RAFINO

RAFINO Report
ISSUE 20 - Spring 1998
- Return to Index

STARTING ON PEARL HARBOR DAY
By Tom Kawaguchi


(Ed: Having met Tom some years back, I knew that he has led a most interesting life from a unique perspective.  Awhile ago I asked him to write a summary of his life and service in the Army.  Even though Tom is now in very poor health he made the effort and did send it to me.  I found it fascinating.  It will appear in this and following issues.)

" On Dec 7th, 1941, I volunteered for the Army, but was thrown out of the recruiting station in San Francisco.  They told me, "We don't want JAPS in here."  Sure enough, a directive came out stating that all Japanese Americans were reclassified from 1A to 4C (enemy aliens).  All Japanese Americans in the service then were either discharged or transferred to bases in the mid-west or east.  It was on February 1942, when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, that anyone of Japanese origin was removed from the states of Washington, Oregon and California.  I lost my job, my home and my personal belongings.  The Army called it relocation by moving us from California to the desert of Utah, to a place named Topaz.  It was quite a blow to me, as I had always thought that I was a good American citizen making my contribution to the war effort.  It was not until February 1943 that opportunity finally presented itself.  The War Department decided to form the 442nd Regimental combat Team consisting wholly of Japanese Americans to serve under Caucasian officers, calling for volunteers.  My brother and I both volunteered.  I was taken but not my brother who had a heart murmur.  As an Infantryman I fought in three major campaigns in Italy and France.  As luck would have it, all I sustained was dysentery, trench foot, and a concussion -- which landed me in a hospital.  But, I survived okay.  It was during my tour in Italy that I had to accompany my CO to the Finance Disbursing Office to pick up the payroll.  I seem to remember that the Finance Officer was Captain Bob Alexander.  When we got there, I was surprised to see the enlisted men in nice clean fatigues in a nice warm Quonset hut.  It was then that I -- bathless for almost two weeks, in dirty combat uniform, unshaven-looking around at soldiers so neat in nice clean working space decided that at the first opportunity I'd transfer to Finance.  Fortunately, my schooling was in accounting and business administration.  And, yes, the opportunity did come shortly after the end of the war in Europe.  I re-enlisted in the then Finance Department and was sent to the Far East.  Again, I was fortunate because by time I arrived in Japan, the war was over.

It was there that I met then Capt. Mel Richmond who interviewed me when I arrived.  I was assigned to the Budget division, since while in the Relocation Center back at Topaz, Utah, I had been assigned to the Fiscal Division doing Cost Accounting and Budgeting for Government contracts, education, and construction.  Luckily, I learned government terms quickly and found that at Eighth Army Headquarters the language was the same.  Shortly after, I was encouraged by COL Robert E. Benjamin and COL Fred Weise to apply for a commission; they were short of Finance officers.  I applied, took the tests, went before the Board, and on 1 Jan 47 I became an officer.  That changed my entire life and my mentor also convinced me to stay in the service.  It was the best move I ever made because it was in Japan that I met my wife, Sudi.  She came from Fort Snelling, where the Military Intelligence School was located.  They trained about 6000 Americans of Japanese descent in the Japanese language to go to Japan as badly needed translators and interpreters.  My wife-to-be worked at Fort Snelling where they asked for volunteers.  She volunteered.  Much to her surprise she ended up in Technical Intelligence, not as an interpreter/translator, but as a clerk-stenographer.  We met, as I knew her sister and brother in prewar San Francisco, and I worked with her brother-in-law there.  It was indeed a small world.  And so, that led to our marriage in Yokohama, Japan.  My entire life changed in 1947!

To make my life even more interesting, -- when I was stationed at the FCUSA between 1956 and 1959 -- at Ft. Ben - I was told by (later General) Paul Mayo that some Vietnamese brass were to visit Ft. Harrison and that I was to be assigned as the aide to a Mr. Can, who was the Director of their Administration and Budget.  So after they arrived I escorted them during their stay to include after hours when I showed them the sights of Indianapolis.  Upon their departure they asked me to visit Vietnam.  Much to my surprise my next assignment was to Vietnam.  When I earlier attended the Comptroller Course at the Finance School I had befriended several Vietnamese officers -- among them was Colonel Quoc Tuan -- who became my counterpart when I was assigned to DOD in Saigon.  Life seems to go in circles, for it was in 1975 that I received a phone call from Guam -- it was Colonel Tuan!  He and his family had escaped from Vietnam and were on their way to the United States.  He said he needed a sponsor.  So I told him I would be happy to sponsor him.  Soon he and his family arrived at Travis Air Force Base - to my surprise, approximately 36 miles north of where we live.  He didn't tell me that there were eleven in his family!  So, when I arrived at Travis, I called my accountant (I was then comptroller for the City of Richmond, CA) and told her that I needed more transportation!  As we arrived at my house Col. Tuan's daughter-in-law went into labor.  Now what do I do?  I rushed her to the Oakknoll Navy Hospital where I knew the commanding Admiral's secretary.  In the commotion that followed while explaining to her, the Admiral came out of his office to investigate -- after which he immediately made a very welcome decision: 'We'll have to charge it to the State Department!'  In the meantime, my wife got the shock of her life when she returned home from work.  The house was filled with strangers!  I quickly looked for a rental to house the Tuans.  Again luck was in my favor.  We found one.  Then another emergency!  Tuan's son, who was married to the girl in labor, developed an infection on his arm, which was swollen so I also took him to the Oakknoll Naval Hospital.  I found myself up to my ears caring for his family.  So, I formed a Refugee Program for the County, supported by Contra Costa Japanese American Citizens League, who came to my rescue.  We took care of 65 families residing in our county.  The County Welfare, American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and other churches all joined in the effort.  Yes, I was busy in 1975.  I finally found a job for Tuan, as an accountant in one of our banks, the president of which was a good friend of mine.  I gave Tuan one of my cars, and advanced him some money so he could take care of his family's immediate needs.  Today he is retired and lives with his eldest son.  They are all working and in good health.  They all own beautiful homes, have good jobs some working in the computer science industry and doing quite well."

(to be continued in the next issue)