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MA: So what year were you born, George?

GM: September 19, 1924.

MA: And where were you born?

GM: I was born in Tacoma, Washington, not in a hospital, I don't think. I'm not so sure. I think I was born in a home by a... what do they call those ladies?

MA: Midwife?

GM: Midwife, yeah. I think, now, I'm not too sure.

MA: What were your parents' occupations when you were born?

GM: My father always was a sawmill worker. He was always in the lumber industry.

MA: And what about your mother?

GM: My mother was a housewife, but she also worked on the neighboring farms, helping them out.

MA: So although you were born in Tacoma, your, you grew up in Fife, right?

GM: Yeah. My childhood days all goes back to Fife. I don't remember anything about being in Tacoma.

MA: When did your family move from Tacoma to Fife?

GM: Well, it must be in the '20s somewhere. I'm not too sure, but between the 1920s, 1930s.

MA: And then why did your parents decide to live in Fife, which was a predominately farming community, right, even though they weren't farmers?

GM: Really I don't know, but, but housing is the thing. You had to find a place to live, and we rented a house in Tacoma, or in Fife at the beginning until about, I think, 1938 or so, we bought a house under my brother's name.

MA: Oh, so your parents bought a house under your brother's name, who was a, a U.S. citizen.

GM: That's right, uh-huh.

MA: I see.

GM: 'Cause he, it was legal for him to buy. Illegal for my mother and father to buy.

MA: Right. Let's talk a little bit about your siblings. Can you name all of your siblings in the order of how they were born?

GM: Well, my oldest sister was, I don't know where she was born, around Tacoma, anyway. Until she was, gosh, I don't know how old, but I must have been around four years, four or five years old when my grandfather took her back to Japan. And then I had a brother, Fred, that graduated out of Fife High School, and he went into the lumber camps also, and then soon after, went in the army, before, about eight months before Pearl Harbor. Then I had two sisters after that, and then myself. And my sisters started out by going to school, and then working into houseworks in Tacoma. And...

MA: What are your sisters' names?

GM: One is Patricia, Yaeko Patricia, and the other one is Reiko Sally.

MA: So you had, your oldest sister actually grew up away from your home, right? You were saying that your grandfather took her to Japan?

GM: Yeah. She, she went back to Japan and stayed in Japan.

MA: Why, why did he decide to take her back with him?

GM: Well, my grandfather thought that we had too many in the family, and our father and mother couldn't support that family, our family, so he took the oldest daughter back with him.

MA: Do you remember the reaction of your, your mother, especially, when that happened?

GM: Well, I guess they didn't mind that part, but then as time went by, my mother longed for her daughter, and because of that, she made a few trips back to Japan to try to bring her back, but she didn't want to come back.

MA: Your sister wanted to stay in Japan?

GM: Uh-huh. She wanted to go to school in Japan, and she stayed in Japan. She tried for academic grades, and she was able to, from her grades, able to go to the best college in Hiroshima, which meant quite a bit to her.

MA: So it sounds like you and your family kept in touch with her even though she lived in, in Japan?

GM: Yeah, my mother and my sister did, uh-huh. 'Cause when my sister Pat graduated out of high school, my mother gave her a present to go to Japan for a visit and come back. And since then, she made a number of visits between them and the next twenty, thirty years, you know.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2005 Densho. All Rights Reserved.