Oral history interview with Akira Toki [sound recording], 1996.

ArchivalResource

Toki, Akira R., 1916-,. Oral history interview with Akira Toki [sound recording], 1996.

Oral history interview with Akira Toki [sound recording], 1996.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61049543

Toki, a Japanese-American from Madison, Wisconsin discusses the home front, military aspects of being a Japanese-American and his service with the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II. He talks extensively about being Japanese, race relations, and his frustrations at basic army training at Camp Robinson (Arkansas.) He declares that the army segregated him at Fort Sheridan (Illinois), Camp Grant (Illinois), and Camp Blanding (Florida) until the 442nd was organized. Thereafter, Toki describes battles in Marseilles (France), the Rhine River, and Po Valley including examining how he rescued a lost battalion. He tells us that V-E Day was marked by the 442nd pushing the German army from Italy into Switzerland. Toki reveals that he guarded a German prisoner and he tells a humorous story about returning to the U.S. on the Liberty ship during Thanksgiving. He used the GI Bill to attend the University of Wisconsin for two years. Toki joined the American Legion because they assisted his Japanese parents during the war. He states that dropping the atomic bomb on Japan saddened him. In 1992, Madison, Wisconsin students named a middle school in his honor.

Sound recording : 2 sound cassettes (ca. 80 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 34 p.Master sound recording : 1 sound cassette (ca. 80 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center