Andre Libante

“We knew that when you went into combat it was dangerous, no question about that. But we were trained. We were going to fight for our country and therefore we were all willing to go. There was no fear of wondering about the unknown and how we would handle ourselves.” 

Growing up in the charming town of Los Gatos in the late 1930s and ‘40s, Andre Libante remembers the area as rich in orchards and farmlands, a far cry from what the tech-heavy area reflects today. His parents, Jacques and Therese, owned a French laundry, and lived in the house directly next door. When the war broke out, Andre was a young teenager in high school, and recalls the fervor and patriotism in the days following Pearl Harbor. When he was eligible for the draft in 1944, he joined the Marine Corps, and was first deployed to China, then Okinawa. In this interview, conducted on 

January 11, 2002 with Grace Megumi Fleming, he takes readers into a glimpse of his life in battle and war in the Pacific from a non-Japanese American perspective.  

We'll start up by asking you your full name and when and where you were born. 

My full name is Andre F. Libante, and I was born in San Francisco, California. November 11, 1925.

Well, this interview focuses on World War Two, but maybe you can paint me a picture of what life for you was like before the U.S. entered World War Two.

Well, life for me was wonderful here in Los Gatos. It was a town that I grew up in. I was going to school before WWII and it was agriculture, predominantly the area all around Los Gatos. There were orchards, and some families lived on farms, 20 or 30 acres. And we always lived right here in town. So therefore, I was able to spend a lot of time around the business district and chasing around, playing in the creek and all the things that kids do.

Sounds pretty idyllic, your childhood. Well, how did Pearl Harbor affect you? Do you remember the day?

Well, of course I remember December the 7th. Nobody could ever forget that. But I was in school and we were all absolutely nonplused. And we had our ears to the radios, listening to all the reports and what have you.

Well, it sounds like back then everybody wanted to fight for the country.

We had done a dirty, nasty deed, and therefore, everybody was patriotic and was willing to do whatever was necessary to get back on track.

Right. Did you feel that energy?

Of course. When I got out of school, I was drafted, and I had an opportunity. I went to San Francisco. I had an opportunity to join the Marine Corps, The Army, or The Navy. And I chose the Marine Corps.

One man I talked to said it was a very scary feeling to be listening to President Roosevelt’s speech, with everyone in the auditorium, he felt there was sort of an ominous cloud, and it was an emotional kind of thing for him.

Well, it was certainly emotional, but I don't think it was ominous or anything. Everybody displayed anger. What it really boils down to is, how could these Japanese people do such an atrocious thing without declaring war? So there was more anger than there was anything else.

Now, this man I'm talking about, he was of Japanese descent, and he went to a pretty much all white high school. There were maybe two boys of Japanese descent. And he, I think, he might have been talking about exactly what you're saying, that anger. And he felt that some students were looking at him.

Of course, he had nothing to do with the attacks, you know? The Japanese attacked us, and then there was anger toward the Japanese people. There were families that had been here for many, many, many years. And I went to school with Japanese American boys. Even if people had been rational, there were families that had been here for many, many, many years. And we didn't have any animosity toward them because we knew that they had been here. They had nothing to do with this attack.

I read that there were these clubs, anti-Asiatic leagues that were lobbying groups, and since the turn of the century, the Japanese have been here and these leagues really didn't like the Japanese taking away their jobs, as it were. Did you know anything about that? I mean, you were just a kid. 

I was a freshman in high school, and the families that I knew here, one had a berry farm down in the Los Gatos Creek bed. The other family was just the mother and two sons, and they worked for a prominent family here in Los Gatos for many, many years. And they were good students. They were good athletes. We got along with them fine. We used to play together. 

But the government – I don't know what you would call it – but they went into a fear mode and decided to turn on these people. The military immediately had troops move in. They took steps to close the old railroad right away that used to go to Santa Cruz. They blew up the tunnels and what have you. They thought the Japanese were going to invade the mainland of California and they would use the railroad right away to bring their troops inland.

Well, that's pretty drastic.

It was the military that didn't know whether the Japanese were going to keep coming or whether it was just this one hit raid on Hawaii. So therefore, they had to plan ahead and they weren't going to take any chances, I guess.

And all this time you had been reading about the atrocious acts, the atrocities that the Japanese had been committing in China.

Oh yes. We've been reading about it, but every time you went to a movie you saw the newsreels where they were blowing up Nanking and all these different countries and they were mean spirited, to say the least.

Well, so we'll get off Pearl Harbor a little bit then. Tell me about your military service.

I graduated from high school in February of 1944. I was up for the draft. I was called up. I had a chance to join three branches of service. I volunteered for the Marine Corps. I went from here to San Francisco. San Francisco to San Diego, went through all my basic training in San Diego and in Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, came home for ten days after boot camp and then back to San Diego. And then the rest of my whole career in the military was overseas, Hawaii to China and back.

You went to China?

I spent time in China. They had the campaign in Okinawa. And there we went and served from the start of the campaign until it was over when the Japanese surrendered. When we finished the campaign in Okinawa, we went back to Guam to train because our next landing would have been, you know, in Japan proper.

And the Japanese surrendered before we had to do that. So therefore, we packed up and went to China. And there in China, we disarmed all the Japanese that had been there since 1937. And I was in the first Marine Division military police in Tianjin and Beiping (now called Beijing) and stayed there until I had enough points that I came home in May of 1946.

Now, the battles in Iwo Jima are famous because they were vicious. What was it like to prepare? Did you have any idea that it would be really bad when you were preparing? 

Oh, well, we knew that when you went into combat it was dangerous, no question about that. But we were trained. We were going to fight for our country and therefore we were all willing to go. There was no fear of wondering about the unknown and how we would handle ourselves. But when you were called, you went.

It's an unfair question, but did you feel that it was worth it for you? That you feel like you contributed to the war effort?

Well, I feel that I went when I was called. I served and did all of the things that was asked of me. And I kept my record clean. I didn't get into any trouble and what have you. When I came out, I was honorably discharged. And so therefore, I felt that I contributed as I was asked to, finalizing the war. 

Did you tell me before about staying in the barracks in China? 

Oh, yeah. Our very first night in China, we were stationed at the mouth of the Yellow River. There was what used to be a French Marine base. And we were billeted in some of their big barracks there, and having a French background, on the other side of our building was a huge brick wall, and behind that brick wall there were buildings with lights on and we had no lights in our building. So I decided that, gee whiz, we should have lights. And there was electricity there. 

So I decided to go over and knock on the door and this elderly portly Chinese man came to the door and I read the sign that it had been a French barracks. So I spoke to him in French and he spoke beautiful French. And I said, “We were across the street and we were in the building and we didn't have any light bulbs. Could you give me one? And he said, “Yes.” And so our little unit, you know, screwed in a light bulb.

Oh! So you had electricity. 

There were no lightbulbs. So anyway, the first night there, I used my French and it paid dividends.

So I wanted to ask you about this disarming of the Japanese army in China, who had been there since 1937. 

Well, when we went to China and the Japanese surrendered, all the Japanese troops that were there had to surrender to our military. They had to turn in all of their arms and everything and then they were repatriated to Japan. So therefore the first Marine Division that went into China was responsible for gathering all of these arms, all of the military supplies, all of these things and taking it away from the Japanese and then shipping them back to Japan.

That seems like a monumental task.

It was a monumental task for those people that had to do an awful lot of it.

Because you had to make sure that these soldiers weren't hiding anything.

Well, when you disarmed the body, yes. You made sure that they weren't. But they were so grateful that the war was over. 

They were starving.

Well, they weren't starving.

Oh they weren't?

Oh, hardly. You know, the Chinese were starving, but the Japanese troops were well taken care of.

I see.

They took everything away from the Chinese so therefore they weren't hurting. But they knew that they were going to be repatriated at home and they wanted to go home, you know. For all those years, there were tanks, they were artillery pieces, some swords, their rifles, there were pistols, they were just everything that a military unit would have.

What would the American military do with that?

They gathered it up, and I don't know where it eventually went, but it probably all melted down. We certainly didn't want their equipment. Therefore, they probably stockpiled it somewhere and destroyed it. Well, there were Marines on Okinawa that would kill Japanese officers and take their swords and stuff and their pistols. A lot of Marines would gather these things up and then sell them to the Air Force for bottles of whiskey.

So, you know, after the war was over, you forgive and forget and go on with your life. You know, there's no sense in keeping hatred.

That's a very nice statement.

Well, it is. It was true of the majority of the people.

Well, did you have a victorious homecoming? 

Oh, yeah. Our ship came into the harbor at San Diego, and there were people there knowing that some of their sons and daughters were coming home and they had a band, but there was no, no really big thing. We just came home, we got off and got on trucks, went to the Marine base and were building up there. And then we started being processed, you know, check out.

And just coming home was celebration you know? Your family must have been very happy to see you again.

Yeah. And I was happy to see them. Yeah.

Well, when you came home in May, did you immediately go job searching or school searching or did you take it easy for a few months?

Oh, no, no. I came home and my room was there just the way I left and everything. So I had some good meals with my mother and father and then putzed around and visited with some of my friends that had just come back too and then started job hunting, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do and what have you. And so checked up on my wife. She was a nurse in training in San Francisco at that time.

Checked up on your wife? You were already married?

No, No. She was my girlfriend then, but she had gone into nurses training when she graduated from high school in ‘45. So I would go up to San Francisco.

Did you know her before you went off overseas?

Oh, yeah, we were – we dated through high school. We were married in 1947.

I've really enjoyed talking with you, and I'm really grateful that you allowed me to interview you.

Oh, my pleasure.

Interview conducted by Grace Megumi Fleming. JAMsj thanks Grace for allowing the museum to archive and share these oral histories