Takeshi Joe Kawakami oral history interview, part 1 of 2, October 10, 2010

Kawakami begins the interview speaking about how he got the nickname "Joe" and his family background as his father was from Kumamoto and his mother was born in Hilo. He would attend school and grow up playing a lot of sports until the Pearl Harbor attacks occurred and he would end up volunteering for the Army. He would head over to the Schofield Barracks in Honolulu and then ship over to Camp Shelby in Mississippi to begin his basic training. After learning various weapons, he was shipped out to North Africa before being sent into combat in Europe. He would spend time throughout Italy, but especially remembers the Monte Cassino and Po Valley battles, where he would end up getting wounded.

video/m4v

0:54:50

2010OH1016_01_Kawakami

http://www.goforbroke.org/oral_histories/mp4/1016-Kawakami-Joe-1.m4v

1924 Aug 3

Yes