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BY: Okay, great. So tell me a little bit about your father. What was his name?

KY: Allen Kishi or Akira. Allen Akira Kishi.

BY: And where and when was he born?

KY: He was born in Steveston, British Columbia, in 1927.

BY: And did he grow up in Steveston or someplace else?

KY: He grew up in Steveston until World War II broke out, and then the family was relocated into the interior. So when he was... what would that be? About sixteen? I can't do the math. 1927, 1942.

BY: So you're saying that when Pearl Harbor happened and he was sixteen years old, then the family moved from Steveston to interior B.C. Do you know where in the interior they were moved?

KY: It was an area called Christina Lake, and specifically there was like a winter lodge up on Christina Lake, it was called Alpine Lodge, so that's where they were relocated to.

BY: And so was this an existing town or recreation area, or what kind of place was this?

KY: It was an existing small town, and it's primarily for recreation. Christina Lake is a glacial-fed lake, pristine waters, and so it was more of a, kind of a resort area. Alpine Lodge had one large building which had a mess hall or kitchen area, dining hall, and then common rooms. And then they had smaller cabins, if you will. But when my father's family as well as other families arrived there, they all stayed in the lodge area. And then after a bit, built their own little cabins or housing on the property.

BY: I see. What did they do, your grandparents and your father, what did they do while they were at...

KY: In camp?

BY: Yeah.

KY: Well, Dad's dad was able to continue boat building. They moved some of their operations inland. I guess the need was so great that they continued to do some work while they were in camp, so the boat building. In addition to more leisure activities, they didn't have other type of work, per se.

BY: So did your dad go to school then in Christina Lake?

KY: I believe that he did, yes.

BY: Interesting. And so it's interesting to me that they could build boats on this inland place. It makes me wonder, do you know how they, after a boat was built, how they got it out or anything? Do you know anything about that?

KY: Mostly the river system is, I believe the Fraser went that far in. It was kind of like the Columbia River where it starts very far inland from the mountain ranges and goes all the way to the coastal area.

BY: Interesting. Okay, and then what did he do after the war? So he was in his early twenties then, or something like that? By the end of the war.

KY: Right. He finished with high school and then he came down to the States to attend Gonzaga University.

BY: Okay. And did he graduate from Gonzaga?

KY: He did.

BY: And then what did he do?

KY: He was a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, CRNA.

BY: And did he get a job after that, and where did he go? Where did he work?

KY: He did his practicums pretty much throughout -- not throughout, but in several places in Washington as well as Oregon. And his practicum included a stint at Sedro Wooley hospital, Western State Hospital which was the, still is, mental institution, and he was also in Roseburg, Oregon, as well.

BY: And then did he eventually get a position somewhere when he was done with his training?

KY: Yes. He ended up back Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, which is the affiliate hospital to Gonzaga.

BY: Oh, okay, all right. And how was his life affected by the war, looking back?

KY: I think that part of the effect was in adjusting to being almost treated like a second classed citizen. I think he experienced discrimination and racism, but the way that he was brought up, as with a lot of Nisei, he just learned to endure it or perhaps resigned himself to being treated differently.

BY: Do you think that his wartime experience affected in any way his choice of career or what he ended up doing?

KY: I don't know if it affected his choice. I think what it did was it forced him to do a certain type of work. I guess in other words, he was more like a contract worker. And so he was given cases that perhaps the doctors, the anesthesiologists, wouldn't necessarily take, or perhaps patients who were not insured, and so those were the kind of cases that Dad took on. In addition, he was, worked primarily in the later part of his career in OBGYN, Obstetrics and Gynecology. And so he did a lot of what they call D&C cases, which in and of itself is sort of an area that, I think it makes sense that he did that because his mindset was to help others. And D&C cases also involved, say, women who have had miscarriages or gone through abortion or other kind of medical treatment. And not a lot of hospitals will take patients, especially if they're not insured or you're young or whatever it is.

BY: Okay. So it sort of brought up the humanitarian side of him, maybe.

KY: I think so.

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