>> So this is James Newberry,
and I'm here with Jimmy Doi on Tuesday June 14th,
2016, at the Sturgis Library
at Kennesaw State University.
And Mr. Doi,
do you agree to this interview?
>> Yes.
>> Thank you so much. So we'll
just start at the beginning.
Could you please state your full name?
>> Jimmy Doi.
>> No middle name?
>> No.
>> And when were you born?
>> In Oxnard,
California, April 5, 1925.
>> So tell me about your parents.
>> My parents, they were from Hiroshima,
Japan and they eloped.
The day that my mother
was supposed to get married to someone else,
the sister took my father to a
woodshed and had all my mother's Japanese clothes.
And instead of going into
the house that she was supposed to get married,
they went on the side and
went to the shed and they hid there
until that night and they eloped to Yokohama, Japan.
And then they got on a ship
that they thought was
going to come to the United States,
but then they got on a slave ship that went to Mexico
and then they were there for a little while and
then they escaped and walked all the way from Veracruz,
Mexico to El Paso,
Texas, about a thousand miles or better.
Then from there, they walked all the way to
California from El Paso.
>> So what sort of slavery was it?
What work were they being forced to do?
>> Well, it's a plantation.
And my mother was working
in house and my father was working on the farm.
>> And so how did they escape
and who did they escape with?
>> Well, they were on
the island and there's alligators around the island.
But one day, my dad put a string on the rowboat,
and that night was raining,
so he started pulling in and the boat came to them,
and so they escaped.
>> And you said they first came to Texas?
>> No. Mexico.
>> Right. And from there, they escaped to Texas?
>> Yeah, El Paso.
>> And why did they then go on to California?
>> Because they had friends in California.
They knew they were there.
All they knew was Oxnard, California.
And from El Paso,
they went all the way to Los Angeles to Oxnard,
walked all the way.
>> So when they got to Oxnard,
California, your parents became farmers?
>> Yeah. My my dad went to work
for not a plantation,
but owner of a farm,
and he started working there.
>> And so how many children did your parents have?
>> No, four brothers and one daughter. Five of them.
>> What were their names?
>> They were Sam, Dick,
and Mike and Jim and Alice.
>> So those are American names.
>> Yeah.
>> Why did they choose those names?
>> I don't know. [LAUGHTER] Dick was Rikio,
but it sounded like Dick.
>> [LAUGHTER] So tell me about
your life on the farm in Oxnard, California?
>> I wasn't on a farm.
We moved into a town of
Oxnard and that's all I know. [LAUGHTER]
>> Did they still keep a farm out in the country?
>> Yes. We were
leasing 80 acres of
farm and my brother was in charge of everything.
My father, they made pretty good on tomatoes,
so he moved to Japan in 1939.
>> So your parents made the decision to return to Japan?
>> Yeah, because they had a home
there and all the kids couldn't speak Japanese.
They adopted two Japanese girls over there.
And so they were happy.
>> And how did you feel about them
going back to Japan and you staying in the States?
>> Well, they were trying to take me,
but I said, no, I'm not going.
I was running away.
And I couldn't speak Japanese anyway.
>> So you stayed behind in California?
>> Yeah.
>> And who did you live with?
>> My brother, he took care of me.
>> Where did you go to school?
>> Oxnard drama school.
I forgot the name of it in Oxnard, a drama school.
>> And where did you go to high school?
>> Oxnard High School.
When I was 15, then we had to evacuate.
>> So what are your memories
of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?
>> We were in Sunday school class
and someone came in and says,
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor What's
Pearl Harbor? We didn't know.
And there's a Caucasian Sunday school teacher.
We were supposed to go to have
a basketball outing at a grammar school.
And so we were going to cancel it,
but then Mrs. White,
she was Sunday school teacher, said,
Americans, you go play basketball.
So we went,
and I swear the whole block around by the high school,
they had the radios outside
blasting that the Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
So the next day,
I went to school and no one said anything.
And I used to
eat with all the B team football players.
And I went there and no one came.
So after that, I stopped
going to the stadium and eating by
myself so they could have the outing over there.
>> So how did you feel about
the attack when your parents were
living in Japan and you were living in the United States?
>> Well, we're Americans.
So I felt bad about it,
but I couldn't do anything about it.
>> So when did you learn of
President Roosevelt's order to intern Japanese-Americans?
>> We lived in town.
And they had telephone calls all around this old town.
And they had to evacuate in a couple of weeks.
And so my brother,
he tried to go to his farm,
but there's army guard
and he wouldn't let him go into the farm.
He had about 20 Mexican laborers,
and so he had to get
a Caucasian man to take
all his equipment into town city limit.
And so he gave the Caucasian;
we had cabbage and cauliflower in the fall.
And he had to give that up
and to get all his farm equipment out.
And after he got out of the army,
he went back to see about the farm equipment,
it was all stolen, wiped clean.
So he moved to Chicago.
>> And he gave up farming?
>> Yeah.
>> And where did you have to report to be interned?
>> Well, they told us to go to
the railroad station and with one suitcase each
and we waited for the train
and the train came and there's people from Los Angeles.
The train was full so we ended up in Tulare California,
and right by the camp which they barbed wire
fenced and we went in there.
We were lucky we got the mattress for our cot.
But some people they had to get hay and put
it in the sack for the mattress.
>> And this is at?
>> Tulare California.
>> So tell me about that train trip, that train ride.
>> We had to keep the blinds down,
but the train operator,
he was mad, not pleased.
So he jerked the train
and people had to stay in their seats.
One girl broke her arm because she was on
the aisle and the train just
jerked and she broke her arm.
That's all I know.
>> Why did you have to keep the blinds down?
>> So the people could see inside Caucasian.
>> What would their reaction have been, do you think?
>> I don't know.
They might have shot us.
I don't know. [LAUGHTER]
>> So how did you feel about this order to be interned?
How did you feel about having to do this?
>> Just can't help.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor
and we are Japanese Americans,
but still, they're sending us to camp.
>> Did you have any communication with your parents?
>> No. My parents were in Japan.
>> So at Tulare,
how long were you at that camp?
>> Tulare?
>> Tulare, excuse me. How long were you at that camp?
>> Three, four months.
And I volunteered to go to the next camp.
I didn't know where it was.
And when we left off,
we thought we were going to go to a real cold area.
So I had boots,
long, wool socks and everything.
When I volunteered, we went to Hiller in
Arizona about 115 degrees.
But it was rough for a while until they start
giving us a little money to
buy shoes and stuff like that.
>> So why did you volunteer to go to the other camp?
>> Well, I was living with
my brother and my brother decided to volunteer with me.
So he left his family
and we went just the two of us and so
we got a job in the kitchen in Hiller.
Close to about a half of block from the school.
And I was getting paid eight dollars a month
and my brother was getting
$12 a month because he was out of school.
I was a school kid yet.
So worked six days a week in the kitchen.
>> What kind of work did you do?
>> Washing dishes.
>> And was that a lot of
money or not a lot of money, eight dollars?
>> Eight dollars for me at that time was pretty
good because no one else was making any money.
And I used to play baseball for the school.
So we used to go from one school to another.
And I tell the bus driver to stop and go at Sears Robo.
And I run in and get
a record one or two records
every time. Glenn Miller music.
And so I loan it to school to have dancers,
in a mess hall.
And then when I left,
I left the whole record with it.
>> So that was the school in the camp?
>> Yeah.
>> So I want to talk a little bit more about the camps.
The Gila River, you said that was in Arizona?
>> Arizona.
>> And it was very hot?
>> Hot.
>> So tell me about the organization of the camp.
How many people were there?
>> They were 10,000 in our camp.
And it was so hot, no air conditioned.
So everybody used to dig
a hole underneath the pyre and stay there during the day.
Sometimes they would have companies,
Hiller monsters and rattlesnakes.
So when they went down to the cellar,
they used to look all over to see if they
were scorpions before they got in.
>> And how was the camp arranged?
>> Well, that's a whole one mile each all the way.
And we were on one side of
the camp and then the other side was baseball field.
At first kids used to go underneath
the fence and go
clean up the field with Sage brush and all that.
Cut the sage brushes so they could play baseball.
And finally, the camp director decided to let
them open the fence over there
so we could go play baseball.
>> And you said that it was very dusty?
>> Yeah. At first
until people start growing gardens and stuff.
But when I first went there,
we went to clean up.
We had to use a shovel to take the sand out and sweep.
>> And that was through the floorboard?
>> Yeah. Because there's cracks all in,
and then the dust storm used to bring all the dust.
But then people start putting
old clothes and paper and
stuff so that the dust won't come in.
>> So was it arranged into blocks?
>> Yeah. Each does a block about 46, 7, 8.
And each one had a mess hall.
>> How big was the mess hall?
>> I don't know. Just regular.
[LAUGHTER] Pretty big mess halls.
>> And how often did you go to
the mess hall in a single day?
>> Well, I used to work there,
so I had to go there three times.
>> And how many meals did they serve?
>> Three meals. Powdered milk,
powdered eggs, and stuff like that.
>> Did you like the food?
>> We had to like it,
[LAUGHTER] otherwise we starve.
>> And did you attend school in the camp?
>> Yeah. At first now,
when we went our group about all 16,
17, we just went over there,
we sat on the floor.
The girls sat on the bench and
the guys had to sit on the floor in the back.
>> Who was the teacher?
>> They hired some teachers were from Japanese,
Americans that was in college.
>> And what subjects were you learning?
>> [LAUGHTER]
Everything. They had math and everything.
But then later on,
I heard they built a bigger school and boy,
those people became doctors but we had rumors that
we were going to be traded for
American soldiers or Americans
and we were supposed to go to Japan,
they're going to deport us.
And so no one wanted to learn anything.
Well, we didn't speak Japanese.
We would have died over there if we were.
>> So what do you mean no one wanted to learn anything?
>> Well, we were told that we were going to go to Japan,
put in a trade with American people.
So we all just played in the back.
>> Who told you that?
>> Well, just rumors.
I don't know who said it, just rumors.
>> Did you hear any news of the outside world?
How were you informed?
>> There's no radio, nothing.
>> Did they not allow radios in the camp?
>> No.
>> Was there a newspaper?
>> No Newspaper.
>> Did people who were going
in and out of the camp bring you?
>> Yeah. News but that's about it.
>> So did you know any news of the war?
>> No hardly, any.
>> What were your interactions with the guards like?
>> Well, they were doing their job but we were 15.
We used to go by the fence and
that's the only place they had lights at night.
So when we lean against the fence,
the machine guns would be right there.
So after a while,
it became a game,
we go against the fence just for the heck of it.
>> Did anybody try to escape?\.
>> No.
>> And what would have been
the punishment if you had escaped to the defense?
>> I don't know that.
>> Do you think that they would have shot the person?
>> I don't know that.
But does in Hila about 30 miles
before Phoenix and it's
all desert and he can't live through it anyway.
>> So it would have been hard if you'd
say once you've gotten out there.
>> Yeah.
>> So tell me again about
the bed that you slept on at Hila?
>> Heil we had mattress,
but then some people had to get hay
and fill it up so they could have a mattress.
>> Did you have your own room?
>> No. I stayed with my brother's family.
There's five of us in the Barrack.
>> Five people.
>> Yeah. But I had to fold my bed up
every morning to have space to move around.
>> What about the bathrooms?
>> Bathroom was and Tulare bathroom was
just a wooden holes and water will come down splash down.
Everybody stood up,
wiped by them and then sat down again.
>> Did you have soap?
>> Soap? No.
>> So your shower was just some water?
>> You pulled a string and the water will come out.
But you had to buy the soap.
Yeah, we bought soap in the commissary.
>> What else could you buy in the commissary?
>> Cool aid or Nickel.
I don't know what they had.
All I had was old.
>> Could you buy cigarettes?
>> No.
>> So what was the mood of the people there?
>> We just couldn't help it.
What they call it [inaudible] that
means you just can't help it.
>> And was there boredom at all?
>> Oh, I guess you would call that.
You just sat around,
nothing to do but I had my work,
so it was okay but a lot of
kids just board stiff because there's nothing to do.
I know when they had silver quarter,
they used to pound it all day with
a spoon to make a ring,
dig a hole and make a ring.
That's all they did. Just nothing to do over there.
But then they start having baseball or a man basketball.
Basketball daytime was hot,
115, 20 degrees.
>> Were there any other social activities
other than sports?
>> Not that I know of.
>> Were there dances?
>> That's what I said.
I had Glenn Miller music and I learned it
through the school and they had
a dance at night once a week,
but that's about it.
>> So tell me about your brother who was interned at
Tulare and he was ill. Tell me about him.
>> Once he got to Hila with a hot sun they helped him.
Finally before they told him to get
out of camp because they were closing
the camp then he barely started
walking until then he was in bed all that time.
>> What was his brother's name?
>> Dick Doy.
>> And he had had a fever?
>> San Joaquin belly fever.
I had that too, and I have a scar
the size of a half dollar in my left lung.
And my friend had same thing.
We used to hang out together and both of us
had San that's why this doctor in Atlanta says,
you don't get around here.
Were you in the San Joaquin Valley?
And I said, where's that?
And he says around Tulare, S Fresno.
And they had that dust
that they call San Joaquin Valley Fever.
>> How does it affect you?
>> Well, my brother was in
bed for the whole time and he was there
and I was sick for about a couple of weeks,
and then after that, I was okay.
>> So tell me about Eleanor Roosevelt's visit to Camp.
>> She came to the school and after that,
people started going out to work outside camp.
Until then no one could go out but then in the US,
all the guys that are going in
the army they were short of labor.
So when we started going out, well,
I was working so hard
that the manager told me, take it easy.
Don't work so hard.
It makes it look bad for the rest of us.
>> And that was in the kitchen?
>> No. This was in a defense plant.
I was working in a defense plant and
when I got my order to go into the army well,
I went there for a day and they told me you're Japanese,
you have Japanese blood in you,
so go on home.
So I went and I started working for this defense plant
and I worked there for
about three months and then they called me again.
I said, Well,
they going to send me back.
I went right to Camp land in Florida.
>> Well, let's go back. So you said
Eleanor Roosevelt's visit after that,
people could start working outside the camp?
>> Yeah. They let people go out to work.
>> Why do you think that was?
>> There was short of labors outside.
>> And you said you worked in a defense plant?
>> Yeah.
>> And where was this defense plant?
>> In Chicago.
>> So did you leave Gila River altogether?
>> Yeah.
>> And how did you get the job at the plant in Chicago?
>> Well, that was
after I worked in Cleveland for a while,
my sister and brother in law they moved to Chicago,
so I went and we were working at a grocery store,
and then when they called me up,
I quit the grocery store and I went in
the Army and they told me going home.
And I didn't have a job and I
was I was too ashamed to go to
the grocery store to get my job
back so I worked in defense.
A friend was working in defense plant,
so he got me a job.
>> And what sort of work were you doing in the plant?
>> Well, just flipping
what I don't know what the radar parts they were making.
And that's all I know.
Just pieces here and there.
>> What plant was it? Do you remember the name?
>> No. It used to be
a bicycle shop and they made it into the defense plan.
>> And they were producing parts for it.
Were you a part of it a group?
>> I was just a handyman.
>> Did you work alone or did you work in a group?
>> With a group, but then the managers told me,
"Just take it easy.
You making you look bad for the other guys."
So I used to just take it easy.
>> Were you a naturally hard worker?
>> I guess I would say I was a hard worker.
>> So you're talking about Cleveland and Chicago.
When did you get out of the Gila River Camp?
>> October, I don't know.
Right after school anyway.
>> Do you remember the year?
>> Jesus. I don't know. [LAUGHTER] [OVERLAPPING]
>> 1943?
>> '44, I think.
>> And how did you get out?
>> Well, a couple of guys were going to get out and
go work in Cleveland and they wanted three guys,
so I went with them.
>> And the guards and
the commander of the camp said okay?
[OVERLAPPING]
>> We we got our pass to go out.
>> So you had to carry a pass?
>> Yeah. Well, just to get out of camp.
>> And what did you do in Cleveland?
>> I work in a autopaint shop.
In those days, they didn't have the grinder at all.
We had the sand what's it called, the emery claws?
take the paint off the cars.
>> The emery, what did you call it?
>> Emery claws?
>> Emery claw?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. And then you went to Chicago?
>> Yeah. My sister and brother in law went there,
so I decided to go there.
>> And where did you live in Chicago?
>> North side of Chicago by the Chicago Cub Stadium.
>> Did you live with your sister?
>> No. We were living in a hotel and
the hotel was $0.50 a day in
those days and so I lived there for a while.
>> So how did you hear that the army
was calling up Japanese American men?
>> They did just drafted me.
I didn't volunteer.
>> How did you get the news that you were being drafted?
>> Well, gave me
a notice and they sent me a notice. [OVERLAPPING]
>> In the mail?
>> Report to Fort Shannon.
And the first time I went there,
they told me, "Go on home.
You have Japanese blood so we're not taking in Japanese."
>> And then you worked at the defense plant?
>> Yeah.
>> And then tell me about going back to report?
>> They took me right away and went to
Camp Blanding, Florida right away.
>> Tell me about Camp Blanding.
>> It was hot and snakes.
One guys put the machine gun down,
looked straight at a seven foot rattler snake.
[LAUGHTER]
>> And what training did you do there?
>> Everything. We had to learn
everything because in other words,
I think the 17 weeks was the training,
but we took 21 weeks because we had to
learn artillery and everything to replace.
We were just replacement going
so we didn't know what we're going to do,
a rifleman, artillery.
>> And how did you get assigned to the Army?
>> That's the only place they sent
the Japanese American into the Army or intelligence.
There was about 6,000 that went to the islands
and interpreted Japanese and they went into caves,
some of them never came
out because there's some die-hard Japanese.
>> And did you
have Japanese American officers in the Army?
>> Not at that time.
It was mostly Caucasian officer.
>> Why do you think that was?
>> I don't know. [LAUGHTER] I really don't know.
There wasn't too many Japanese Americans in the Army
then but after the war,
there was plenty of them that became colonels, generals.
But there's about 6,000 Japanese
Americans fighting in the islands against the Japanese.
>> And what group were you a part of? What unit?
>> 442nd.
>> And the 442nd was
composed of only Japanese American troops?
>> Yeah. With American officers.
>> How did those officers treat you guys?
>> They're okay. But at that time,
there wasn't any Japanese officers, American officers.
>> So do you remember
approximately the time that
you were shipped out to Europe?
>> It was about close to October.
We went to Glasgow,
Scotland because this Queen Mary
couldn't go into England.
And then from Glasgow went through London to,
I've forgot that name, Liverpool,
then to Le Havre, France,
and up until north of France.
>> Tell me about the trip aboard the Queen Mary.
>> It was crowded,
about 5,000 soldiers,
and Mickey Rooney was there.
[OVERLAPPING]
>> What was he doing there?
>> He was the entertainer.
>> And what was your job onboard the ship?
>> Washing dishes [LAUGHTER] from
three o'clock in the morning until late that night.
>> How did you end up with that job?
>> KP, the you,
you, you, come on over,
but so fast,
the Queen Mary was so fast that the time went right away.
>> And where did you sleep?
>> I was on the sixth level of
bunk on the bottom of the ship and I was on the top.
I had to climb up everybody.
[LAUGHTER]
>> Did you have interactions with American soldiers?
>> No.
On the way to England.
They had Italian prisoners
up there and they were in the state room.
And we was wondering
how come they get to get on the state,
on top, and we were on the bottom deck.
>> So they had the Italian prisoners of war.
>> Yeah. They were going back to Italy.
>> And they had them up in the state room.
>> Yeah.
>> And you all were down in the bottom.
>> Yeah. They should have had them down there.
>> So that was something that stood out to you?
>> Yeah. To me.
>> Yeah. So you said you arrived in France?
>> Yeah.
>> Through Le Havre. And then
where did you go from there?
>> Straight up to the Northern France
where the four second was.
Brewers, I can't spell it, Brewers France.
And when we got there,
friend of my brother's came came up to me and said,
Hey, your brother died five days ago.
I said, wow, I didn't
know and I was waiting for
my sister to write to me about it,
but she never did.
So after Brewers I was in this friend of mine and
I went a wall to Nice France and we weren't
going to go a wall but then
our company office was closed so early in the morning.
So we hopped on a truck that was going to Nice France.
And so we went and we washed
our hands in the Mediterranean.
And then we were walking around.
We saw a volleyball game going
on and all girl and in bikinis.
I said they never had bikinis in the United States yet.
And so we were
going to stay just a few minutes
and we stayed there about an hour.
And then we start walking around.
Finally, the stores opened and and I said, Hey,
go get your perfume
because we had to climb up two mountains yet.
Hitch hike close to where
we were stationed and we had to climb up two mountains.
So I told him hurry get your perfume.
So he went in the perfume shop.
And then I was waiting outside and
four guys started coming toward me from the 44th second.
He said, one guy sure looks familiar.
It's my brother. I thought he was dead.
I told him, Hey,
I thought you were dead.
So after that, I knew that he was
alive until when we went to Italy.
>> How did you feel about seeing
him again after thinking he was dead?
>> Man, I was really happy to see him.
But he said Hey,
do you have any money?
How about loaning me some money? I didn't have any money.
>> Why did he need money?
>> Well, he was close to town in Nice.
His hundred battalion was right by
a town and he suspended wherever he wanted.
Like us, we were way up in the mountain in Maritime Alps.
And we didn't have anything to buy.
But then we played poker all day.
We were just gardening,
trying to get more replacement.
As soon as the replacement came,
we went to Italy to attack.
>> So tell me this brother's name?
>> Mike Doy.
>> And was this the brother that you
went to Gila River with?
>> No. He didn't go into camp.
He was already in the army in 1942.
>> Okay. So this is
your older brother? Much older brother?
>> Yeah. He's five years older.
>> Okay. So Mike Doy,
this is the brother that you found alive in France?
>> Yeah.
>> Dick Doy was ill with the fever.
>> Yeah.
>> And which brother did you
go into Gila River camp with?
>> Sam, we used to call Sam.
>> Okay.
>> And I stayed with them.
He is the oldest brother.
>> Okay. And then your sister's name?
>> The sister was in camp for just a little while.
>> And what was her name?
>> [inaudible].
>> Okay. So in France,
when you were up in the Maritime Alps,
tell me about moving into the mountains in the dark.
>> Well, all
we had to worry about was the shells coming in.
And they couldn't come over the mountain.
So when they hit on one side,
the rocks will come flying through our side.
That's the only thing we had to worry about.
>> So you weren't seeing combat?
>> No.
>> Okay. And as you moved in, you said it was very dark?
>> It was dark all the time,
but then we went better.
Unless you were on guard.
>> And you had a view of Monte Carlo?
>> Daytime, clear day,
we could see Monte Carlo is like this,
just about I'd say six inches.
>> Because it's a long way away.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> It's just nothing but green.
That's how far up we were on Maritime Alps.
>> Okay. So tell me about being transferred to Italy.
>> Well, I heard that the 44 second was going to move.
And I was in the hospital with trench foot,
but then is almost well.
So when they were going,
then I joined our company
and we got an LST boat went to Italy.
>> Where did you board the boat?
>> Jesus, I forgot the name of the town.
>> Do you remember where you arrived in Italy?
>> Livorno. What do you call it?
>> How did you get trench foot?
>> Staying up in the mountain in
the snow and our socks was always so wet.
And one day I looked and I saw black spot on my left toe.
And so I went that's pretty good.
I went and I said at least we got
hot meal while we were up there,
we were eating nothing but [inaudible].
>> So in the military hospital,
you got better food.
>> Yeah.
>> And how long were you in that hospital?
>> Seventy days.
>> Were there other guys in there with worse injuries?
>> Yeah.
And then at least there was a shower
one room shower right across from ours.
Every day, day and night twice a day to take a shower.
>> And so once you healed,
you went to Italy.
And what was your mission in Italy?
>> Well, what do you mean mission?
>> What did you have to do?
>> Well, we went there and trained for about a week,
then we started attack on Italy.
The 92nd whole division
was on the left flank of us and they couldn't
move because the Germans
had all that mountain and
they're looking down on them so they they couldn't move.
Every time they moved,
the Auri shells start coming there.
So we went on the other side of
the mountain and at night went into
a small town Asano
and we stayed there with the pigs and chickens and,
the Italian farmhouses, they put all their chickens and
pigs and stuff at night so we lived with them
that night and the next night we shot
out and started attack on and
found the third battalion went first
and they found German soldiers
snoring because they knew
that we weren't going to attack.
They figured no one was going to
attack at night so they caught them
snoring and we were
supposed to just go up
the mountain and watch counterattack.
If they were going to counterattack,
we were there waiting for them but they
never showed up so we walked
the whole day then
we were supposed to get artery shell support.
Never got it. And so our motor
start 150 yards in front
of us and everybody started attacking
the Mount Valder and one Caucasian officer yelled
Banzai so everybody started yelling
Banzai and we attacked,
we captured by 50 German soldiers killed some.
We only lost four four men.
>> So were these German soldiers just holding
out in the mountains or their fort?
>> Yeah. They had a fort.
>> What was the name of that fort?
>> A fort? No. It's just the mountain Mount Valder.
And that's where we got our first water.
I was thirsty by then.
But anyway, after we took Vlvader,
it was just chasing the Germans back.
>> And when was this? Do you remember?
>> I forgot.
>> Was it 1944 or 1945?
>> Five.
>> And was it February, March, April.
>> April.
>> Started on my birthday.
>> April of 1945.
>> April 5th we had started that attack.
I said please one more day.
>> So that it could start on your birthday?
>> It'd be very memorable, I guess.
How did you celebrate your birthday?
>> Nothing I could do sprayed
that I wouldn't get hit that first day.
I said, next day,
okay but after we start chasing the Germans,
then we came to a town called
Castapog and down in the valley,
they had a fort crossed from one mountain to the other.
And the captain asked for die bombers to come,
about three of them came and knocked a hole in the fort.
So then soon as the die bombers left,
the captain I think he
wanted one of the Caucasian lieutenants to go
down with someone to check
on how the fort was and no one volunteered,
so he went and I happened to be with
him because I was the wireman and
so we went alongside the fort
and got to the main part where the hole was and then
he stopped and told
me to set up the telephone for him,
and then he told me to go about 50 yards
ahead and then he told me to climb go up to the fort.
I knew I was going to die
but I I stuck my head out the ground level,
no one shot at me then I went up there more
for where my whole body was on ground level,
and no one shot at me so I went to
the hole in the wall and I looked in and
I saw a white flag and 17 German soldiers there and after
I captured them and put them to a place where it was
safe then I called
the captain and he came in and went into the fort.
So I heard later on that he got the Silver Star for that.
>> Did you get a medal for that?
>> No.
>> So did you get any credit for it?
>> No. My name is not on it.
>> And how does that make you feel?
>> I don't care. I'll say I was alive.
That's all I was worried.
>> Why do you think that those 17 Germans
waved the white flag so quickly?
>> Well, I don't know
because just two of us going and the rest of
the company is about a block away waiting
to attack but they didn't have to.
They decided that it's better to be alive than dead.
>> What was the name of the fort?
>> Fort Bastoni.
>> So where did you go from there?
>> Then we went up north, chasing the Germans.
>> Do you remember Victory Day?
>> It was in Genoa.
We were in Genoa, Italy,
and we were in
a big hallway and
we heard all kinds of firecrackers going off.
And so I went outside and said,
Guella Finito.
Wars end.
So I was happy for that.
We're going to go to Austria if the war didn't end?
>> That's where you would have been sent next?
>> No. Yeah. We went to
Lake Como toward the Swiss-Italian border
but then after that, the war was over.
>> How much longer did you stay in Europe?
>> About a year, a little over a year.
>> And what were you doing at that time?
>> Nothing. I had
German prisoners working in our camp,
I treated the German president
pretty good and one day,
I was taking a nap when I was supposed to be
on guard and I saw
all these German soldiers right next to me and they found
a burp gun and they were going to give it to me.
Man, I brought it all the way back
to New York Harbor and it got so heavy,
my bag was so heavy.
I jumped it into water.
That was going to be my souvenir.
>> And you just dropped it in the water?
>> I wish I knew which pier it was.
>> So these German prisoners
of war that you were just watching over?
>> Every morning, they see me coming with a truck.
I was always out on outside the truck.
And every morning,
they're looking for me and they run over there.
And then they get
on and every day I had the same guys come.
And one day one guy escaped into town.
I heard that after they caught him,
they went back to the German camp,
they beat the heck out of him.
He never came back.
>> Who beat the heck out of him?
>> The German prisoners.
This one guy a prisoner went into town.
I couldn't watch everyone.
>> Where were you at this point?
>> In Livorno Italy.
>> Italy. So that's where you were watching?
>> They're cleaning up the yard and everything.
And I treated them pretty good.
>> So when you shipped back to the United States,
where did you land?
>> New York, I know, I don't know where.
And then I had my furlough.
I went back to Chicago for
three weeks and then went
to San Francisco and went to Japan.
>> So were you discharged?
>> No. I re-enlisted.
>> You say you re-enlisted.
Does that mean that you had
discharged and then re-enlisted?
>> Yeah.
>> So you were discharged by the Army?
>> Yeah.
>> And then how did you re-enlist?
>> No. This is the same day.
>> It's the very same day?
>> Yeah.
>> And where was that?
>> In Italy.
>> In Italy? Okay. And so why did you re-enlist?
>> To look for my parents,
they were in Japan and near
Hiroshima and I was the only single in the family.
So I decided to re-enlist to look for them.
>> Did your siblings want you to do that?
>> They didn't even know about it.
I just knew that I was the only one.
>> And did you board a ship in San Francisco?
>> Yeah. Before I boarded the ship,
I had a telephone call from my brothers.
The Red Cross said that my parents were in good shape.
They were okay.
So I wish I didn't volunteer for another three years.
>> And did you
know that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima?
>> Yeah.
>> And what did
that make you feel or think at that point?
>> Well, I was worried about
my mom and dad because they're close to Hiroshima.
But otherwise, if they didn't drop that bomb,
we would still be fighting.
>> And you had no contact with them at that point?
>> No.
>> So where did you arrive in Japan?
>> Yokohama Japan.
>> And tell me about making
the trip out to see your parents.
>> Well, first I went into Quartermaster
because I forgot the division,
but they're about 150 miles
away from Hiroshima and that was the closest.
So I volunteered for that outfit.
And then after a few weeks in Japan,
I asked lieutenant if I could take a few days off
to go look for my parents
and he wasn't going to give it to me.
But the major was sitting right by him,
said, get the man a 10 day pass.
So I got 10 days to go look for my mom and dad.
And when I got to the town named Kaita and
I had my one week supply of food
and so I had
a couple of guys taking my stuff to the house.
My sister-in-law told me just about where to go.
So I knew just about where it was and I looked.
When I got there,
I looked out there and my dad was raking the ground dirt,
and he was facing the other way.
So I went up to him and said, hi, pop.
And he pop died,
hugged me for the first time.
And he called my mother and my mother was sick in bed,
but she came running out
and that's how I met my mom and dad.
>> And tell me about your father during the war.
>> Well, he was being watched
because he was always bragging that
for his son was in the American army and the monk was
afraid for him because
the Japanese police watched him all the time.
>> How far was their little town from Hiroshima?
>> Four miles.
>> So tell me about
the bomb drop. And how was the morning?
>> They were in Hiroshima
that early morning gathering firewood.
And when they were coming back home four miles,
he was coming home and all his friends and relatives were
going to Hiroshima to get firewood.
And, they're laughing at him.
But when he got home and
sat on to take off the shoes in the house,
and the bomb went off and knocked him to the ground.
But all his friends and relatives they were gone.
I mean, they're dead,
but my mom and dad were safe.
>> So you said it knocked him to the ground?
>> Yeah. Before they got in the house.
In Japan, they take off the shoes and then go
on what you called tatami floor.
Anyway, that saved their life.
My grandmother was coming to my parent's place.
She had an umbrella facing Hiroshima.
And when the bomb went off,
the umbrella burned but saved her life.
My uncle had a son and daughter in school in Hiroshima.
He lost both of them.
They went looking for him.
That's why I take my dad.
The next day they went and looking for
him and all that fume
got in his lungs and he had lung cancer.
So he died after that.
>> That was your uncle?
>> No, my dad.
>> That's your father.
>> He went looking for
my uncle's two children, boy and girl.
I guess that's about it.
>> So your parents had gone back to Japan in 1939,
when were you going back to see them in Japan?
>> I wasn't going to go back.
>> No but when did you first see
them when you walked up
to your father and he was right in Japan?
>> No, that was when I re-enlisted just to go to Japan.
They told us that we could go wherever we wanted if
we volunteered so I volunteered for Japan.
>> And was that in 1946 or '47?
>> '46.
>> So it had been seven years since you saw your parents?
>> Yeah.
>> How'd you feel to reunite with them?
>> It was really good.
>> And you eventually
brought your parents back to the United States?
>> Yeah. The three of us in
the service so we applied
for them to come back to the States.
And they came back but they were so lonesome,
they went back to Japan.
We couldn't speak Japanese to them.
I couldn't and only
my oldest brother and sister could talk to them,
and they were in Chicago and when they
came to Georgia to see us,
no one could speak to them so finally they got lonesome,
and went back to Japan.
They had a house there anyway.
So that's it.
>> And when did your parents pass away?
>> I forgot. I know let's see.
My mother died when
I was having a birthday party, but I forgot.
I got a call from my brother saying that my mom died.
My father died before that because of
the lung from Hiroshima so I don't know.
>> So tell me about meeting your wife.
>> Well, see,
my father and her father were good friends.
So he told me to go to New Orleans,
to go see they had five daughters.
So I went there and then
we went to Florida together with
my sister and brother-in-law.
>> So your father and your wife's father
were friends and they suggested that
you go to New Orleans where they were
living to see the family because they had five daughters?
>> Five or six, I forgot.
>> And were you just going to meet all of them?
>> No.
They told me [inaudible] that was
a Japanese name was there so I went to see her,
and we went to Florida with my brother, my sister,
and brother-in-law and I liked her so we got married.
>> And your wife was in an internment camp as well?
>> Yeah. She was in for over three years.
>> In what camp?
>> Rohwer Arkansas.
There was two camps in Arkansas,
Jerome and Rohwer and she was in Rohwer.
>> And she eventually
moved to New Orleans with her parents.
>> Yeah, well, they had so many kids that they couldn't
go back to California and so they went to New Orleans,
the closest big city.
>> And what did her father do there?
>> Farming over there,
you couldn't farm because the dirt was poor so he
used what they call sucking oyster for for a living.
>> So where did you move in Florida?
>> I didn't move to Florida.
>> But you went there with
your wife and your sister and your brother-in-law?
>> Yeah, we went to Panama City around that area.
>> Tell me about moving to Georgia.
>> Well, I was in
Chicago what they call chick sexing determine the sex of
a baby chicken and
I was going to Iowa and
Nebraska and all of Coal Country,
and when I found out there's a job in Georgia,
I didn't know where Georgia was at that time,
but warmer country anyway,
so I decided to come out here.
And man, we used to work day and
night 48 hours sometimes.
>> And what were you doing?
>> Determine the six of a baby chicken.
As soon as they hatch,
we look at the back end
and tell between a rooster and a hen.
>> And were you doing this on poultry farms?
>> Hatcheries.
>> All over.
>> All over Georgia?
>> Yeah. The big ones were in Gainesville at that time.
>> And where did you live?
>> In Decatur, same place.
>> And can you tell me a
little bit about coming to Georgia in
the '50s what did you notice about society in this side?
>> When I first came down here,
I wanted to use the bathroom.
I looked colored white so I went to the attendant,
I said, hey, which one am I supposed to use?
And he told me use the white one.
>> And where was that?
>> In Decatur.
>> Was it a gas station?
>> Gas station.
>> So Mr. Doy,
I just want to ask you here at
the very end when you think back to
the World War II period and the fact that you were
interned but then served as a US soldier,
how does that make you feel?
>> I was willing to go anytime.
As soon as I turned 18,
then I was ready to
go even if I had to go fight the Japanese.
In fact, the whole regiment after
Italy volunteered to go to fight in
the Pacific but they
won't let us go because we looked alike.
Well, that's it.
>> Well, thank you very much, Mr. Doy,
and we will conclude there.