<Begin Segment 15>

TI: So let's talk about this. So from the Kilauea Military Camp, KMC, he went to Honolulu first?

SO: Yeah.

TI And was there for a while, and then from there he was transferred to the mainland?

SO: That's right.

TI: And then which camp did he go to?

SO: Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

TI: Okay, so Fort Sill, Oklahoma. And do you have a sense how many people from the Kona area also went with your father?

SO: Not too many. I know the minister went.

TI: So just a few people.

SO: Just a few.

TI: How about in Hilo? A few more?

SO: Yeah. More in Hilo because there, in Hilo, there's more Japanese congregated, and there's more organizations over there.

TI: Now, when your father went to Fort Sill, did he know any other people that went also? Was he friends with anyone?

SO: There were about ten, one-tenth, huh? And then the only pastime was playing Hanafuda. They cannot do much. He didn't have too many friends, but he had to make friends and then now, for toiletries, he needed money. And he couldn't ask the family for money, so he had to cut the hair for five or ten cents, and the other internees just refused, lot of 'em refused because said, "We're not working, so how can you charge us?" But not knowing that he was in a sad situation, that he didn't have savings, no checking account, no nothing, just obligations. And then he had to do something, but the only thing was, fortunately, he was a barber, so he figured maybe he can cut some hairs. Even for five cents he would cut.

TI: But some of the, the other internees complained about that, because they said he was trying to make money.

SO: That's right.

TI: They didn't realize that he was just trying to make some, a little bit of money for his toiletries and basic needs.

SO: That's right.

TI: Okay.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.