<Begin Segment 21>
SS: What was it like when he was overseas? Here you are, you're a young bride in a strange city, far from most of the family.
EW: Well, as I said, there were a few of us in the same boat, you know. And we would keep in contact. Whenever anybody received a letter or something we'd call each other and tell each other what they were doing and we were able to help each other emotionally. Every time somebody would say -- oh, at that time they had the point system, as time went on they could return and if they earned enough points then they could come home.
SS: These are the guys overseas?
EW: The GIs, uh-huh. Yeah. And so we would kinda say, "Well, they've earned so many points, and they're close to that and they can, they'll be coming home." And I had a close friend, especially, and we would say, "Well, they said, well, maybe they'll be able to come home." "Oh, if he can come home, maybe ours can come home." And that's how we kept our morale up.
SS: Did you worry about him a lot when he was overseas? I mean, this was wartime.
EW: Well, yes. I did. But then there was one time that I got really angry because I wasn't hearing from him. And there was quite a gap and I thought -- my imagination went wild, you know. And I even contacted the Red Cross to see if they could find out where he was and if he was okay. And I found out later that he was in Australia and having a good time -- [laughs] -- from the pictures. But, he said he was too busy, you know. But anyway...
SS: Did you write regularly?
EW: Oh I did. Every day.
SS: What would you tell him?
EW: Oh, well, just what I was doing every day, "Why aren't you writing?" But... we were able to get through that.
SS: How often would he able to come home?
EW: Well, when he was discharged, you mean?
SS: No, during his time overseas, or was he gone the full time?
EW: Oh, he was gone the full time.
SS: Were you ever thinking, "What will it be like when he comes home? Will I know this stranger?"
EW: I know, you wonder, but it wasn't like that. [Laughs]
SS: When did he eventually come home?
EW: Well, let's see, it's kind of hard to remember. We've been married for fifty-four years, you know, it's kind of hard to make your mind go back that far.
SS: Can you remember what it was like when you set eyes on him when he came home? Where was it? Was it at a train station?
EW: Gee, I don't remember. Isn't that terrible? I remember that when he, when we moved back to Seattle he was recalled to Korea, and he was gone thirteen months then. And we had two children by then, and he came home Easter Sunday morning, and it was snowing here. I didn't know he was going to come home, and here he came in a cab. Oh, that was wonderful.
SS: Kids must have been ecstatic.
EW: They were. Except that, our son was a baby when he left. He was just born in November, and then Harv got the recall notice. And then he was able to get an extension. He didn't have to report for ninety days, so he had that much time. So when Dick, the baby was about three months -- how, would he have been? November, December, January, oh, about two months -- when he had to leave. So that he didn't know him when he came back. And that was hard, hard for my husband.
SS: It must have been hard for your daughter, too, who was old enough to remember Dad.
EW: Oh yeah, yeah.
SS: What was it like being, I guess the term is now, a single parent? What was it like when he was overseas and you had two kids?
EW: Oh, my older brother lived with my parents nearby and they were a great support for me, emotionally, taking care of my needs. And I had wonderful neighbors who helped me through that time, and another neighbor who would baby-sit for me.
SS: Let me skip back a little bit, to World War II. He's overseas for three and a half years. Were you sort of hoping that the war would end, would that bring him home?
EW: Oh yes, we all were. And we, we just kept an ear to the news, and reading the papers and everything, hoping and praying for a quick end to the war.
<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 1996 Densho. All Rights Reserved.