<Begin Segment 22>

TI: So we're after Rome, your brother was able to see the pope, then Castellina, which is around July 4, 1944.

MI: Yeah, so it was about two or three weeks after he saw the pope.

TI: That he was killed in action. So July 1944, at Minidoka, now it's your parents, you and Chuck, your three sisters are either working or at school, and then Bako gets killed. How did the family find out?

MI: Well, I think we must have telegraphed them, and then they all came back.

TI: No, I'm sorry, how did you and your parents and Chuck find out that...

MI: Well, Lily Morinaga, she was head of... I mean, she worked in that Western Union, where all the Western Union came. And then she noticed that, I mean, she saw Bako's obituary. And then I don't know, she delivered it to us, the telegram.

TI: So let me just sort of summarize that. So Lily Morinaga Hohri, later on she married Hohri, so she worked in the...

MI: And she's Kagoshima-ken.

TI: Okay, Kagoshima-ken. So you knew her before, and she worked in the administration area where the Western Union came in.

MI: Came in. And then somehow or another, she brought our, the telegram to Mom and Dad.

TI: And who was there when she came to the...

MI: Well, I was there. And to this day, Lily said that when the telegram came, I know my dad told my mom that she killed Bako. Because she's the one that made it so that he could pass his medical service.

TI: And was that something that Lily told you?

MI: Yeah, Lily told me that.

TI: Oh, so when she was there, when she gave the telegram...

MI: She said, "Your dad said," told my mom, "'You killed Bako.'" But things were so damn hectic then. But I know that if Bako didn't get in the service, it isn't Bako, you know. He would rather be with his friends than be on the outside.

TI: You said that when Lily delivered the Western Union telegram, that you were there also?

MI: Yeah.

TI: Do you remember your father saying that to your mom?

MI: Well, I didn't hear him say that, but she was right there beside Dad when he told Mom. But I was there, though, but I didn't hear that. And she told me.

TI: Now, was that part of Lily's normal job, that she had to deliver these telegrams to other families?

MI: That I don't know. I know she worked at the Western Union office.

TI: Or do you think she might have done it because of the Kagoshima connection?

MI: That I don't know. Anyway, I mean, maybe because she knew Dad and Mom so well, she did it for the office, I don't know.

TI: And how old is Lily? How much older is she than you?

MI: Well, she's the same class as, maybe even about the same age as Hiroko.

TI: So she's a young woman.

MI: What?

TI: She was just a young woman.

MI: Yeah. I mean, she would be... I was seventeen then, so five years older, so she'd be about twenty-two.

TI: And after she delivered the telegram, do you have any other memories of that?

MI: Well, I know like Mr. Kimura was there, he's another Kagoshima-ken guy. And then he went to pass the word around to the other Kagoshima-ken people.

TI: So Mr. Kimura was like a family friend?

MI: Yeah, family friend. He's the one that made that dresser, you know, the one I told you to pick up that dresser?

TI: Oh, yes, yes. Oh, the dresser that...

MI: That he made for us in camp.

TI: Oh, that's Mr. Kimura, and he was the one...

MI: He used to work at Selleck, Washington. And he's the one that gave us that root, the one I had that, that root plant.

TI: So this is a dresser that was made at Minidoka, that you had at your house, and when we cleaned it out.

MI: Yeah, so I told you to...

TI: Yeah, so when I found out that was from Minidoka, we kept it. And that's Mr. Kimura who was a good family friend. Was Mr. Kimura there when Lily...

MI: Yeah, I think he happened to come over that day. See, he's one of the bachelors that wanted to drink sake. [Laughs]

TI: And you said your mother wasn't... she was kind of sickly during this time.

MI: Well, you know, she had her problems, like hay fever. Like she had that tumor, and something else must have been wrong with her, too.

TI: And where was your younger brother Chuck when you guys got the telegram?

MI: He was at a farm doing potato picking.

TI: And so how did word get to him?

MI: Well, the farmer came to -- this is what Frank Sato says -- that the farmer came and told Chuck to pack up because they would take him back to camp because Bako died.

TI: So the other one that... so I know that Bako had a girlfriend, had a girlfriend at Minidoka?

MI: Yeah, Jean Suguro.

TI: And so do you know who told her?

MI: That, I don't know. But anyway, she found out, anyway. And then Mary Jane and Kaji and Ish, they all came back to camp.

TI: And when you found out, and as all this is happening, what did you do? Or did you stay with your parents, did you go someplace?

MI: No, were in camp. There wasn't much you could do but stay in camp.

TI: No, but I meant did you stay in the apartment or did you...

MI: Well, this is where... the Endos lived in the corner unit and then they let me and Chuck stay in their room as people came over, that we could stay in the room. That was one thing about camp, I think we all survived camp because we helped each other. I mean, you know, we got along with them and we helped each other. And so when Bako died, Mr. and Mrs. Endo said, "Come on," and Chuck and I stayed in their room.

TI: So also during this time, Father Tibesar, did anything happen with Father Tibesar during this time? Was he there?

MI: Well, he was there. I mean... I think we must have had a mass there for Bako.

TI: Kaji said that he did a mass for, a memorial service for Bako.

MI: Yeah. I mean, even when we came back, I think he did the mass. I really don't know, I can't remember.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.