<Begin Segment 33>

MN: Harry, I'm gonna ask you just a little more personal stuff. When did you get married?

HY: 1968 or '9, something like that. [Laughs] Somewhere around there. Wait a minute, wait a minute. 1964 or something like that.

MN: How did you meet your wife?

HY: Through a friend.

MN: Was your wife a Nisei also?

HY: No, she was from Japan. She lived in Altadena.

MN: And what was her name?

HY: Elisa.

MN: And is the name she received when she came to the United States?

HY: [Shakes head] She was harassed in Japan because her name is English. That's the only name she had since birth. See, her mom used to work at a, in a Ford agency. She's fluent in English, Issei, that's very rare, you know. And she used to work for the Ford agency in Tokyo. And they were harassed, I hear. Her name, English name, she was working for United States-made car, she had a bed instead of a tatami, and she was harassed on that. Oh, man.

MN: Did she have any problems that you were a draft resister?

HY: No. After Truman gave us our pardon, remember that, Truman gave us our pardon? I, that's why I got a job at the City of Torrance. Otherwise -- I reported that I'm a draft resister. I told 'em I was pardoned by Harry Truman, and they know it. Still they hired me.

MN: Harry, did you date Nisei women? I find that draft resisters and some of the Tule Lake people had a hard time with Nisei women, and a lot of them, like yourself, married Issei. Is that why you ended up marrying an Issei?

HY: No, not... it so happened that she was from Japan.

MN: And how many children do you have?

HY: Just her.

MN: Amy.

HY: Just one.

MN: And when did your wife pass away?

HY: '05.

MN: Okay. Anything else you want to add on to this?

HY: No, I can't think of anything else.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.