Densho Digital Archive - Harry Kawahara Interview (denshovh-kharry-01-0010)

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SY: So when the war ended, do you remember that?

HK: We actually left before the war ended. And then eventually 'cause my brother was in Salt Lake City, then he bought a house or maybe he leased a house or rented a house. And so we moved from Topaz to Salt Lake City before the end of the war and so I went to school there. And we were in Salt Lake City probably for about a year. I made some very good friends in Salt Lake City which is kind of curious, across the street were twins, they were Bobby and Billy Memory and next door to us a young man, a boy named John Clayton, and they became good friends of mine which is curious. And we had a good times and we'd been in contact for a while, but after a while we did lose contact, but made some very good friends. I was there for just a little over a year.

SY: So you ended up going to school there?

HK: Yes.

SY: And pretty much lived... I mean, what were your parents doing at that time?

HK: My father worked in the hospital, the LDS, the Latter Day Saints Hospital, he worked in the laundry area. And my mother was just primarily a housewife.

SY: And your oldest brother was obviously still working?

HK: Yes, but soon after he was drafted into the military.

SY: So do you remember what happened with the house?

HK: We stayed in the house. My brother left... eventually we came back to California but we stayed there a little bit longer after my brother went into the service. And then came back to San Leandro, the very same area from where I came, and started school again. And again, my classmates, I met up with them and again they were very cordial and very welcoming, and I was happy about that obviously. In fact, our high school class, we had a reunion a number of years ago and they asked me to speak at this reunion, and I told them, the class, my former classmates, "I really appreciated you guys for being so welcoming when I came back 'cause I wasn't sure about how I would be received or what kind of reception I would get or whatever." But I told the class, "You guys were great, you were very caring and you made my return," so the comfort level of my coming back was good.