<Begin Segment 28>

GF: When I, when I asked my wife to come to the United States, she had to get an approval from marshal, or whatever it is over there, for her to come on the train to Gresham -- I mean, to Portland. So when you go to Portland, we had to get approval. Now, I don't know we got -- who we talked to, I don't know, but we went to Portland and got married because that's, that was a hundred miles.

DG: So you were dating your wife already?

GF: Oh, I was dating before the war.

DG: Okay. And she was going Oregon State in (Corvallis)?

GF: Yeah, she went to Oregon State. And as soon as the war started, she went back to Sacramento because she had a reverend friend that wanted her to come to Sacramento so she went to Sacramento. And that's when I called her. She says, "You want to come up here?" I didn't say I'm going to get married to her or anything. She said, "You want to come up here?" Well, she knew I was going to get married. [Laughs] I says, "Yeah," so she got the approval from the marshal over there, whatever it is, and she came down. I don't remember how I picked her up. I don't remember. I must have picked her up because nobody else could pick her up.

DG: Did quite a few people get married at that time?

GF: At that time? In the camp there was quite a few marriages, but at that time, marriage?

DG: Like before camp so that you could go to camp together or anything like?

GF: Gosh, I don't recall. I know we got married on May the 1st.

DG: Oh, just before you went.

GF: Before we went, because May 1st we went down and got married at the Nichiren Church, because my folks were Nichiren so we went down Nichiren Church. I don't know how we got there. I think we must have got a permit to get down there and we got married and went to get our picture taken, and the photographer said, "Well, we can't get the picture ready for you right away." So at the time when we were leaving for Portland, we were put in that horse stable. Anyway, he came and give us -- we were at the campground, everybody was there -- and he came and he gave us a picture at that time. So last minute picture. Yeah, goodness sakes. I don't know how we went. I know we hop on the bus and we went down to Portland. That's where we were, at Portland stables, that's where we were at. In Gresham, Multnomah Fairgrounds, that's where we all got together. They came with nothing, my goodness sakes, just a suitcase. And if you have a camera, you better hide it they tell me so I took my camera and buried it in the ground. Crazy, huh? It's gone. [Laughs]

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.