<Begin Segment 19>

TI: So you finish your service, what happens next? Where do you go next?

RK: I went back home and started working for the Federal Reserve.

TI: Before we go to your work, so when you come back home, and you see your friends and family, your parents, your brother, how was that for you? Did it seem any different to you coming back after serving in the military?

RK: Well, it wasn't so much different with my brother and myself or my dad. I saw a change in my mom, because she felt better that I was home now instead of being in the army.

TI: And so how did that change your relationship with your mom? What was different?

RK: It was for the better. We didn't have to bring up anything in the past, it made a difference.

TI: Now, switching perspectives, if I were to ask the people that knew you, like your mom and your friends, and maybe your dad and your brother, what would they say in terms of, if I asked them, "How did Ron change by going into the army?" what do you think they would say?

RK: Well, they would probably say that I left my shell, because I kind of went back to my old self. I mean, the army taught me that, "You can't just sit here and be a hermit," so I more or less went back to the way I was.

TI: So looking back, the military service was, it was like a transformation a little bit for you. You were able to change, sounds like a positive experience for you?

RK: Well, I felt better because of the three years that I was away from my family, my dad. And the relationship between my brother and I kind of went, kind of widened.

TI: I'm curious, though, some things didn't really change with your brother or your father. In particular with your father, did you sense that he treated you differently, though, after you came back? Even though you weren't close, but did he treat you differently?

RK: Yeah. Because I think he finally realized that I made my own choice instead of having him having to tell me to do this and do that.

TI: And when you got back, were they still managing hotels, or what were they doing?

RK: No, he started his own TV repair business, but my mom was doing the same... oh no, she actually started work in the Federal Reserve, the new Federal Reserve, not the one that I started with.

TI: Okay. And they were living back on Sacramento Street?

RK: Yeah.

TI: And so where did you live when you came back? Did you live with the family?

RK: Yeah, we lived in the upstairs unit.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2024 Densho. All Rights Reserved.