<Begin Segment 12>

JN: Do you have children?

VT: Do I...

JN: Children?

VT: Yes, I have three.

JN: Do you tell them of your story?

VT: Well... I probably didn't say as much as my wife has, you know, kept them abreast of what happened to us. And my older son has really been interested in some of the things that went on, and he'd been reading books and... yeah, he'd buy books to read about what happened, you know, during World War II.

[Interruption]

JN: The other reason I ask some of these questions is like I know my parents never went to the internment but they were really careful in how they, they raised us to... and I see the parallels with how, you know, we had to be, not make waves, you know, and be, and not bring attention to ourselves and not have the conflict. And I see some of your family traits to have some of those values that, just to stay under cover so you don't create any more trouble than what's all around you. And...

VT: On the other hand, there are some people who even during the... after December 7th, there were some students going to university who really were against what was happening, happening. And I think this one fellow turned out to be a, a conscientious objector. He never went to service but he was a PhD, and so he knew what he was talking about. [Laughs] And he, turned out, he's done well. Well, he was, I think he ended up being a professor in Canada, I think, in sociology.

JN: Do you come back to the island a lot? Do you, I know you...

VT: I used to, until my mother passed away. We would probably be on the island, well, at least three or four times a year or so. And bring the family and... but since my mother passed away a few years ago, I haven't really made it a point to come back to the island very much, only for special events. I would get a call and I'd come. [Laughs]

JN: So your parents lived on the island all these years?

VT: Uh-huh, yes.

JN: Do you want to say anything about maybe, how was their life like on Bainbridge when they came back? Did they feel they were well-taken care of and, and they liked it here?

VT: Yeah, they, as I said earlier, that they both became citizens. And they did, after they retired, they did a little bit of traveling, mostly to Japan, and been to Hawaii several times where we had some relatives. And, so... they had a hard life, but it turned out they were able to enjoy some of it at the end there before they passed away.

JN: Did they remain farmers?

VT: Yes.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.