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TI: Okay, so you mentioned being inducted, so we should, let's talk about that. Because you first went to the OSS as a civilian...

HH: Yes.

TI: But then shortly after, you were then drafted. And so you had to join the military while you were back in the Washington, D.C. area.

HH: Yes. See, evacuation, I was already, before Seattle's selective service, I was already 1-A, considered 1-A, which means that I'm eligible to be drafted. But during the, when we were in the evacuation centers, all of us were, we were citizens and subject to the draft and everything else, but our classification was changed to 4-C, which is like an alien ineligible for draft. And that's kind of a sign of, we were specially exempt from the draft. But if you left the relocation camp, then you'll be subject to draft, unless you were a volunteer, like later on when they opened the...

TI: So during this period, you were classified as 1-A, and then you were drafted.

HH: Well, when I got recruited by this Bruce Rogers...

TI: Right, he --

HH: ...in Tule Lake, that subject came up. If I ever possibly...

TI: Right, Bruce said, I think -- you said this last time -- was that one, you probably won't get drafted because you had a daughter, you were a father.

HH: Yes.

TI: And furthermore, he said, and if you do get drafted, he would see to it that you would be commissioned as an officer.

HH: Well, he didn't say "see to it," he says, "We could get you maybe a commission as an officer."

TI: Commissioned as an officer. So when you were drafted, what happened?

HH: Well, but I didn't have any written things like that, so I had to report for induction.

TI: I'm curious, after you reported to the OSS, did you ever see Bruce Rogers and ask him about that?

HH: No, because we were in a separate area, Mount Vernon area. Incidentally, that place where we were stationed, really, was the former teahouse for President Washington. That was part of his estate, Mount Vernon.

TI: Right. I'll go to that a little bit later, but I wanted to just finish up the induction part. So when you were inducted, was the army thinking that you would go back to OSS, or were they thinking that you would possibly go into a replacement for the 442 or something else?

HH: No, after I got inducted and went to, I had to go to Fort Meade for induction, and that's when I had to, they didn't assign me to any except the induction center, which is Fort Meade in Maryland. I asked, or in a sense volunteered that I would like to return to my OSS for assignment.

TI: So I'm curious, when you said that, that you were to go back to the OSS, did the army people know who you were and what the OSS was, and was that an easy thing to do? Was it already arranged?

HH: Yes. There was no problem. But so the thing was that when we were inducted, the only two so-called whites were myself and this another young white man that we were both assigned as corporals to lead the group of inductees into Fort Meade. We were given the responsibility, and also I was older so I had all the records and everything else, and the rest were all blacks from Virginia.

TI: I mean, was this --

HH: But this is Baltimore, where the induction center was.

TI: I want to make sure I understand this. So were you formally made a corporal, or just informally?

HH: No, no, to be in charge of the group, because we were just taking the bus into the station, the bus station, and wait for the bus to come from Fort Meade. And that's when I had to be sure that I had everybody in my group, that I wouldn't be able to identify them and everything else, so I was very worried that if they all went to the restroom or something like that, then I wouldn't know which one. So I made sure by saying, okay, only two at a time could go. And when they came back, then I would send two others. Because I had all the records so I would be sure that I had control over these, because we were responsible for them.

TI: So I'm curious, did you ever have any discussions with the black soldiers? I mean, were they curious about who you were or anything like that?

HH: No. But as soon as we got into Fort Meade, they were, the blacks were taken away and we were in a separate barrack with all the white soldiers.

TI: Interesting.

HH: So it was kind of interesting to me that they were... and then we didn't have to pull any KP, that's the kitchen police, mess hall, but the blacks were already peeling potatoes and things like that. And we both, this fellow and myself, we didn't have to do anything, just go down and eat in the mess hall and everything else, but not pull KP duty.

TI: Interesting.

HH: [Laughs] So I was not segregated or anything like that, which was kind of strange to me.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.