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TI: I want to now talk about your brother and sister, because I haven't really talked about them. So first your brother. What happened to him during the war?

EY: Who?

TI: Your younger brother.

EY: My younger brother?

TI: Yeah, so what did he do during the war?

EY: Oh, gosh, you know, I owe so much to him, because he gave his life to help me. And it just makes me sad that he wasn't able to live long enough to enjoy things. But my brother was about five years younger than me, and right after the war when we were working, he would always try to help me. But it made him kind of sad that he wasn't always able to help me, because he had school to go to. He was a high school student. So he was getting close to military age, and so he joined the... he joined the National Guard. National Guard during the Korean War, and being in the National Guard, he wouldn't have to necessarily go, leave, he could help me during the week, because he was a weekend warrior. And when he graduated from high school, then he would help me full-time. Well, Thanksgiving always was a very busy, busy time, because it was general knowledge that people used oysters for turkey stuffing, and they always ran short of supplies. And so it was our practice to try to build up a supply beforehand. So on that particular year, I think it was 1958, my brother, he had just started going to Olympic JC. He said, "I've helped the family, but from now, I want to help myself." And so he got a trailer court and he was going to live there. He wanted to get married, and so he got married.

And from there, a little before Thanksgiving in 1958, he said to me, he said, "Eiichi, I will go and work, take the crew, and get enough supply of oysters built up so that you don't have to run out." And so he let me sleep that night, and he volunteered to take the crew and go and harvest the oysters for me. Then around two o'clock in the morning, I had a call from his wife. He had gotten married, oh, I think it was few weeks before. And she said Masao had gone out to bay, but he hasn't come back. And I found that they had a boat, and had a big, about thirty-horse motor on it, but it didn't start, so they changed the motor, took the big one off and put a smaller one in. And then, I think, he had about a crew of three. Well, but they forgot, they had a particular way in which they seated everybody, so that when the boat took off, why, then it would plane rather than plow. But that morning they forgot about that, and so they had the same seat placement on the, with the small motor. And when that happened, the bow didn't uprise, but it plowed, and we lost three lives, two of them brothers, and my brother. And you know the thing... he thought so much about trying to make things easier for me, that he gave his life. And it took us about three or four days to even find them, but I did find them. But, you know, it makes it very, very difficult, because he was trying to help me, and he, in the process, gave his life. Yeah, such... you know, you really get an appreciation for a brother like that. But you can say sometimes life is pretty harsh. So he wasn't able to enjoy any benefit that we have through our effort over the years.

TI: I mean, such a family tragedy.

EY: You know, my sister, too, even my sister, she's always thinking, always thinking that I've had a hard time. But no, it's not. It's the family that looked out for each other and helped, and tried to make life a little bit easier for each other.

TI: And how about --

EY: I really wish that I could have done something more. But I guess maybe I didn't do enough. But it really was my good fortune to have such a great family.

TI: So I can tell it was really hard for you. How about your parents when they found out?

EY: Yeah, well, my parents, you know, really have an appreciation for the children. She appreciated my brother, my sister, and me, but all that thanks should go to my brother. He was such a person that he was always thinking, always thinking of trying to make things a little bit easier for me.

TI: Well, I'm glad you had a chance to talk about him.

TI: Let's talk about your life. Now, when did you get married?

EY: Well, I goofed up, I guess. He always said, "You know, you're good at talking with people, and so I will do this if you will do that." He was always directing me, you know, trying to make things easier for me. I was the luckiest person in life, and I was the most unfortunate person in life, too. So I have to take the place of my brother in regards to my mother and father.

TI: Well, thank you for sharing that.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.