<Begin Segment 9>

SI: So I quit and then I went to Lodi and there I was sort of a helper, and I wasn't doing the work that the real mechanics did, but I learned to do a little bodywork and painting and so forth. And then I suppose I felt relieved and fortunate that I was drafted. My number came up very early, soon after the initial draft, maybe the second or the third lot came along. And I accepted this as another stage in my life and so did many of my classmates in high school and others who were drafted at this time. And as I recall the Japanese community was very proud to have young Niseis in the U.S. military. They had, I remember, the Buddhist church had a big party for us, big dinner. This was before we even went to get our physical. There was five or six of us and people would bring us envelopes with money, going away present, and I figured it was thirty or forty dollars, but it was a lot of money then. And then when they sent us off to take the train for a physical in Sacramento, we went to the railroad station in Stockton. I think it was six o'clock in the morning or so and half the Japanese community shows up, several hundred. And there were many more Caucasian draftees, but only a handful, maybe the parents or wife or girlfriend would come along. But the place was completely inundated with Japanese well-wishers. It got so embarrassing that I understand a few drafts later they discouraged this because to the Caucasian draftees, people sending them off, it seemed strange that the whole community would... then when we got sent off this way to go to Sacramento...

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.