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TI: So let's go there, because that's something that I want to get deeper into. So there's this group called the OTs that you did, and it was, I think, a lot sports related. How did you get involved with them? Did they ask you to join? Explain that.

VI: When we got to the assembly center...

TI: So the Puyallup Assembly Center, the war started. So for people that are watching this, I'm not going into the details of what happened. But you're at the Puyallup Assembly Center.

VI: We got there, and we were in Area D, which was the fairgrounds. At the fairgrounds, they had a big auditorium type where we all ate and that became the mess hall. So they were looking for dishwashers. And somehow I volunteered and they accepted, they were the older kids. So everybody had to come by us to get their plates. And after it gets dirty, they had to come by us because we had to wash it. But we'd sit there, and when we saw a pretty girl come, we said, "Hubba hubba." So every time, somebody would holler, "Hubba hubba," so we became the "Hubba Hubba Crew." And that started the OTs. Because when we moved to Minidoka, Area D people were the first to go to, on the first train. So we were all in these lower blocks, the area one through seven, and thirteen, fourteen.

TI: Okay, I want to get that a little bit later. Let's go back to the "hubba hubba" Puyallup. So you volunteered to join this crew. The dates are actually easier for me right now because next week is going to be the eightieth anniversary, and last week you turned ninety-five. So I know from that that you were fifteen years old when you went to Puyallup.

VI: Right.

TI: How old were the other guys in that, kind of, dishwashing crew?

VI: Oh, they were two or three years older.

TI: Okay, so this is where you start really being with older boys and getting to know them.

VI: Right.

TI: And who decided that you would be able to join this? Was it the other guys or was there, like, a supervisor that interviewed people and said, okay, so Victor, or Junks, you can join the group?

VI: No, just that group kind of stuck together. And every Saturday they'd have something like a community sing or something in the hall. They had dances, too, we used to watch the older kids dance. These are some of the things we never say to people. We say, "Oh, it was horrible," you know. But Saturday night. So the dishwashing crew kind of stuck together. I'll always remember, I think I told you about community singing? We'd have community singing. So our group would always sing with the community, so we said we'll sing a song. So our group sang. And then the song was sang was...

TI: Oh, was it "Skylark" or something?

VI: "Skylark."

TI: Right. So this is the story about Mr. Sasaki. So tell us...

VI: So Hank Tanabe, Hanko, was kind of a ringleader. So we said, well, we'll sing, and when they get to the song, "And then your lonely heart stopped." Because from there you go, "Haven't you heard..." you had to go way up high.

TI: So it was a really high note that you have to get.

VI: Right. So we were singing that, we stopped, and Raymond with his hoarse voice, went, "Haven't you heard..." [Laughs] in front of the whole group.

TI: And this was in front of the whole...

VI: Community sing.

TI: Community sing.

VI: So we were kind of mean, you know. And then Hank Tanabe would lead to another thing. He was from Montana and he came to Seattle right before we got evacuated. And he had the idea of calling people with nicknames. So he always named, called people nicknames. So a lot of the time, that's where a lot of nicknames started.

TI: And so kind of the group leader, he'll say, "Oh, you are such and such."

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.