According to Willie Tanamachi, there are two ways Japanese Americans joined the military. One way is being drafted before the war. Another way is enlisting. Willie’s brothers Goro, Saburo, Walter, and himself served in the military. Unfortunately,…
Toyota discusses family religion, secondary school, and going overseas for the European Theater. In Japan Toyota's Issei parents are Buddhist. However, when migrating to the United States, Toyota's parents believe their children should follow the…
Muroshige recounts his parents' encouragement of his service in the U.S. military despite their own allegiance to Japan. He describes the use of various nicknames and racialized terms for Japanese Americans such as "Buddhahead" and "Kotonk". He…
Tokashiki talks about his parents immigration to America. He discusses his parents launch into farming. He explains why his family moved to Honolulu. He describes his father's other careers. He briefly talks about high school and his involvement in…
Abe gets candid about the discrimination that Japanese Americans faced after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also talks about his military and medical training . Abe discusses the formation of the 442nd. He explains the conflicts between Hawaiian…
In this segment, Okamoto explains his decision to waive his deferment to volunteer and the reaction of his parents. He also describes the differences between the Buddhaheads from Hawaii and the Katonks from the West Coast, and the difficulties he had…
Don Seki describes the reputation of the Nisei soldiers from Hawaii -- their relationship with the Mainland Nisei, fights with Caucasian soldiers, etc. He talks about what he did for leisure during basic training at Camp Shelby. He describes what…
