When Rudy Tokiwa came back to Salinas after the war, the Harrington family took him in. He had been good friends with Mrs. Harrington's son (all five sons were killed in action in the Philippines), and she saw him as her sixth son. Because of this,…
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was sent to the Gothic Line, which was the backbone of German defense during World War II. Rudy Tokiwa describes how the 442nd made the advance at night, and it took them two days to overtake it. He talks about his…
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, K Company was ordered by General Dahlquist to rescue the 141st Texas Regiment, who had been surrounded by German forces in the Vosges Forest. They were led by Colonel Pursall. Rudy Tokiwa discusses his close…
While on the front lines, the Nisei soldiers made sure to watch out for minefields. Rudy taught the new recruits how to look for mines and told them not to yell "mines" -- or else the others would jump for cover and potentially set off more mines. He…
In this video clip, Rudy Tokiwa talks about his experience in the European Theater. He took part in the beach landing in Anzio, Italy, and met up with the 100th Infantry Battalion in Rome. His first experience in combat was during the advance to…
Rudy Tokiwa talks about his father, who immigrated to America from Japan. He was highly educated for an immigrant, and was known to give advice to other Japanese immigrants in America. Rudy also talks about his mother, who was brought over to the…
In this video clip, Rudy Tokiwa talks about visiting his father's family in Japan. During his time in Japan, he also traveled to Manchuria and Korea because his brother-in-law worked for the Japanese railroad company. His father came to America…
