<Begin Segment 37>

TI: So, so now we're in our fourth hour, Grant, and we, where we left it is you're at Monterey, and you, I think, were just being offered to be transferred back to Japan. So why don't we pick it up there? So you were at Monterey as an instructor for the MIS Language School. And at this point, did, had you married Esther yet?

GH: Well, when I heard I was to be transferred, I did tell my fiance then that I was going, and it would be preferable to get married, because there may be a chance for me to have her join me in Japan. So we did get married.

TI: So where did you get married?

GH: Minneapolis.

TI: So you flew back to Minneapolis?

GH: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: And what was, what was the ceremony like? What was the wedding like?

GH: Oh, it was the full ceremony, my wife did a beautiful job. So I was in tuxedo. [Laughs]

TI: So lots of family members there?

GH: Yes.

TI: And so what was she doing in Minneapolis while you were teaching?

GH: She was still attending school, and after she graduated she had to take her RN test, Registered Nurse's test. And when she completed that, I asked my boss to have her join me. And I was...

TI: Because right now, at this point, you were in Japan? So you were transferred over.

GH: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: Now, when you transferred over, did you transfer over, again, as a civilian?

GH: Yes.

TI: So you were a civilian during this whole period, okay. So you were over there, and you asked your boss to...

GH: And I was GS-9 then.

TI: And that's a government level, in terms of pay scale.

GH: He says, and the boss was, he was a colonel, he said, "Grant," he said, "You got to be a GS-12 to, or a major's rank to have your family join you." I says, "That's too bad," I said, "I'll have to submit my resignation and go home." He said, "Wait a minute," he says, "call back in a month." So one day I got a call and he said, "I hereby declare you essential, and by being declared essential, you're entitled to get your dependent over." So that's how I got my wife over.

TI: Now, to be declared essential, what kind of work were you doing at this point?

GH: I was with the war crimes trials with the prosecution, and we were working on the Western Army case. And I was the, there were several others who were working in the office, but I was responsible for the translation, interpretation and interrogation.

TI: And so for the, the lawyers on the prosecuting side, you would be there with them when they wanted to question someone?

GH: Yes.

TI: You would do the questioning and the interpretation.

<End Segment 37> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.