Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Sue Takimoto Okabe Interview
Narrator: Sue Takimoto Okabe
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: December 3, 1999
Densho ID: denshovh-osue-01

<Begin Segment 9>

AI: Well, now tell me, I, I wonder if I understood this right, that while you were in Denver, you were also recruited to perform with the USO?

SO: They -- somebody came to Lamont School of Music and singled out this young guy and myself to join the USO group. And my teacher and Miss Hurst thought it was a good idea, especially in my position, being Japanese. And I thought nothing of it until that one war bond rally, people would start to yell, "Get the Jap off the stage," or no, it was, "Get the Chink off the stage." And then the other one was, "Send the Jap back." And it happened in Wyoming too, I think. Was it Casper or Cheyenne? One of with, one of the "C" Wyomings, there was some yelling. But for the most part, the, the troupe was much older. I was the only minority, not just minority -- minor in the group.

AI: So you were the only minor and the only minority?

SO: Yeah. And the chaperones were pretty good. But yeah, there were incidences of yelling. The -- I would say the majority of the GIs were pretty good.

AI: What was it like performing with a troupe like that?

SO: Boring because you can't -- they -- being a minor, they wouldn't allow me to socialize. So you're sitting in the back by yourself, reading, and the chaperone is equally bored being with you. It was very boring. It was not exciting. It was not -- people would say, "How exciting." No. You travel by bus because there was gas rationing. And it was very, very boring. It takes time out from a weekend. It's generally weekend runs. So your weekend is shot. But like I said, it comes from that training of you, you just do what you're told.

AI: What would you typically perform at some of these USO programs?

SO: The House I Live In was really pretty popular. Some of, some of the GIs that recognized me from other USO centers would ask for that. Begin the Beguine was also popular. Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There. It Might As Well Be Spring. It was either extremely lighthearted or patriotic. One extreme to the other.

AI: And, were you backed by a band?

SO: No, a professional pianist. And then once in a while, they would have a combo. But that was for the bigger ones. It was not for the small towns. The small towns was usually piano and that's all.

AI: It sounds like going out from Denver, you traveled really widely on some of these tours.

SO: Well, it was Wyoming, throughout Colorado. And I remember Nebraska once, once only that I recall. But you have to remember that that's rural country, so they didn't have too many USOs. They were pretty well set. There weren't too many big cities.

AI: Right.

SO: So it wasn't that we traveled much. There was only so many places you could travel to that had a USO. But the war bond rallies were held like at Daniels and Fisher Department Store outside, things like that, which is now the May Company, I think.

AI: Well, during this time did -- was this also when you went out to Chicago, or did this come later?

SO: I -- my sisters were working in Chicago.

AI: They had left Denver?

SO: Uh-huh. But then, this was only to visit the -- I went later by myself. That was after we went back to -- we moved to Los Angeles because my father wanted to live where there was more sunshine.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.