<Begin Segment 25>

AI: Well, and another thing that you had mentioned earlier, too, was that while you were in Minidoka, you received news about Frank Hachiya.

BS: Oh, yes.

AI: You mentioned earlier how he had been drafted from, probably from before the U.S. entered Word War II and then you didn't know at the time, but he was in the Military Intelligence Service.

BS: Uh-huh.

AI: So what happened when you heard this news?

BS: I really, all I know is they were talking. But somehow my sister must have gotten a hold of the Oregonian paper and there was a big write-up about him, you know, like full-page article. And my sister says, "This is kind of funny," because you know how the Oregonian was anti-Japanese, and wondered why he got such coverage. Well, I don't know, later, later we found out that... I think he was... it was like, what do you call, enemy fire? They described it as a Japanese sniper in, had, in a tree, had shot him. Well, he, I guess the Nisei soldiers because they were fighting the enemy that looks just like them, the Caucasian soldiers could not tell the difference between the enemy or friend. And I suppose that a Japanese soldier could get a hold of an American uniform and pretend that he was an American soldier. But they were supposed to have bodyguards, a Caucasian bodyguard with the Nisei soldiers. And, but he had outran his bodyguard and was supposedly killed by a Japanese sniper, but as it turns out, I think it was friendly fire, and he was killed. But then we got word about him, and Mr. Hachiya, who we called our uncle, he was in the same block as we were, but they had like a bachelor quarters, certain end of the block they had where the single men lived, and he lived, but he lived in the same block as we did. And so I remember them having a funeral service in the mess hall. But at that time, my little sister was born, my little sister Diana was born in 1944. And so, in the picture that I see, everyone's there except me and my little sister so I suppose I had to babysit my sister and that's when we had, they had a funeral service there. And then, and then it was Buddhist service because, I don't know what Frank was but the father was, and mother were Buddhist. And I'm not sure but I think Buddhists, after so many days, they have another, is it forty or so many days. And I guess during -- they have another service. And this is the way I understand it, but I'm not sure, where the reason they have that second service is because the soul is not at rest or something until you have that other service.

And so this forty-day service was held in our barrack, where we, in our living quarters, 'cause it wasn't a large group. And our neighbor, who was the Hatas, and George Hata was with the 442. And he was on leave because he was wounded in action. And he said that when he was coming home from the shower and they were having the services at our, in our barrack, he says he was walking from the shower to his, to his place of residence, which was next door to us. He says he was walking and all of a sudden -- oh our barrack was this way and then there was a rec. hall on this end. And he said he saw this red fireball, red fireball that he says he, it was coming from above the recreation hall and came over and lit right on top of where our apartment or whatever it was, where the, where the service was being held. And he said he saw action, right? He says, well, he says he was, he never was so afraid for his life until, when he saw that. [Laughs] He says that, 'cause that's the first time that he had experienced that. But, and then he says it rested right above our place, living quarters, and then it rested there and then it just slowly came down and disappeared. And then, and so, he had told my father that and my father told me that. And so they feel that I guess that was his soul or spirit and it was finding rest there. Because my father said as, you know, as a young kid growing up in Japan, he said he had seen fireballs like this, and my grandfather, too, so, so I guess there must be some truth to that.

AI: Isn't that something?

BS: Uh-huh.

AI: Wow. Well, so that was, must have been just a very sad time.

BS: Sad time, yes, yes.

AI: And for Mr. Hachiya.

BS: Oh, yes, yes.

AI: Because he also had his family members in Japan.

BS: In Japan, his wife and younger son was in Japan.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.