<Begin Segment 8>

MA: And... what high school did you attend?

EH: Oh, I went to Hilo High School. Actually, Hilo High School at that time was the only high school in Hilo. There was also a Catholic high school which was a private school. That was a church school. But Hilo High School was the only public high school in Hilo.

MA: And was your -- I'm just curious, your high school class, what was the ethnic breakdown? Was it mostly Japanese?

EH: Mostly Asians. And I wouldn't say... yeah, predominately Japanese but mostly Asians, lot of Hawaiians, Polynesians. But in those days, I have a hard time distinguishing Japanese from Chinese, from Korean, we're just Asians. So if you ask me, I'm sure there were more Japanese than any other ethnic group. But hard to say.

MA: That's interesting, because on the mainland, we're so separate.

EH: Yeah.

MA: We know exactly, you know, Japanese American, Chinese American, Korean, Filipino, it's so distinct. That's interesting, in Hawaii, it's...

EH: Some of these guys I grew up with, I didn't know they were Korean until not too long ago, just by their last name. "Oh, that guy was Korean." [Laughs]

MA: What about, so it seems like the Asians were sort of together, but what about the relationship between the Asians and the Hawaiians?

EH: I had a very good relationship with them, I'm just speaking for myself now. But my best friend actually was Filipino Hawaiian. And I was best man at his wedding. I got married in Vegas, so he wasn't there. [Laughs] And, you know, to me, I think I was in a different situation, too, because my circle of friends mostly revolved around athletics. Because I was what they call a jock, my immediate friends really were, my close friends were also athletically inclined. I also did have a bunch of friends that were scholastically inclined. I was one of the few jocks who made it both ways, academically and athletically. [Laughs]

MA: What sports did you play?

EH: Football, track, little baseball, little basketball. But I joke about this to friends, too, like I was a halfback, but I could play every back position. I was just one of four people on our team that played both offense and defense. And the reason was not that I was good, I was okay, but lot of these guys couldn't remember the plays. [Laughs] But I could remember the plays, I knew the plays, so for every position, defense and offense. So that increased my playing time.

MA: And when you were in high school, did you -- because you ended up going to the University of Hawaii, was college something that you always wanted to...

EH: Well, initially I would say it was because of my parents. I guess if you know Oriental families in those days, education was really stressed with the kids. "You're good for nothing if you don't have education." "Education is important," this and that, this and that. But one of the impetus initially for me to go to college was we were in the middle of the Vietnam War, and I didn't want to go to war. Then I flunked out my first year in college. [Laughs] So I had to go, I told myself, if I'm going to Vietnam, I want to get the best training I can get. So I went down to join, volunteer for the Marines. I couldn't pass the physical. So I went to the Army and the Navy, I still couldn't pass the physical. So I was so happy. They gave me what they call at that time a 1-Y designation, which was the temporary medical deferment. I was so happy, the next day I was on a plane flying to L.A. Played for two years, drinking, racing cars and gambling, that's all I did, three years. [Laughs]

MA: I guess in high school and in college, do you remember learning about the internment? Was that something that...

EH: No, no. I've never seen it on any curriculum when I was going to school.

MA: And what did you after you graduated from college? You said you worked for the state?

EH: Yeah, I worked for the state government as a budget analyst for eight years or so, then I went private, worked for the local oil company as a compensation analyst, then I went into business for myself. I opened up a video arcade and a pool hall, and I had fun for sixteen years until I had to go get a real job again. [Laughs]

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.