Robert Sabara '31 Distinguished Alumnus Nomination

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Tx_Luke
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Robert Sabara '31 Distinguished Alumnus Nomination
Born April 12, 1910
Lieutenant Colonel
Signal Officer in U.S. 1st Army. Highest ranking Japanese American officer in WW2 and implemented the 1st radios in tanks for Patton.

Radio communication in tanks was a world history game changer:
This Class of 1931 Fighting Texas Aggie was the electrical engineer, at the request of Patton, who figured out how to equip tanks with radio communication. LTC Robert Saibara is not even mentioned in the new James Woodall book "AGGIE LISTS, Texas A&M University's Military Heritage"

I NEED LETTERS OF SUPPORT for Robert Saibara '31 Distinguished Alumnus Award nomination. Please send letter to:
Attn: Lisa Ashorn
The Association of Former Students
505 George Bush Drive
College Station, TX 77840-2918

Background Information:
Skip to 43 min. to hear about Aggie Generals in WW2.
Interview with Robert and Rola Saibara and George and May Waki, 1979
https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p15125coll4/id/1082
Note This audio reflects on assignment to 13th Corps, then 12th Army Group then 1st US Army.

The Saibara Family of Webster, Texas
http://hirasaki.net/Family_Stories/Saibara/Saibara.htm


edit: found documentation serving in the US 1st Army
CanyonAg77
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AG
Look forward to reading your links. If what you post is accurate, definitely belongs in the pantheon of Aggie heroes.

Almost on the level of Schervier and missiles
Tx_Luke
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Please write letter. I think this Aggie, being Japanese American during WWII and serving in Europe, speaks volumes.
ABATTBQ87
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AG
ABATTBQ87
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AG
The Saibara Family of Webster, Texas

Kiyoaki's eldest son, Robert, served in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, the highest rank at that time held by a person of Japanese ancestry.
Tx_Luke
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Find a stamp, take that moment to write letter in support of Distinguished Former Student award. Mail to:
Attn: Lisa Ashorn
The Association of Former Students
505 George Bush Drive
College Station, TX 77840-2918

Another interesting fact: Rola, Robert's wife, was Samurai class Japanese.

LTC Robert Saibara has been nominated, letters of support are needed now.
aggiejim70
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AG
Pretty sure the gentleman in question is the uncle of my BQ classmate.

And we do have a confirmation on that.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
Tx_Luke
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aggiejim70 said:

Pretty sure the gentleman in question is the uncle of my BQ classmate.

And we do have a confirmation on that.
Write a letter to honor this Aggie. Here is an excerpt from the audio link above with history and some good bull.
Walls is the interviewer. Rola is Robert's Wife


May: It was a shock. Robert: It was a Sunday, Sunday. George: Yeah. Sunday.
Rola: That's exactly what we were doing because we were already in the service at Fort Sam Houston, that particular Sunday.
Robert: We were having a picnic at Breckenridge Park in San Antonio. You know where that is? Walls: Oh yeah, uh-huh.
Robert: That picnic there, and had a little radio like that. It says that, "Japanese. The news report. " And, "Japanese Have Bombed Pearl Harbor." And somebody said it was just a bunch of joke, you know. And then soon got worse and worse and worse and worse. And then about the time we finished eating and everything, it said that all military men were required to return to post.
Walls: But you were in the Army at that time. Robert: Yeah.
Walls: How long had you been in the Army.
Robert: Well, let's see. I got in the Army in 1940, September the third. When we attended that reunion that was December of '41, wasn't it? Rola: The seventh or '41.
Walls: Seventh. So you were in the park having a picnic with other Army personnel?
Robert: Yeah. Other Army personnel. Walls: Oh.
Rola: There were some there, yeah. Walls: What was their reaction?
Robert: Well, a lot like everybody else. At first for that broadcast it was hard to believe that.
Walls: Didn't really kind of sink in.
Robert: Yeah. But when it said that all military personnel were hereby ordered to return to post, then we believed that.
Walls: Mm-hmm. So was there any reaction against you being Japanese?
Rola: I think that we were fortunate that we were in the service because I think when you're in the service you realize that it doesn't matter what color skin the next fellow is. He's got to be a good soldier. You, or he's got to be a good man. You come to judge the person for what he is, not the ...Walls: Kind of an equalizer.
Rola: (?) and saw.
George: It all depends, it depends.
Rola: But in the service, I'll tell you, I think we, uh. ..
George: Depends.
Rola: ... we felt less prejudice there.
George: Yeah, but I know a lot of soldiers, you know, at
the same time ...Rola: Uh-huh.
George: ... they' re, I'm almost persecuted. Rola: Uh-huh. George: I'll tell you.
Robert: Is that right? George: Yes.
Rola: Well maybe it's just the location there.
George: I know, I know.
Rola: Because, let's see, we were in Fort Sam Houston, and then from there where did we go?
Robert: Fort Sam and then to Camp Shelby when wartime was over.
Rola: And then Crowder. Robert: And then I went to ...
Rola: Crowder was next. Robert: Camp Crowder, yeah. Rola: Alright, uh-huh.
Robert: Shelby first. Rola: In Missouri.
Walls: In Missouri. Rola: Right. And, uh ...
Walls: You'd already been, you'd gone through all your basic training and all that other stuff.
Robert: No, I wasn't fixin' at A&M so I was already a lieutenant.
Rola: He was a military man.
Walls: Oh! Okay. So you went in with a commission Robert: Yeah. Walls: Okay.
Robert: The only time that I had heard anything like that was in France one time, I was in one headquarter called 13th Corps. There was a general in there that was talking to another general and he said that, "I cannot evaluate that major's statements because the father is an alien, " ... what do you call it? "An enemy alien."
Walls: Enemy alien.
Robert: So then the next guy with three stars came up and he said, "Come on over here and talk to me." Walls: And you're a major.
Robert: Yeah, I was a major then. And he said, "You know, I understand you went to A&M." And I said, "Yeah"...cause of the ring. Then he asked about the freshman there named Alton__... and about the story of Texas University. I said we beat the daylight out of them November 27th Walls: (Laughs)
Robert: ... and so forth, and one thing and another like that. Then he went over to that other general and said, "Look." He said, "If you can't evaluate that major's statement you start taking the stars off of MY collar." See. "He's either a major in the US Army or he's not! And as long as
he is, he's got all privileges!" See.
Walls: What do you mean, he couldn't evaluate your statements? What statements were you ...
Robert: Well, he was from West Point, see. Walls: Yeah.
Robert: And he, I don't think he liked me much, see. And so ... Walls: He couldn't ...
Robert: So when he straightened him out, you know, well then I went, the job I was doing was taking confidential top secret material, you know, in code words. So I went and did that, and since he said that I didn't want to let him down at all because, you know, he took up for me like that. But there were several cases like that when an Aggie general would take up for me, and once in a while you get in trouble because the West Pointers don't know you, see. And I don't
know ...
Walls: You mean he wouldn't believe that you were really a major, or he wouldn't ...Robert: No.
Walls: ... believe that you were, he thought that you were ...
Robert: He didn't trust me.
Walls: Huh?
Robert: He didn't trust me.
Walls: Oh, okay. essentially. So he didn't really want you around,
Robert: Something like that, yeah.
Walls: When were you sent overseas?
Robert: Let's see. When did I go overseas? 1944, I think no '43. Walls: The middle of the War.
Robert: D plus 90 or something like that.
Walls:Uh-huh. You went to France?
Robert: Well I landed in Liverpool, England. Gathered up all equipment, then crossed over to northern France, Omaha Beach. Then we worked our way down and got assigned to the
13th Corps. Then they moved me over to a place called the 12th Army Group. Then, I had an easy job. I was running something like a mail system in the Signal Corps, a messenger service, see. And I'd just sit there and be a big shot and let them run the message center, and just now and then take trip out and visit. And then, back in the States, I worked for a colonel that was real tough. His name was Williams, see. But he would be the kind that tells you what he wanted to happen, and then he didn't really care how he did it, but it had to happen by a certain date. And I worked for him. Well he saw me over there, and he says, "What are you doing over here?" I says, Well, I'm having a good time. "I need you as my radio officer, at 1st Army. I'm going to get you" he said. So I says, "Uh-oh" and I went and told my boss, It look like I'm going to 1st Army. And he says, "Oh no, you ain't going to the 1st. You're going to stay right here. Well for some reason or another, when I watched the message center and I got an order signed by General Bradley saying that I will report without delay to Headquarters 1st US Army. So I left, went there. Since then, I never could sleep, because you work all the time, you know. The only time you could sleep is if you take catnaps now and then. One time, and I didn't sleep for
about a week, because at night, see, the Army would advance, see. The daytime, you know, the (?) would hold up and like that. And then they would plan. So you got to stay awake then too. Then at night they would go advance again. So one day I had a headache. I felt funny and then when I finally woke up this guy had me by the necktie right in here and beat me down on the ground waking me up. "What the damn hell you doing sleeping?" See. So he told me the radio link was out inside the Corps and he said, "If you don't get it working in the next 15 minutes I'm going to make you wish you wasn't born." That's the way he talked, see.
Walls: Mm-hmm.
Robert: So we had to go out and devise a certain method to get it going again. But anyway I'd never get any peace. If I'd have just stayed out of his sight I'd have had an easy time in France, see. But it didn't last long.
Walls: You were there till VE Day?
Robert: Yeah.
Walls: You were? And then you came back?
Robert: No after VE Day they sent a contingent over to the, uh, Hawaiian Islands for the invasion of Japan, see.
Walls: Mm-hmm.



Tx_Luke
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aggiejim70 said:

Pretty sure the gentleman in question is the uncle of my BQ classmate.

And we do have a confirmation on that.
If you can contact and get a letter of support to the BQ classmate, we can include with the nomination. Thanks.
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