<Begin Segment 37>

TI: And so, Frank, so you'd have all this extra food, and then you would go back to the fire station, and then people would come and you would kind of distribute or sell?

FS: No, I put it in the big old box they had. It was a military, wood box, store box, with a key and lock. And these two GIs had a key, so they gave me the key and said, "Put that in there." So I put all the food in there. So then, first time I had a day off, I took enough food and brought it to -- I mean, Oku, where my brother was. 'Cause I know my brother's suffering, 'cause I don't know what they were eating. I don't know if that food was still there. My brother was happy, he saw the bread, and he saw all the canned food, the butter, and he sure was happy. So I told my brother, "Every week you come and get the food, Kure." So he was coming every week. So I didn't sell it, gave it to my folks. You know, I didn't care much for my folks, but I started thinking about my brother. So he was eating good.

TI: So this is, I mean, again, yeah, you're street smart. So you knew how to get things done, how to survive.

FS: Yeah, I bribing... the sergeant, he didn't say, "What did you bring me?" I just put it on the, he's got a desk, you know, and there was a little corner there. And I just go in there, "Good morning, Sergeant," and then he's watching me what I'm dropping. So a bottle of beer, a big bottle of sake. He don't even say, "Thank you." He said, "Oh, don't forget your bag," the big old bag there. You know, what kind of, onion bag, you know. Not a bag, it was just like a cloth. And I'd fill it up, two bag of food. And then he used to say, tell the corporal, "Hey, go get Frank the fresh baked bread." Still warm. And then he'll tell me there's the fresh butter, not the canned butter, but fresh butter in the icebox, reefer, they called it. So I'd go get a pound of real butter. Then I found out I can't eat the pound of butter, no icebox. So I tried to tell the GIs, "You want to help me eat the bread and butter?" "No, I don't want to eat that crap." They're so used to it. And I didn't want to bring it to the fire department, 'cause that way, I'm spreading too much stuff out. You've got to, that box is serving my family, and then I was selling it.

TI: So later on, you started selling it.

FS: From my box.

TI: From the box. And who would you sell it to? Who would come by, who would know about this?

FS: I met a Japanese girl, she was walking down the street one day, and you know, she was looking at me funny, and I said, "Doko iku no?" "Where are you going?" And she said, "Eki." I said, "What are you going to do at the eki?" "Nani suru eki de?" She said, "Tomodachi no tokoro, next town." I said, "Why don't you come over here?" "Oishi tabemono aru yo." I said, "Got something good to eat." So I made her a sandwich, and then the GI had some, see, I was drinking hot tea, always had hot tea. So I gave her some tea, and made a sandwich, and her name was Hanako. And then found out she had a lot of connections. Her father was in some kind of business before the bombing, so she was brought up in the business. She said that, "Tabemono takusan aru no," I said, "Yeah." I showed her the box. She said, "Uritai," she said, "I want to sell it." So she became my agent, so she was selling it. She'd come with her own bag, and she'd pick up, make a list, "Kore nani, kore nani," so I'd tell her what it is and she'd make inventory. Then she'd go and sell it. Can of butter, this and that, make big order. And she was my business agent only. No hanky panky.

<End Segment 37> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.