<Begin Segment 23>

LH: Well, if I could back up just a little bit. So, you did return to Bainbridge Island. And I'd like to talk a little bit later about your school experience.

FK: Sure.

LH: But, you were released from, or allowed to leave camp in 1945, about July?

FK: Actually, I think the... release was signed sometime in February, late February sometime, but I don't... I think the first family that came back to the Island, actually came here from Manzanar, that was the Takamotos and they came back in April, we came back in July. And some of that might have had to been because of the Supreme Court ruling on, I think it was the Endo case, where they said that they couldn't hold her without just cause. Although they had overruled, I mean, they had agreed with all the other rulings on like Hirabayashi and all that kind of stuff. They said that because, this woman hadn't done anything, like violate the curfew or that kind of stuff, that there was, it was not constitutional that, help. I think the government realizing that they were in trouble, as far as, if other people started suing them they'd really be in trouble. So, I think that's when, even before the war was over, they decided that we could start returning. But they didn't make any arrangements for helping us pack or anything. I mean they made us arrangements, for us, for getting us down there. But they didn't make any arrangements for getting us back.

LH: So what did happen to your family?

FK: Well my father, actually, came back from Chicago, came to Bainbridge to check out the climate he said, decide -- it wasn't the weather, it was -- like what was it, whether it was safe to come back to the Island. And he said that when he was here, he said some people would say, "Hi Frank," the people he used to ride on the ferry with, and, "Glad to have you back." And also he said there were also some people who refused to acknowledge him. And actually turned their backs on him when (they) saw (him) coming, when they saw him coming. He said one of the women, Genevieve Williams who's a real unusual person. I remember her, I remember after the war, I remember she used to smoke a pipe and I thought that's kind of weird for a woman. But she actually tagged along with my father, my father said. And he was sure it was to make sure that no one harassed him, that she just tagged along to make sure that no one was going to give him a bad time. And she did the same thing with some other people that came back too, as far as taking them and having them over for dinner and, and making sure that they were...

LH: So she, she went out of her way.

FK: Right.

LH: To make people feel welcome.

FK: So, she went out of her way to make sure that, that we were okay and that no one was going to give us trouble. So, I think my father decided it was okay to come back home. So he actually got the, our old truck, which is in the picture on the wall up here, and came back to pick us up in Idaho. And we loaded up in the truck. And some of the pictures that were taken in concentration camp that we have, I think were after he brought the truck back. I don't know whether he had the camera or somebody had the camera. But, so we all piled up into this truck and drove to the Island. And my father, I know he used to frustrate me to no end because he had this big temper and sometimes he'd do things that I think were really stupid and crazy. Me, being as intelligent as I am. But I know, he had, he had a heart of gold. He just never could refuse anybody when they needed something or wanted something. And, and my mother says here we are, four kids, her and my father in this truck, and most of us piled in the front seat and all our belongings in the back, and then these two strangers wanted a ride to Seattle from Idaho. So he said, "Oh, sure." [Laughs] So, we ended up with these two strange men in this truck with, with the four kids and he and my mother. And she said, "I could never understand why he could say yes when... " [Laughs] I can understand now though, why he could do that. He just, it's just the way he was. And so...

LH: That's great.

FK: We drove. And, and the first recollection I have of the Island, is when we were on the ferry approaching the Bainbridge Island ferry dock. And my father said something about, "Oh, we got on the wrong ferry. This is Vashon." And I'm going ahh... but he was just kidding. So... [Laughs]

LH: Trying to make sure you were paying attention.

FK: Right, I think so. Yeah, you know, gee. Everything was so green and everything looked so big. And I'm going wow, because I, I didn't remember any of the Island at all.

LH: Well, it sounds like... was that a big contrast from Minidoka?

FK: Oh, definitely, definitely because at Minidoka we were out in this sagebrush. And, and although there was some things grown there and some things were green, you didn't see the big trees or the big body of water like Puget Sound. And so it was definitely a big contrast to where we were.

LH: Do you recall, excuse me, do you recall returning to your farmhouse?

FK: I don't, I don't remember the farmhouse that much when we got here, other than that it was big. To me, I mean we, the only thing I remember up to that was I was living in the barracks, which was one room, 16 x 20 or whatever. So, it was really something to come to this, this house with rooms and so on and so forth. So it was impressive. [Laughs]

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.