Masato Yamashita oral history interview, part 2 of 3, October 4, 2011

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Description

Masato Yamashita's interview is with Lloyd Fujitani.

Masato Yamashita and Lloyd Fujitani recall hearing the news about Pearl Harbor on the radio. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, anyone who is a leader of a Japanese Organization is taken away by the FBI. The FBI takes away dozen community leaders from Lodi including his cousin.

The government gives a month's notice for the Japanese Americans to evacuate to the Assembly Centers. The Yamashita family goes to the Stockton Assembly Center for three to four months. Masato describes the living conditions in the barracks at the Fair Grounds. At camp, Masato's neighborhood friend, Mackenzie, comes to visit him. The Fujitani family also goes to the Stockton Assembly Center.

At the Assembly Center, both Lloyd and Masato get jobs. Lloyd gets a job cooking, and Masato gets a job picking up trash. They are there at the Assembly Center for six months, waiting for Rohwer, AK, to finish construction.

Masato and Lloyd compare the security from the Assembly Center and Rohwer. At camp, there are sports, games, and social dances for entertainment. In 1943, Masato graduated high school and goes to Saint Louis for work. Shortly after, he is drafted into the Army. In 1945, Lloyd is drafted into the Army.

Masato and Lloyd talk about their induction and basic training experience before going overseas to the European Theater. Overseas, Masato is in the Third Platoon, First Squad, I Company. His Platoon Sergeant is George Ikeda. Lloyd is in Second Platoon, I Company. His Staff Sergeant is Shiro "Kash" Kashino.

Masato arrives in France approximately three months after the Lost Battalion battle. He is assigned to guard duty on top of a hill and describes the last push.

Identifier

2011OH1049_02_Yamashita

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Date of Birth

1924 Dec 27

Location of Birth

War or Conflict

Branch of Service

Entrance into Service

Location of Basic Training

Citation

Yamashita, Masato: narrator, Horsting, Robert: interviewer, and Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher, “Masato Yamashita oral history interview, part 2 of 3, October 4, 2011,” Japanese American Military History Collective, accessed December 21, 2024, https://ndajams.omeka.net/items/show/1052569.