<Begin Segment 8>

TI: How about your parents during this time? Did you communicate with your parents and what they were gonna do, or anything happening?

YU: No, they, they had no idea that anything like that evacuation would take place. So they had this in their mind that, like during World War I things went, things went, what would you say, sky high.

TI: The prices of...

YU: Price of the things that they, cheeses and milk and things.

TI: So they were thinking that this is gonna be a, possibly an opportunity.

YU: An opportunity to do well. And so they, like in strawberries and things they had grown, and they were, they said, "Oh, we're gonna have lots of strawberries this year. We should be doing well." So that's, that's...

TI: Interesting. Yeah, so they were, having gone through World War I, they thought this was gonna be another great opportunity because of the war.

YU: That's right.

TI: And at any point did they want you to come back to Garden Grove from San Jose?

YU: No, they didn't say anything like that. But then, of course, during the Christmas time, we, I decided to, my roommate decided to, we both decided to go back to southern California, and at that time we had no transportation because we were, couldn't go, like you said, more than five miles out of the area. But I had a very good friend that was in the wrestling team -- his name was Dave Heines -- and he said, "Hey, Yosh, are you going back home?" I say, "I'm trying, but there's no transportation." He says, "I'll take you." And so he had a Ford, and we hopped on and made it down to -- and he went to visit his sisters while we visited the parents, and then he...

TI: Okay. And when you saw your parents and family, any stories about, that affected them?

YU: Well, they were, told us about So-and-so got pulled in by the FBI. Usually they were people that had served as Japanese American association... not Japanese American, Japanese association.

TI: So community leaders.

YU: Community leaders, they're the ones that got pulled in.

TI: Good. And then, after the holidays, did you come back to San Jose?

YU: I came back, but by that time I knew that I was gonna, I got the draft notice, so I said, "Okay, I will, I guess we'll have to go back." And I left my roommate at State because he didn't get any notice.

TI: Now, when you got your draft notice, were you surprised that they were drafting you?

YU: I was very much surprised that I got a draft notice, because they were discharging people from the service, and other Niseis were all being discharged and they were coming home. Some of 'em were very hurt and mad because of this, they were getting discharged and here they were with a unit, and of course, basic through everything, they've been there couple years. And so they felt really bad about it.

TI: So you had heard about this, you heard about other Niseis who were in the service being discharged because of their ancestry.

YU: Right, right.

TI: And then you get this draft notice.

YU: I got my draft notice, so I figured it's not gonna work, they're not gonna draft me because here they're letting everybody out.

TI: So you're thinking it's probably some kind of mistake almost, that it's more of a timing thing.

YU: Right.

TI: That, "Once they know I'm Japanese, then they..."

YU: I thought it was a mistake that I got a... ordered to report to Fort MacArthur.

TI: And so when you reported and they found out that you were Japanese, Japanese American, was there any reaction on their part?

YU: No, they didn't, they just took me along as any other, anybody else and issued me all the things that all the GIs got.

[Interruption]

TI: Yosh, we're gonna start this next section, and you had just received your draft notice and you reported to, I think Fort MacArthur, to be inducted. But before we talk about this, I want to actually go back and talk about your judo. So at this point, had you received your black belt in judo?

YU: I received my black belt when I was sixteen, and I felt real honored receiving my black belt given out by Dr. Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo.

TI: And where was this?

YU: This was in southern California, in Los Angeles and in a tournament. And I had won, and there were a few other students at the same time, we received our black belts.

TI: And after you received your black belt at sixteen, did you continue with judo? Did you keep progressing to different levels?

YU: No, I kept practicing, but I didn't practice real competitively because there was some, I think I had pulled a muscle in my back or something.

TI: But at this point you had your black belt, you said you won this tournament, so were you being known now as a pretty good judo person?

YU: Yeah, I think the whole family was known as a judo family, because my brother was, Sam, although he was small -- about, he's about five feet five, a hundred twenty-five, thirty pounds, not real heavy -- but he was fast. And in southern California he was considered the, one of the up and coming judokas.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.