Gary Tsuneo Kadani grew up in a large family in San Juan Bautista, Calif., where a small, but tight-knit Japanese-American community developed.
We were raised very strictly in the Japanese tradition. Every New Year's day we woke up early, brushed our teeth, my father and brothers faced toward the east. We were not allowed to speak English at mealtime. [Oral History]
This was the saddest day of my life. Trip to Salinas Rodeo Ground farewell to my parents.... My parents were sleeping in a horse stall and my mother asked me to get Clorox, all the Clorox I could find. I drove to Salinas, and that's over 50 miles. I'm not supposed to be there.... It smelled so bad they couldn't sleep so that's why I got in my car and drove to Salinas and bought dozens, they were only about nine cents a bottle, Clorox in those days, back in '41.... I loaded back of my Chevrolet trunk with that because when my mother was asking me, my sisters-in-law and friends asked me, "Oh, Kadani ni san, can you get some for me." And so I just bought a whole bunch, as much as I could and put 'em in the trunk and took it back to Salinas Rodeo Ground and gave it to the people who were waiting by the gate. Then I went back to Presidio after saying good-bye to everybody and that was the saddest day of my life. [Oral History]
Father buried everything, including kendo equipment and beautiful picture of the Emperor, very valuable. I still remember my father with tears in his eyes telling me these things. [Oral History]
He said, "Kadani, I'll see what I can do." He called General Willoughby, General MacArthur's G-2. On the 4th of July everybody got promoted to Sergeant. I got promoted to Staff Sergeant. [Oral History]
He thanked me because he was in bed surrounded by all the American soldiers being treated. He couldn't get over the fact that he was being treated like all the other Americans who were wounded by the Japanese. He got on his knees on the bed and he thanked me. [Oral History]
You know, the irony of the whole thing about this horse stall, when we first went to Melbourne, they didn't know where to put us. They put us in some old Army camp, they said, "You have to get your bedding...." They take us to a place and they have straw, to put into a bag for mattress, and when I saw that, I thought of my parents again.
And then, after we left Australia, we went to Philippines.... and we stayed at the Santana Race Track. Another horse barn.... It was a beautiful headquarters at Santana Race Track.
Yeah. I hate horse tracks now. [Oral History]