WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:03.873
And got shipped to Camp Grant, Illinois,
2
00:00:05.460 --> 00:00:08.433
which was a medical replacement training center.
3
00:00:09.540 --> 00:00:11.753
And, of course, there was not a gun in the camp,
4
00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640
which I don't know whether it was intentional,
5
00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.640
from the standpoint of us Japanese guys.
6
00:00:17.670 --> 00:00:21.390
'Cause I don't think no Japanese fellows would be trusted
7
00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:22.923
with firearms in those days.
8
00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:27.363
But we began basic training.
9
00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:32.943
But during my basic training, two major developments.
10
00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:38.130
First was that the draft
11
00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:41.043
and all enlistments into the military were cut off.
12
00:00:41.970 --> 00:00:45.003
The draft was no longer operable for Japanese Americans.
13
00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:48.900
The second was that I found out
14
00:00:48.900 --> 00:00:51.690
that an order had been signed
15
00:00:51.690 --> 00:00:55.470
that evacuated all Japanese
16
00:00:55.470 --> 00:00:57.933
from a certain portion of the West Coast.
17
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.220
And suddenly found out that my oldest brother had been put
18
00:01:02.220 --> 00:01:04.263
into a camp in rural Arkansas.
19
00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:07.200
That my second oldest brother into a camp
20
00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.660
in Manzanar on Eastern California.
21
00:01:09.660 --> 00:01:12.030
And my mother and the rest of the family
22
00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:15.423
into the Poston Camp in the middle of the Arizona desert.
23
00:01:16.410 --> 00:01:21.410
So there was my family in three separate camps
24
00:01:21.450 --> 00:01:23.400
behind barbed wire.
25
00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:24.903
And I was in a camp too, but different kind of camp.
26
00:01:24.903 --> 00:01:26.461
Camp there too.
27
00:01:26.461 --> 00:01:27.833
It was a slightly different kind of camp.
28
00:01:29.010 --> 00:01:31.150
How was it that happened
29
00:01:31.150 --> 00:01:34.650
that your brothers went to different camps from your family?
30
00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:36.360
Oh, simply 'cause they lived in different places.
31
00:01:36.360 --> 00:01:37.193
Oh.
32
00:01:37.193 --> 00:01:39.540
My two older brothers of course were,
33
00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:40.500
lived in different places.
34
00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:41.520
I see.
Yeah.
35
00:01:41.520 --> 00:01:42.810
Yeah.
36
00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:45.210
The only part of my family
37
00:01:45.210 --> 00:01:48.993
that did not get evacuated was my youngest kid brother.
38
00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.740
And he didn't because he had a girlfriend in Colorado.
39
00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:56.760
So when the evacuation notice either came out
40
00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:57.753
or just before,
41
00:02:00.330 --> 00:02:03.690
he took the car that I had left behind
42
00:02:03.690 --> 00:02:07.080
and drove to Colorado to join his girlfriend and family.
43
00:02:07.080 --> 00:02:09.750
Oh, so he was never interned?
44
00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:11.392
He was never-
Evacuated.
45
00:02:11.392 --> 00:02:12.900
Never evacuated.
I see.
46
00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:14.266
The only one in the family.
47
00:02:14.266 --> 00:02:16.773
Oh.
48
00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:19.560
Did you have occasion to visit any
49
00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:24.560
of your brothers or your mother and sister?
50
00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:26.190
Yes. Just coming to that.
51
00:02:26.190 --> 00:02:27.300
Okay.
52
00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:29.490
So I finished my basic training
53
00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:31.930
and when I finished I asked for a pass to visit
54
00:02:33.570 --> 00:02:34.680
and there's no way in the world
55
00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:36.720
I could visit three different camps.
56
00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:37.707
Correct.
57
00:02:37.707 --> 00:02:38.540
Scattered all over the United States.
58
00:02:38.540 --> 00:02:41.613
So I thought I'd better visit my mother in Poston, Arizona.
59
00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:44.790
I was granted that pass.
60
00:02:44.790 --> 00:02:47.489
I understand that some of the guys that were in,
61
00:02:47.489 --> 00:02:48.540
Nisei guys that were in the Army
62
00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:53.100
at that time were not allowed passes to Manzanar
63
00:02:53.100 --> 00:02:54.930
because Manzanar was still in California.
64
00:02:54.930 --> 00:02:56.220
All those in the eastern part.
65
00:02:56.220 --> 00:02:57.900
Right.
66
00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:00.730
But I was granted this past to Poston
67
00:03:02.760 --> 00:03:05.253
and it was a very unpleasant trip.
68
00:03:07.170 --> 00:03:11.493
Even during the time I was in transit to get to Poston,
69
00:03:12.660 --> 00:03:15.660
I had a bad experience in Parker, Arizona, at lunch counter.
70
00:03:17.250 --> 00:03:18.870
I had a bad experience trying to get
71
00:03:18.870 --> 00:03:20.763
to the gates at Poston Camp.
72
00:03:23.070 --> 00:03:24.330
But I did.
73
00:03:24.330 --> 00:03:27.120
I was able to visit with my mother.
74
00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.393
You were in uniform at that point?
75
00:03:28.393 --> 00:03:29.520
I was in uniform.
76
00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:30.453
Yes.
Yeah.
77
00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:33.420
I got challenged on the bus going to Parker.
78
00:03:33.420 --> 00:03:35.220
You know, this MP stuck his head
79
00:03:35.220 --> 00:03:37.470
and asked if all you Japs got passes.
80
00:03:37.470 --> 00:03:42.064
And I thought, "I need a pass to visit my mother?"
81
00:03:42.064 --> 00:03:43.563
You know, I was in Florida.
82
00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.973
After we visited for a couple of days,
83
00:03:53.433 --> 00:03:55.650
my brother's young wife decided
84
00:03:55.650 --> 00:03:57.900
that they ought to have a celebration for me.
85
00:03:59.700 --> 00:04:03.330
So there was another Nisei GI that was also visiting.
86
00:04:03.330 --> 00:04:05.490
And we decided to go into Parker,
87
00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:08.613
get a case of beer, which was a huge mistake.
88
00:04:09.510 --> 00:04:11.200
We walked into the nearest saloon
89
00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:13.770
and we no sooner got through the door
90
00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:18.770
than the bartender waved us out, "No Japs."
91
00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:21.121
And he called for his bouncer.
92
00:04:21.121 --> 00:04:21.954
Whoa.
93
00:04:21.954 --> 00:04:24.420
And two big bouncers came out from the back.
94
00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:26.850
So he and I decided, "Well, we're not gonna do this."
95
00:04:26.850 --> 00:04:31.850
I think we'll kind of exit gracefully as possible.
96
00:04:33.390 --> 00:04:35.280
Soon as we got out the door, we were confronted
97
00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:39.660
by this Indian fellow who was also in Army uniform.
98
00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:41.710
He was in that Timberwolf division
99
00:04:42.935 --> 00:04:46.027
and he made the remark to us, says,
100
00:04:46.027 --> 00:04:47.610
"You know, guys like you and I,
101
00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:49.660
we should never go in a place like this."
102
00:04:50.580 --> 00:04:54.859
And so we essentially got kicked out of the place.
103
00:04:54.859 --> 00:04:55.931
I see.
104
00:04:55.931 --> 00:04:57.540
I had shouted, "Bartender, we just want a case of beer.
105
00:04:57.540 --> 00:04:59.160
We're not gonna drink it here."
106
00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:00.390
He wouldn't even listen to me.
107
00:05:00.390 --> 00:05:01.263
I see.
Yeah.
108
00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:05.520
So I don't know whether our celebration
109
00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:09.961
took place non-alcoholically or not.
110
00:05:09.961 --> 00:05:13.443
I don't remember. I don't remember.