George Itsuo Nakamura had just turned 18 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Army evicted him and his family from their home and sent them to Tulare, Calif., where they lived in horse stalls for two months. Then, the government forced them to move to Gila River Detention Camp in Arizona.
Nakamura's father had died earlier, and his older brother had become the head of the family. His brother wanted to join the Army, but felt responsible for their sisters and mother. Instead of joining himself, it was this older brother who encouraged Nakamura to volunteer. After a few months in camp, Nakamura decided to volunteer for the Army, but unfortunately, neighbors and friends who had heard that he had enlisted, chastised his mother:
Our Arroyo Grande hometown neighbors or friends went to my mother saying, "Did you let your son volunteer?" And my mother got very frustrated. It was just before I was to get into the Army. [Oral History]
[They said to Nakamura's mother] "You ought to be ashamed of yourself; you're letting your son go fight Japan where we're in a place like this, etc. etc." Interestingly, those same families have sons my age. I was the only one from my class that volunteered. [Oral History]
The U.S. Army originally got approval from Chiang Kai-shek to set up a "Dixie Mission" to go to Yenan.... I was the only Nisei sent.... I started to interrogate prisoners there and also translate documents for information to be sent back to Chungking and eventually Washington. [Oral History]
The Chinese Communists realized that Christmas was important to us, so they had made up a special program for us that night. They gave us a nice dinner and we were very pleased that they had gone through trouble to make us feel more at home-two Americans who were directly or indirectly helping the Chinese Communists fight the Japanese. [Oral History]
Being invited to dinners and things like that with Mao Tse-tung and his associates and being young and treated so well, was something for me.... I danced with Mrs. Mao Tse-tung and great leaders' wives. American Dixie mission group and Chinese Communist leaders were quite friendly at that time. [Oral History]
I often thought about my hometown friends' family who used to say, "Why fight for a country that put you into prison?" When you think about things like that you think, "Why am I doing this?" Later others did the same thing. I'm glad I did what I did. In the long run it was much better than being in camp and just squatting there and saying, "You put me in prison so take care of me." [Oral History]