Gender

Male

Birth date

1945-10-16

Place of birth

Tule Lake CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1967-10-1, Fort Leonard Wood MO

Enlistment type

Draftee

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

B Company - 3/47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division

Military specialty

Infantry - Squad Leader

Stationed

Fort Riley, Kansas; Vietnam; Fort Ord, CA.

Separated

Fort Ord CA

Unit responsibility

Our unit was to go search for Viet Congs

Personal responsibility

My responsibility was to keep my squad members alive.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Our Company was a mobile unit. We go by river boat, helicopter and set up night patrols.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

1). Bronze Medal for attacking a Viet Cong line.

2). Purple Heart for being blown up on a tank and getting wounded.

Living conditions

Once on patrol, I had to sleep on a tree because water would cover the ground.

When I stayed in the field for two weeks I came back in to bathe and eat hot meals.

When on patrol we ate canned meals.

We didn't have too much entertainment in Vietnam because we had no time.

Most vivid memory of military experience

After going overseas to Vietnam and observing how other people lived, it made me feel good to be an American and to live in the United States.

Being Japanese American in Vietnam, I looked like them, so it was hard for me. But, I had no problem with that. My friends joke about it.

Missed most whilst in the military

I missed my family and my friends the most while I was in the service

Most important thing, personally, to come from military experience?

While I was in the Army, I met all different kinds of races. In Vietnam and being in a war zone, you have to trust each other with your life. So, the most important thing my military experience gave me is to respect each others rights.