‘I expected to be killed’: From training to the battlefield, 100-year-old Nisei veteran reflects on WWII journey

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Roy Fuji is one of the last surviving members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Born in Lahaina, he was one of thousands of Japanese-American, or Nisei, soldiers who volunteered to fight in World War II.
“I had a older brother. He wanted to join, but he already had a job bringing in money to the family, so I said, ‘No, no, no. I‘ll go,’” said Fuji.
Fuji enlisted shortly after his high school graduation.
Now 100 years old, he still remembers training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi.
“I cannot say I enjoyed it because Mississippi is a hell of a place. Better not say that to the people from Mississippi, but that’s the way it was,” Fuji said.
His team was split into four battalions with most soldiers placed in infantry, or ground combat.
Fuji was assigned to fire cannons with the 522nd field artillery battalion.
“They said, you going to be in the artillery. I said, what the heck is that? I didn’t know what they’re talking about, artillery. Most of my friends was in the infantry,” he said.
After a year of training, Fuji and the rest of the 442nd were sent to Europe.
“I honestly didn’t believe that I would be here today, talking story. I expected to be killed,” he said. “I think most everybody expected to be, not come back and be able to talk story.”
The 442nd fought battles in France, Germany and Italy.
Fuji’s battalion played an integral role in liberating thousands of prisoners from one of Germany’s oldest concentration camps, located just outside of Munich.
“Dachau is something that you don’t even like to think about. See some people don’t want to remember,” he said.
Tens of thousands of Jewish prisoners died in Dachau due to overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions, and torture.
“Nothing much we can do for the victims that were already dead,” Fuji recalled. “Why the Germans treat the Jews the way they did, I still don’t understand why.”
Shortly after, the Germans surrendered and Fuji returned to Hawaii.
Throughout his deployment, Fuji carried a bus token with his dog tags.
When soldiers asked him why, he said, “I might not have money, but I have a bus token.”
Sure enough, when he returned to Oahu, he used it to get a ride back home.
“My dad didn‘t expect me to see me alive,” he said. “When I went home, I tell him, ’I‘m back!’ He looked at me. He thought he was seeing a ghost. He didn’t think he was seeing me alive.”
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is known as one the most decorated units in U.S. military history, having been awarded thousands of Purple Hearts and many Medals of Honor and Presidential Unit Citations.
Fuji says he was just doing as he was told.
“I didn’t do anything special,” said Fuji. “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to stay alive.”
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