Densho Digital Archive - May K. Sasaki Interview (denshovh-smay-01-0004)

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LH: But then you also had full brothers.

MS: Yeah, my two brothers, 'cause they were a little older than me. My next brother was just a year older than me and then my oldest brother, full brother, was about four years, five years from me. So, now that's the one I'm telling you that kind of got, he was... older kids were kind of left to their own devices a lot and they took advantage of that freedom to experiment on doing all kinds of things. Stretching their freedom to whatever, so I think that's where he learned to be very independent, didn't listen to my dad too much anymore. And so when he came back to Seattle from camp, he really got into trouble. And the thing that saved him was that he volunteered for the air force. 'Cause by then, he kept getting kicked out of schools and it was pretty bad.

LH: I'd like to, I'd like to explore that a little bit more when we talk about the camps. And what can you tell me about your other brother?

MS: George? He was just a year older than me so his experiences were closer to mine and he was closer in terms of, shall we say, following our parents' directions. We were very obedient, so he and I were closer in that. I think he sowed his wild oats later.

LH: Oh, he's older than you also?

MS: Yeah, one year.

LH: I see, oh, very close in age.

MS: Yeah, I was the youngest and then had two brothers. So we were, in fact, we were almost eleven months separated between us but my oldest brother -- and it had to do with the friends and having the ability to form these small gangs. And the gangs get into their own life of their own so I do recall that 'cause my, I recall my mom and dad muttering about how he was getting, learning bad habits and things like that. And that's true, I think he just... and that whole group, they weren't bad. They just were not willing to toe the mark and to go school and study and things like that. I think that just carried over 'cause I don't think any of them went to -- I'm just trying to remember whether they ever went to college or went that way. A lot of them went into the service or went into some other fields but never were into studying or academics or anything.