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TW: And, of course, in 1941, my brother had already got on to Colman State College, and he was a freshman there. And from there he volunteered. His freshman year, he volunteered for the "Go For Broke" 442nd group.

TI: So this is Rye we're talking about?

TW: This is Rye. And he graduated valedictorian of Bellevue High School. And it was really strange because he never told anybody anything. And then they said, "Now the valedictorian will speak," and it was Rye. [Laughs] He didn't tell Mom or Dad or anything.

TI: And so this was before the war.

TW: This was 1941.

TI: And so he was, he was pretty young. So if he was born in 1925...

TW: He was eighteen in '41, I would say. Does that figure?

TI: No, he's like sixteen or seventeen.

TW: He might have been seventeen.

TI: Yeah, maybe he skipped a grade because he was really smart or something.

TW: I don't know.

TI: And he was valedictorian. And then you say from there he went to Washington State?

TW: Yes.

TI: And why Washington State and not the University of Washington? I'm curious.

TW: I think maybe because they had agricultural classes.

TI: Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, they have a really strong agricultural...

TW: Yes.

TI: And staying with Rye a little bit, so when the war started, he was in Eastern Washington, so outside the exclusion zone. And so what happened to him after the war started? Did he just stay at WSU?

TW: No. On his freshman year he volunteered like a lot of Nisei boys that age did, the 442nd group. And then when he got out, he went back and finished his college as an architectural engineer.

TI: Okay. Then meanwhile, the rest of the family...

TW: Went to camp.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.