John Hideo Matsumoto
MilitaryAerial Gunner
47th Bomb Group - 97th Bomb Squadron - 12th AF
Completed a 50 combat mission tour
One of the few airmen of Japanese decent in the European Theatre
Being the only Nisei wherever I was stationed, I was always treated as one of the boys. Never was I called a 'Jap' during my entire Army stint. Never felt any prejudice during my time in Service (3 yrs 8 months). During my stay in Denver, CO around 2/42, I often went to a Japanese restaurant called 'Manchu Grill'. The first time I went there, I got the cold treatment. They thought I was Chinese because they didn't know any Nisei in the Air Corp. After that , I was treated royally. While stationed at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, from where I flew 33 missions, I saw Mt. Vesuvius erupt. We evacuated from there. But the planes that were stationed on the other side were damaged or lost. From there we went to Naples.
Being in the Air Corp, I now realize what a clean life we led. I visited my cousin in Northern Italy and felt sorry for those guys as they slept in pup tents in all kinds of weather and died in the mud. My buddies who lost their lives went down so fast we never felt the pain seeing our comrades killed, not that I didn't care.
Connections
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Units served with
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Penngrove, California | 21 December 1919 | |
Sebastopol, California | 1 July 1941 | ||
Enlisted |
Presidio of Monterey, California | 6 December 1941 | |
Died |
Sacramento, California | 19 November 2001 |