<Begin Segment 8>

PM: So then how did you decide to enlist in the army?

LK: Huh?

PM: How did you decide to enlist in the army? What made you volunteer?

LK: The war?

PM: Into the war, yes.

LK: See, now, that's what I said, I was a boxer. And my two friends are professional boxers, and they was in another island on maneuvers. That's when the Japanese plane hit 'em and killed 'em, killed all my friends, two of my friends, now. So I was so mad, I didn't know what, and I said, "Hell with it, I'm going to join the army. I want to beat up a Japanese." So I joined the army. And then the boss said, "Are you crazy?" I didn't know at the time I was so short, or anything about being short. I just say, "I want to join the army," and that's what it is. [Laughs] I didn't know I was that short. [Laughs]

PM: So what did your mother and father think about you volunteering for the service?

LK: I didn't have no mother and father.

PM: Did they pass away?

LK: I was with my brother, my oldest brother. I wasn't living in Honolulu. My mother and father were dead, and... yeah.

PM: What did your brother --

LK: Oh, wait, no, no, no. Mom lived to ninety-four, so she wasn't dead, man. Yeah, she was living in Hawaii, yeah. And my sister, yeah, it's my sister-in-law, but she used to be my sister, but she's married to my brother, so she became my sister-in-law. Anyway, hundred and three. So my niece said, "Hey, uncle Larry, you gonna live like Mom?" I said, "No, never." And said, "Don't say that, you're gonna live a hundred and three." [Laughs] I said, "No." But think about it now, gee, I might live that long. That's if Kachi can keep taking my smelt. [Laughs]

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.