<Begin Segment 25>

TI: I want to go back to more your life, and I'm curious; when did you meet your husband?

MH: I was in New York and going to school, and he was at Fort Monmouth, soldier, training. He was... what did they call it, something, anyway, he talked rather than be a soldier. And he, his, my best girlfriend in New York's boyfriend was my husband's best friend, so he, when he came down for the weekend, Unoji would say, "Come on, May, I have a friend, let's go places." So we did, so we kind of dated, and that's how I met him. He was a soldier, and then he was, he was ready to be shipped off to Japan, but then there was an order that came through that if you were either studying for a degree, that you would not have to go. And so he told the soldiers there, commanders, he says, "I'm going for my master's degree at Cincinnati. Does that let me go?" Says, "You, you're" -- you should meet my husband. He's the least soldier-looking, professional-looking man you could ever meet. He said, "You, going for a master's degree?" And he said, "Yeah." So then he was let off, so he didn't go to Japan, but that was too bad, because the guys that went, went over there, and as soon as they got there, the war was over, and they got to see Japan and come back again without doing any fighting.

TI: So he was going to be sent to Japan probably with, like, Military Intelligence or something, because of his language abilities?

MH: No, he was a regular soldier. He was a regular, the lowest... what is it? The lowest class.

TI: And yet he had a college degree by then, going for his master's in physics. So I'm surprised that they had him sort of at that low level, and not something more, more advanced.

MH: Oh, yeah, that's what he was, whatever you call it. The very lowest one.

TI: Okay, so anyway, so he was able to stay here, pursue his graduate degree in physics...

MH: Right, right.

TI: ...in Cincinnati, but you were in New York.

MH: In Cincinnati, but then we had met in New York. And he, of course, we dated, and by fall of that year we were married. So we were married in August. And so I moved to Cincinnati in August, and I didn't finish my... I didn't finish my thesis for my master's, I was going for my master's. And he says, "You don't need it. You're married to me, I'll take care of..." [laughs] So anyway, I left New York with my master's thesis half-done, and then Walt went on and got his master's then, then he decided to go on for his, his doctorate degree. So he did.

TI: Now, I'm curious, so his name was Walt?

MH: Walt Higa. Walt Hiroichi Higa.

TI: And where, where did he grow up?

MH: In Maui. Maui, he's of Okinawan descent, and he was raised on a plantation in Maui. And came over after he graduated University of Hawaii. He tried, came over and tried to get into a college here, but by that time there was a lot of security, and he applied at the Chicago University, where that very liberal president was. And he was sure that he could get in there, but because of security reasons, he couldn't get in. So he finally went to a small college called Tri-State College, and from there, he transferred to Cincinnati where again, one man, Dr. Tashiro, who happened to be there, opened up the school for other Japanese to come in. So here's this one person who did this. So Walt was able to go down to Cincinnati and pursue his studies there.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.