RAFINO Report
ISSUE 21 - Fall 1998  - Return to Index

REMINISCENCES
STARTING ON PEARL HARBOR DAY
By Tom Kawaguchi
(Part 2 of 2)

(Ed: You will note from the TAPS column that--since the publication of part 1 of this Reminiscence item in the Spring 1998 RAFINO Report sadly, Tom, the author, has passed away.  This completion picks up from the middle of the first column of page 12 of that issue: )

"Well, to make my life more interesting, it was March 1980, when I met my former platoon leader and later Company Commander of my old unit, Co. F, 442nd Regimental Combat Team at Treasure Island.  By then he was a full Colonel representing the Selective Services from Hawaii.  He said he had recently seen the exhibit on the black soldiers during the Civil War at Fort Point in San Francisco and thought that it would be a good idea to do an exhibit of the 100 Infantry Battalion, consisting of members of the Hawaiian National Guard, and later becoming the 1st Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.  This battalion was known as the Purple Heart Battalion for its battle of Cassino Abbey in Italy.  He also felt that there should be an exhibit on the regiment and to include the interment of all Japanese from the west coast.  He was visiting the Presidio Army museum at the Presidio of San Francisco and talked with the Curator.  I agreed to help on it but unbeknownst to me, Colonel Henry Cyasato (who played the part of Tech Sgt. O. Hara in the Go For Broke movie with Van Johnson in the 50's) was returning to Hawaii the following month to retire.  So, I ended up with the project.  I found several volunteers to help me accumulate artifacts, memorabilia and photographs of the 100th Infantry.  It was in October 1981, the following year, that the exhibit was shown.  Over 2000 people attended the opening day.  Among them was the Mayor of San Francisco, Senator Matsunaga (who had been a Captain in the 100th) and Senator Dan Inouye (who had been in E Co. of the 442nd).  Following the exhibit opening we had a banquet at the Fairmount Hotel on Nob Hill.  We planned for 750 but ended up with 2000!  I was exhausted.  Then we decided to form a veterans' organization called GO FOR BROKE.  As founder of the organization, I became Executive director.  It cost me personally a fortune to keep the organization going.  

In the meantime, we began to get requests from various civilian and military museums to show the exhibit.  It traveled to Pearl Harbor, Nimitz Museum in Texas, a museum in Los Angeles and several others.  It caught the attention of the Smithsonian Institution.  I met the then-director of American History, who stated before I could say anything that he wanted our exhibit to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.  So in October 1983, it opened in Washington, DC.  It is still held there and is currently a traveling exhibit.  Recently, it was shown at Lafayette, Indiana Library, at the Cleveland Library and will be traveling west to San Francisco and Los Angeles.  If any of you have a chance, when it is not traveling, you can see it on the 3rd floor of the Smithsonian Museum of American History in DC.  I spent many days in Washington, going through the Archives and Library of congress seeking photographs of our units and photos of the Military Intelligence School (MIS) in the Pacific during the war.  We do have a permanent exhibit at Camp Shelby, MS, on the 100th, 442nd and MIS and also a permanent exhibit at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey.  Since we could not get any grants as a veterans organization, we then founded the National Japanese American Historical Society.  Again, I was the Executive director which kept me busy.  Unfortunately, I was also busy making a living.  I was truly burning the candle at both ends!  Fortunately, I was working as a consultant rather than as a staff member and was able to work flex time.  I must admit that I worked 7 days a week until the wee hours of each morning which, I regret to say, affected my health considerably.  However, it was truly a labor of love because I was finally able to tell our story from 1941 to the present. 

I've researched several books to insure accuracy, also numerous television documentaries, and movie scripts for accuracy.  Yes, our regiment was known as an "assault unit".  We did rescue the "Lost Battalion of WWII in France."  It was the 1st Bn. of the 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division trapped nine miles behind enemy lines.  We all became honorary Texans for it.  Our casualties were over 800 wounded or KIA!  We rescued 264 of the 141st.  It took our unit 6 months to recover before we ended up back in Italy.  Yes, we did our share there - and then some.

Oh, yes, back to my FC days, before I forget, I did one more unusual assignment while I was stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco.  Colonel Leonard Sims told me that General Wedemeyer wanted a Finance Officer at his office.  I was sent to see him.  Before I could introduce myself Dr. Gulik and Dr. Williams addressed me in Japanese, and I naturally responded in Japanese.  To my surprise Dr. Gulik said to General Wedemeyer, "this officer will do".  I then asked, "do for what?"  As it turned out, they represented the U.S. State Department escorting members of the Japanese Diet visiting various governmental agencies in the U.S.  According to Colonel Sims I was to escort them while they were in the Sixth Army area.  Upon arrival at Los Angeles I was met by a Sergeant at the airport asking for a Lt. Kawaguchi.  His first words to me were, "here are your amended orders".  The orders read in part, "Upon completion of travel in Los Angeles, you will proceed thence to several states, ending up at Washington, DC".  I had with me only my pinks and greens and a couple days of changes of underwear and socks. 

It was two months later that I would get home.  I had to buy several clothing changes while in Los Angeles.  A General Carter MacGruder and Colonel Meyers headed the group.  The Captain heading the administrative and Finance function soon had to leave the group in Los Angeles for emergency leave purposes so I had to take over his duties.  I had to be up first in the morning to make sure the Diet members had their breakfast.  I was the last to get to bed at night after all of the Diet members had returned.  It was quite an experience.  I had to go along on some of the visits to act as interpreter and translator.  I didn't think my Japanese was all that great when we started, but by the time I finished I had become quite adept.  We did have two hired translators in the group, so that I was able to get some pointers from them.  Mr. Yamazaki, then President of the Diet, was a kindly old gentleman.  Also, A Diet member representing Hiroshima was bilingual so he helped a lot. 

When I finally returned to the Presidio of San Francisco, I was literally exhausted and ended up a patient at Letterman Hospital for a week!  However, it was a most interesting experience!