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TOM KAWANO
2461 SKANSEN ST.
KINGSBURG, CA 93631
(559) 897-8686
The following is the story of my military history. It has been over fifty-five years since WWII, yet
many memories are as clear and fresh as the day they happened; others are difficult to recall,
especially dates. I have used Maj. Orville C. Shirey 's book, Americans: The Story ofthe 442"
Combat Team, and Go For Broke, by Chester Tanaka, to organize my thoughts, check dates, and cite
facts which give my words context. Please feel free to contact me if you find any errors. These are
my best recollections of that time and I present them as accurately as possible. -T.K.
I was drafted into the army on June 4,1941, at the age of 24. I was born in Tulare, CA, and raised in
the San Joaquin Valley. My family moved several times during my childhood finally settling on a
farm near Selma. I never thought I would ever have to move or live somewhere else, but the war
changed that.
My basic training took place at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. I was trained in the Corps of Engineers and
learned how to make pontoon and footbridges, arm and disable mines, and many other things that
would come in handy when I finally saw action. Everybody seemed to get along: Caucasians,
African-Americans, and Japanese-Americans (about 30-40 J.A. scattered throughout the battalion). I
made many friends and didn't experience racial prejudice. After about 17 weeks, our battalion was on
a train bound for San Francisco.
Our route took us through Los Angeles. When we reached LA., they put guards on the train. We
found out later that this was to prevent anyone from going AWOL, but at the time, we thought it was
strange. They wouldn't even let us off the train long enough to buy a candy bar. We reached Angel
Island, S.F., in the early days of December and began busy preparations for oversea duty—
destination: unknown. Then, another strange thing happened. It must have been Dec. 4th or 5th when
I was notified that T had been taken off the embarkation list and so had all the 30 to 40 Japanese-
Americans. We were separated from the rest and taken to a two-story building on the base, but not
guarded, locked-up, or detained. Some of my brothers and sisters had come up from the Central
Valley to say goodbye to me before I shipped out. I didn't have a chance to tell them before they left
that I wasn't going anywhere—things were happening quickly. It was Sunday and I got a pass to
spend the day with my family. We went to the S.F. Zoo that morning and then decided to go to
Chinatown for lunch. We noticed that many newsboys were out waving papers on the streets and we
knew something was up. It was December 7, 1941. As we listened to the car radio, we first learned
ofthe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Like many people back then, we had never heard of Pearl
Harbor and we didn't know the extent ofthe devastation. So we had our Chinese food and enjoyed
our visit together. Later that day, I ferried back to Angel Is. without realizing that this historic and
catastrophic day would mean war for the U.S.
Tom Kawano ~~ Military Hi story
Object Description
| Title | Tom Kawano's History |
| Description | In the pursuit of redress for Japanese Americans, Tom Kawano shares his own experience in the 100th/442nd battalion. |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 5 items |
| Project Name | California State University Japanese American Digitization Project |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
Description
| Local ID | csufr_hfp_1436 |
| Project ID | csufr_hfp_1436 |
| Title | Page 1 |
| Creator | Kawano, Tom: author |
| Date Created | Unknown |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 8.37 x 10.91in |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
| Transcript | TOM KAWANO 2461 SKANSEN ST. KINGSBURG, CA 93631 (559) 897-8686 The following is the story of my military history. It has been over fifty-five years since WWII, yet many memories are as clear and fresh as the day they happened; others are difficult to recall, especially dates. I have used Maj. Orville C. Shirey 's book, Americans: The Story ofthe 442" Combat Team, and Go For Broke, by Chester Tanaka, to organize my thoughts, check dates, and cite facts which give my words context. Please feel free to contact me if you find any errors. These are my best recollections of that time and I present them as accurately as possible. -T.K. I was drafted into the army on June 4,1941, at the age of 24. I was born in Tulare, CA, and raised in the San Joaquin Valley. My family moved several times during my childhood finally settling on a farm near Selma. I never thought I would ever have to move or live somewhere else, but the war changed that. My basic training took place at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. I was trained in the Corps of Engineers and learned how to make pontoon and footbridges, arm and disable mines, and many other things that would come in handy when I finally saw action. Everybody seemed to get along: Caucasians, African-Americans, and Japanese-Americans (about 30-40 J.A. scattered throughout the battalion). I made many friends and didn't experience racial prejudice. After about 17 weeks, our battalion was on a train bound for San Francisco. Our route took us through Los Angeles. When we reached LA., they put guards on the train. We found out later that this was to prevent anyone from going AWOL, but at the time, we thought it was strange. They wouldn't even let us off the train long enough to buy a candy bar. We reached Angel Island, S.F., in the early days of December and began busy preparations for oversea duty— destination: unknown. Then, another strange thing happened. It must have been Dec. 4th or 5th when I was notified that T had been taken off the embarkation list and so had all the 30 to 40 Japanese- Americans. We were separated from the rest and taken to a two-story building on the base, but not guarded, locked-up, or detained. Some of my brothers and sisters had come up from the Central Valley to say goodbye to me before I shipped out. I didn't have a chance to tell them before they left that I wasn't going anywhere—things were happening quickly. It was Sunday and I got a pass to spend the day with my family. We went to the S.F. Zoo that morning and then decided to go to Chinatown for lunch. We noticed that many newsboys were out waving papers on the streets and we knew something was up. It was December 7, 1941. As we listened to the car radio, we first learned ofthe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Like many people back then, we had never heard of Pearl Harbor and we didn't know the extent ofthe devastation. So we had our Chinese food and enjoyed our visit together. Later that day, I ferried back to Angel Is. without realizing that this historic and catastrophic day would mean war for the U.S. Tom Kawano ~~ Military Hi story |
