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TI: So let's... we talked about high school, and so you graduated, what, 1941 from high school?

FS: Yeah, '41.

TI: And so what did you do after you graduated from high school?

FS: Well, right after that, that was just about war, just before the war started. There's three, three friends of, myself and guy named Fred Tanigawa and Ben Nakaya, we went to NYA school, learning woodwork, and we were, actually we were supposed to go work for the shipyard. But then the war started, so we all got kicked out right away.

TI: So NYA? What does NYA --

FS: National Youth Administration.

TI: And so it sounds like, almost like a trade school, so it's gonna give you some --

FS: It's a trade school, yeah.

TI: To, to give you some skills.

FS: Because my other, another friend of mine, he took up welding, but I didn't want to take up welding, so the three of us stayed together and did woodwork. So we had to go, actually we were supposed to build some shed, little, not a shed, but a room on a boat or something. That's what, that's what actually what we were supposed to do.

TI: Okay. And, and if you had stayed in the program, if the war had not broken out, how long a training would you have received, before you worked in the shipyards? How long?

FS: I would say about, at least, at least about two years, anyway.

TI: And then if you said shipyards, what shipyards would you have gone to?

FS: Probably went to Vallejo.

TI: Okay, to work on big ships and...

FS: Yeah, build a lot of ships over there.

TI: And was this something that lots of Japanese Americans did? They went through NYA, got these skills and then went around?

FS: I don't know anybody else that went, because most of them round there were strawberry farmers, they got their own ranch so they were mostly working at home.

TI: So this was a little bit different then, than what most people would do. So why, why did you want to do the NYA? Why did you want to do this?

FS: I didn't want to be, I didn't want to be just a farmer all of my life. [Laughs]

TI: So this was a way to get out of farmer, or to do something different?

FS: Yeah. Right.

TI: Okay, good. Before we go to the war, I just wanted to, I guess, maybe just to mention, so your, father and mother, I think before the war, they actually separated?

FS: They separated.

TI: Is there anything you want to talk about, in terms...

FS: I don't want to talk about that.

TI: Okay, but before we do that, just tell me a little bit about what was your father like? If you were to describe him, what kind of personality was he?

FS: He was pretty strong-willed. Whatever he said, you were gonna obey what he got, what he's saying, so...

TI: And how about your mother? How would you describe your mother?

FS: My mother, she never, she never bothered me or anything.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.