or do something back East and see what a great country the This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 57 of 58 �United States is, and here you do---you just come back to farming in Suisun Valley. You have this tremendous opportunity to realize and experience what a great country the United States of America is, you know. Go back East where you can be like everybody else, and you missed your opportunity by coming back and getting into your small group again, you know. They missed out on a tremendous opportunity for [26:00] growth and experience. CREW MEMBER: Let me ask you one thing: If---did they tell you what would happen if you answered "no, no?" Did they tell you what would happen, you know, if you answered "no, no?" UCHIMOTO: Oh, I don't think they told you anything. No, they didn't tell you what to do. I mean, they just said--they gave you this questionnaire, and you have these---I can't remember exactly how it was worded, but there were three questions and one was yes or no, the other---the second one was also and third question and "no, no" was the first two questions, I guess. Well anyway, there were three questions that were so important, and---no, I don't think they told you. They just asked for your decision to vote this way and that way and, no, they did not tell you what the consequences were going to be. No, I don't think so. I mean, you know, just---they just wanted---because if you---they tell you there's gonna be consequences, I think some people would have not been so honest. So . . . INTERVIEWER: I was curious, the---when they gave you this form, did they want it completed immediately or did they give you a few hours or a day or more to think about it? UCHIMOTO: Oh, I think so. They gave you . . . I don't know but---I don't remember, but there, I mean, there must have been a little time to, you know, think about it. At least a day or two or three days, I don't know how many days. But it wasn't a matter of "I want your answer right now." I don't think they did that kind of thing. And, you know, at least [28:00] you could discuss it with your family members, your father, mother, or your friend or, you know, friend or . . . They gave you some time, but not too much time, of course, but they gave you some time, yes. And they wanted an honest answer, you know, so . . . CREW MEMBER: Okay, thank you. INTERVIEWER: Okay, thank you. So, I think we norm . . . This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 58 of 58 � 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 Dan Uchimoto oral history interview, October 14, 2007 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 Dan Uchimoto oral history interview transcript [full interview], October 14, 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Uchimoto, Dan: narrator Garvey, John: 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. 58 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 2007-10-14 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Richmond, 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 2007OH0813_T_Uchimoto