<Begin Segment 18>

TI: 'Cause I was going to ask you, yeah, whatever happened to your mother, and then your brother and sister. What happened to your sister, your older sister?

IH: My older sister is, her husband was drafted to the army, and then only them and then two kids, and then mother-in-law. It's dangerous so they going to the, way in the country. And they were living in there, so that kind of, she didn't have any damage. But the husband was army, so that was close to the center. Then she came out, looked for the husband, and he died about one week later or something like that. Then when I get sick, nobody working, no more, nothing, so my mother asked my sister to come Hawaii and then leave the two kids to my mother. Then my sister can send the money to the, for the kids. So my mother raised the boy and girl. And meantime, that's the one, 1950 was, she came to Hawaii.

TI: And what kind of work did she find in Hawaii?

IH: Oh, she had, private maid, housemaid.

TI: And so from the money she made, she would send that back to your mother.

IH: To my mother and then take care of the two kids.

TI: And how about your younger brother? What did he do?

IH: And then that time, then the time is, my brother graduated high school and he was working American Air Force as a civilian. Then that Air Force, tried to move to Korea. So my brother said he's going to the American force. So my mother worried about that, in case something happened, die, good for nothing, nothing would come out. Because the civilian, not from the Japanese government, not from the American. So, "Why don't you go to Hawaii?" Then he came to Hawaii.

TI: So all three...

IH: Three, every year. '49 I came, my sister came '50, '51. Then he went to McKinley, graduate, and he went to UH, engineer, general engineering. Then he used to work on the Pearl Harbor.

TI: Now, did your mother ever come?

IH: Yeah. Later, my sister's kids came in, came to Hawaii. Then only herself, so we called back. And when we called my mother, we're all American citizens, but we have to take out an affidavit of support. So everything (turn in paperwork), and then the following year came, all bam, bam, bam.

TI: So the whole family came back to Hawaii, even your sister's children.

IH: Yes.

TI: Okay, interesting.

IH: So it was pretty lucky. So everything, so I'm not a smart guy, but everything just lucky that advanced.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.