<Begin Segment 17>

TI: So one of your teammates was Joe Okamoto and he was the gentleman who was getting married on December 7, 1941.

SK: That's right, he's the one.

TI: And that was that story you told earlier. Let's go back to that, that point in time, December 7, 1941. What was your reaction when -- you've talked about the, the sort of Spokane community, you've talked a little bit about your mother's reaction. What were you feeling when, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor?

SK: Well, I think I felt that my immediate reaction was, Japan doesn't know what's it's doing. That small pip-squeak country like that, the size of Montana taking on the U.S. of A? It's just a matter of time is, is my reaction as to the outcome of the, of the conflict. And I felt that like anybody else, that my function was to perform as an American. And when my mother suggested that, that I stay home for the holidays, Christmas and New Year's, and then get ready to go for, go and fight for my country, I had no objection at all. I agreed hundred percent. And that's exactly what I did.

TI: What was the reaction of the other members of the Japanese American community?

SK: They, they all felt the same way and several other enlisted at that time or subsequently, subsequent to my leaving for the service. Unfortunately, as we all know, we were under a cloud of suspicion and we could not enlist in the navy, nor the marine corps. The only one open to us was the army. And so we all became army veterans.

TI: What happened to your, your older brother? What did he do?

SK: He was already married, and being the oldest in the family, he was not affected throughout the World War II. So he stayed put in Spokane. And, of course, my younger brother -- when I say my younger brother, I'm talking about my half-brother now, because my mother remarried while I was in Japan and she had a son and a daughter from that second marriage. And my half-brother subsequently became an all-city football player for one of the high schools in Spokane and got a football scholarship to Pullman, WSU. And he stayed there one year and then he saw fit to enlist in the air force because in the meantime I'm, I'm overseas in Vietnam. He surprised me by showing up in Vietnam and we had a very brief get-together. And then he went north, northern part of Vietnam and then the next thing I know is that I get a letter from him back from, from the States, and he's back in the United States, and he says, "I found out that no two members of the same family has to serve together in Vietnam, same time." So he says, "I'm sending you some form to fill out and sign," and he says, "if you do that for me, I can stay as is, here in the States."

TI: Oh, that's interesting, because he was your, your half-brother and he was able to go back.

SK: Right, right.

TI: Okay. Yeah, I guess as you were talking about this, I recalled that you mentioned that your mother remarried. Going back, I mean, did you have any reactions about your mother remarrying and...

SK: No, none whatsoever.

TI: And did you get along well with your stepfather?

SK: Oh, yes, yes, very well.

TI: Okay. So let's move on.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.