<Begin Segment 16>

TI: Let's, let's now go back, back before the war again, and I know sports was an important part of your life. Are there any stories or things you could talk about in terms of the sports?

SK: Oh, yes. I recall that while in grade school, at Lincoln grade school in Spokane, Washington, one year the Lincoln grade school basketball team won the city championship. And that championship team consisted of, of Art Miyazawa, who later on served in the Japanese army. Mike -- not Mike, yes, Mike Akiyama who resides in California somewhere. Joe Okamoto -- I believe his son lives around here somewhere -- myself and Wayne McGrew. And needless to say, McGrew was the tallest among us and was our center. And when the sports editor chief of a paper saw all those names among the championship team, he sent a reporter out to Lincoln grade school to look into all those foreign-sounding names to see if there's a story there or not. So he came up to Lincoln grade school and the story is that the first teacher he contacted happened to be the basketball coach, and she said, "If you're interested in that name McGrew, it's just as American as the rest of the names." She says, "Now, what else can I tell you?" And he said, "Nothing more, thank you very much," and he went back. [Laughs]

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.