Author: Saburo Nishime, Dog Company
Title: Memories: Being Drafted for Military Service
Publisher: Puka Puka Parade
Source: Puka Puka Parade, October 2003, Issue #03-9
To go back to those years of long, long ago ……… At the age of 23, I was drafted into the Army in Honolulu in the 4th Draft on November 15, 1941.
We all assembled in front of the Oahu Railway Station (the building still stands) on King Street near the present Aala Park. The traffic on King Street was blocked off. My sister Fusako was the only one who came to see me off. We boarded the train-drawn coaches which took us to Schofield Barracks.
The first order of business was to get us recruits into ready-made uniforms, including Army boots. If lucky, one got a near perfect fitting uniform. The next order of business was to get us recruits stripped bare-ass naked and go through a thorough physical examination.
The tent city at Schofield Barracks where the recruits lived was called Boom Town. There I was assigned to Company B. The teammates I remember were Conrad Shigematsu, Masaichi Taone and Pat Tokushima. Later in combat in Italy, Conrad “accidentally” shot himself in his arm and returned to his young wife in Wisconsin. We never heard of him again. I met Taone after the war in 1945 when I was working as an electrician on a renovation project at the Army/Navy YMCA. He was then working as a plasterer assistant. I never again met up with him. Pat Tokushima was KIA in the Vosges Mountains of France.
I recall my cadre instructor was an elderly Sgt Nollmeyer. On my first guard duty assignment, we reported to Boom Town Headquarters, where the Officer of the Day looked us over. His main concern was how we looked in our new uniforms. I seemed to have the best fitting uniform so I was instructed to report the following morning for runner duty. I didn’t know what it was all about, but being selected as a runner by the Officer of the Day meant something to the Cadre Sgt. because he made it known to our section about this assignment. When I returned to the section, Nollmeyer made me a squad leader; and although I was mistake prone, the Sgt. overlooked my faults.
On December 7, 1941, the majority of the camp members were away from Boom Town. I was back at my oId rooming house on South Street when I was awakened by a loud explosion in the HC&D Construction Co. Yard which was located next to the Honolulu Advertiser Bldg. I turned on the radio and heard the announcement that Pearl Harbor was under attack by Japanese planes. News like that doesn’t readily sink in. I got on a city bus that took me to a friend’s home on 8th Ave. in Kaimuki. From there, I could see across to Pearl Harbor, where the ARIZONA was engulfed in thick black smoke. I then realized that I needed to report back to Boom Town. We all got on a military truck in downtown Honolulu and the road back to Schofield, via Kam Highway, skirted Pearl Harbor. We could see the ARIZONA still burning furiously and the OKLAHOMA had rolled over, with only the bottom of the hull showing. A number of other dreadnaughts were in disarray.
A Japanese zero fighter had sprayed Boom Town with machine gun bullets. Luckily, the great majority of Boom Town recruits were on leave and away from camp since it was Sunday.
Since the 0-3 rifles had already been issued to us recruits, bullets for the rifles were immediately issued. The first night of Dec. 7, the entire Boom Town was all out in the open area when there was a noise of an aircraft; and everybody let loose, firing their rifles into the sky at nothing. Later on, it was learned the firing that night brought down our own aircraft. Some members of Boom Town were detailed to pick up a badly wounded or dead pilot.
The following day, the recruits went through a hurry-up course on how to fire our 0-3 rifles. The first thing we learned was to make sure one’s face was resting heavily on the rifle. The 0-3 rifle had a mean kick-back when fired; and if one’s face was not resting tightly against -the rifle, the kick-back was no “love tap.”
This was a period when there was a lot of animosity and distrust toward us Niseis in the military. I clearly remember one incident while in Boom Town, when they rudely woke the Niseis in the night and demanded that we tum over all our arms. I immediately went back to sleep and thought nothing more of it. Some of the Niseis reported that machine guns were mounted outside, with the guns facing us in the tents. The next morning, the camp commander, who was a colonel, called all of Boom Town together and explained that he had ordered the arms be pulled from the Niseis because they had received a call saying that the Niseis at Boom Town were planning to stage a riot. The commander also said that he trusted 75% of us but he had doubts about the rest; so to be on the safe side, he had ordered the arms taken away from the Niseis. The next day, the arms were returned. to us and nothing more was mentioned about this incident.
Toward the end of our training at Boom Town, we were asked where we wanted to be stationed. I requested Kauai because my parents were still there. To my surprise, I was assigned to Kauai and joined the Kauai group who were in another company. We got on a smaIl Army transport, THE ROYAL T. FRANK. The ship was escorted by a destroyer for protection, and we made a bumpy trip to Kauai and docked at Port Allen. A few trips later, while the ROYAL T. FRANK was taking the Big Island draftees home, it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine lurking in that area. Some 30 of the Big Island group went down with the ship. Many of the Kauai group knew these Hawaii recruits since they were in the same company at Boom Town. From the report of the survivors, the escorting destroyer was throwing depth charges all over the area. Got the Japanese submarine? Who knows?
When we got off the transport, to greet us was it Major Tyvy. He was looking for recruits with at least a high school education for the Headquarters section. It soon was evident that the Major was not looking for Niseis because he asked two or three Portuguese recruits about their educational qualifications. He found out that they had no more than a 6th grade education. There was one Nisei, Hitoshi Yamamoto, who was a college graduate, so the Major took him along.
I was assigned to M Company, which was headquartered at Bums Field. Other Niseis assigned with me were Mako Takiguchi, Popeye Fujimoto, Harunobu Zaima, Larry Sakoda, Rokuro Yamase, Motomu Yamamoto and James Koichi Uejo. When we reported to M Company, the First Sgt. Was Emile Priggie, whom I had known previously. The Company Derk was Ben Tamashiro, who at that time had thick black hair and bushy black eyebrows.
When we recruits first reported to M Company on Kauai, the influx of troops from the battles in the Pacific had not started. Kauai was under the 299th Regiment of the Hawaii National Guard. The 298th Regiment was located on Oahu. Ail the outside islands came under the 299th. The original members of these two regiments had joined voluntarily and mostly were of ethnicity other than Japanese. The influx of Niseis into these regiments came only after the draft was incorporated. So it was natural that the great majority of the NCOs were of other ethnic groups. Most of the Niseis remained as privates with very slim chances of being promoted to NCO rank.
Since before the war started, the majority of the NCOs in these regiments made it known that they considered being in the National Guard was great. Being young and mostly single, having good pay and with good living conditions, nothing could be better; but the Niseis saw no future in the Army and the majority just wanted to serve their time and get out. When World War II started, the 298th and 299th Regiments remained where everything continued as it was, only it was no getting out early for the Niseis.
The primary duty of M Company, headquartered· at Bums Field, was to guard certain facilities along the Company fence line, Port Allen pier, Lawai Pineapple Cannery and the Transmitter Station at Kukuila. Guard duty was performed in rotation. There was also a post in Kokee that was manned by a permanent staff. I remember going on escort military duty for Robinson’s Sampan to Niihau. The ride going to Niihau was just fine, but on the return trip, bucking the big waves made me sick like a dog. Mako Takiguchi just seemed to be enjoying the boat ride. The Commanders of M Company were Capt. Jack Johnson and Capt. Jack Mizuha.
With the influx of troops, in building up for the war in the Pacific, the 299th was relocated to the north area of Kauai. M Company first moved to an abandoned rice mill in Hanalei near the home of Harunobu Zaima. M Company set up machine gun positions along Hanalei Bay. On one occasion, while I was on duty at a machine gun position, Capt. Johnson came around for inspection with Charlie Diamond. I happened to be napping at that particular time, and Capt. Jackson asked me, “You know what you will be charged with if caught sleeping on duty in combat?” I replied, “Yes, sir.” Many many months later, when the 100th Bn. was at Camp McCoy, Capt. Johnson was in command of Dog Company. At that time I was in training to become a jeep driver. On one occasion, I was in line to attend a driving class when Capt. Johnson came by with Charlie Diamond, who was the temp 1st Sgt. at that time. He asked Charlie, “What is Nishime doing in the drivers’ line? Isn’t he the one whom we found sleeping at the machine gun position when we made the inspection at Hanalei Bay?” Charlie replied, “Yes, sir.” ” Charlie then informed me that Capt. Johnson instructed me to return to the machine gun crew. And that was the end of going to the drivers’ school.
Later on, M Company relocated to the Kilauea Japanese School building, and most of the duties at that time was laying out barbwire fences along Wainini Beach. Our machine gun crew set up a machine gun position overlooking the ocean, in the pasture of Princeville Ranch, where the Princeville Golf Course is now located. We must have stayed at this location for more than a week and was fed by vehicles bringing us our meals. I remember, in the early morning hours when the tide was out, we would go down to the beach area and collect opihi from the rocks.
When we returned to our M Company at the Kilauea Japanese School Building, there was a notice out that they were looking for personnel to train on the Morse Code to assist in the Communications Section. In the testing, two series of Morse Code were run and the applicant had to decide whether the two were the same or not. Since I had some training in Morse Code, I easily qualified and transferred to the Communications Section, which was located in Hanalei town. Our duties also included manning the Communication Switchboard on rotation.
One day, our Communications Officer told me to phone my parents, adding “You might end up in the Libyan Desert.” Unknown to me at that time but the officer’s remark was a hint that we Niseis were going somewhere. On that eventful day in May of 1942, all the Niseis were assembled at the 299th Hq. Building in Hanalei, and the Commanding General of Kauai informed us that we would be organized into a separate unit and go to the States for special training. The General wished us all the best in our new assignment and “Bon Voyage.” We Niseis, together with some non-Nisei officers, boarded a freighter at the port of Ahukini. Masao Yotsuda says his father was there at that time.
It was an uneventful daylight trip to Oahu and we ended up at Boom Town. The Niseis. from the other islands and Oahu had already gathered.