<Begin Segment 17>

SY: And how did that, I mean, what was the experience when you first went in? Where did you end up going first off when you joined the army?

KS: Well, when I first signed up --

SY: And it was what, it was during way, any particular --

KS: Korean War.

SY: Korean War, so it was --

KS: I went from the office here to join, get driven up to Fort Ord, California. And I enlisted, I was indoctrinated into the army there, took the basic, started the basic training there, until I had one of the furloughs. We came down, visited L.A., and one guy, got so late that we started rushing back to Fort Ord and I got into an accident, and in the course of the accident I lost my glasses and all that. I didn't continue on, I wasn't able to finish the basic training. I was reassigned to Fort Hunter Liggett, which is right outside of Camp Roberts. They do their final sixteen week training in Camp Roberts because it's, the terrain there is so wild and stuff. And my job was to do just training aids, paint training aids.

SY: So you actually didn't have to complete basic training, then.

KS: I didn't complete basic training.

SY: So then you wouldn't have to go to Korea.

KS: No, I didn't have to go to Korea.

SY: And that was kind of a lucky break?

KS: Well, it was lucky in one aspect. I never even considered it as being lucky, but it was just a situation that took place in that I was unfortunately involved in an accident which caused, one of the guys had a broken, collar bone broken in the accident, and I never heard or seen him again. But I just worked out the three years, do the best I can in the three years, and I was assigned to camera school back in New Jersey from, under Fort Hunter Liggett. And there was a story there too about the master sergeant that was there, but he liked me so he signed me up and got me out of the facility.

SY: Into camera school. Now, was there a reason that...

KS: Photo school?

SY: Yeah.

KS: Yeah, there was a, reason is that the photo, I mean the technical training, or the training materials I was painting, we were trying to develop a photo shop there. But in order to have somebody operate the photo shop we need somebody with a military, what they call specialty number on their credentials, and so he sent me to school in order to get the credential.

SY: Why you? Were you interested in...

KS: Well, I had, photo was one of my hobbies, that's why. [Laughs]

SY: So you took pictures and he knew that.

KS: And I took pictures and I did all that on my own, but then the sergeant says, "If we had a photo lab here, then you could run the photo lab." But in the course of that situation an incident took place between the master sergeant and the, whatever happened. And I got into trouble there because the commander's driver breaking into our facility down in an isolated area where we had the training material, and I was accused of breaking in and reassigning -- they were gonna court martial me and all this stuff. And then the sergeant says, "Got to get you out of here." He signed me up, got me out of there right away.

SY: Wow.

KS: That's before the...

SY: That's interesting, so you kind of had a, a trouble. [Laughs]

KS: I had inadvertent troubles that, no thanks to me, but then... but I had, there were friends that I developed, kind of friends that I had developed that was very influential.

SY: Helped you.

KS: And they'd seen what I was able to do, what I was capable of doing, and they helped me along. And I've had, I've had that kind of people in my life throughout my career. There was a camera store called Lloyd's Camera Exchange here in North Hollywood -- I mean Hollywood -- and we got along great. He was a Jewish business owner and we got along great. And when I went to try to develop a business on my own, doing lens service work and all that sort of thing, he helped me out by being able to, for me to buy something that I need, a lens or something like that, and he would carry it with my credit even if I didn't have the money to pay for it. Said, "You'll pay for it. You'll be okay." And he did that for me for years. And I had another one that I developed a great deal of friendship with, and he was the owner of the industrial parts, machinery equipment business down in Riverside. I says, "I need to buy a lathe." It's a machine. "I need to buy a lathe so I can do this." He says, "Well, get this one here and we'll put it on your ticket, and pay when you can." These are the kind of people that I, that helped me out. Even if I was an isolationist, but I made a great deal of friendship with people like that and I kept my loyalty to them as much as I could.

SY: No kidding.

KS: And that's what, that's what actually kept me going. I've had contacts like that throughout different business relationships, and that's where a lot of my reputation also is built on too, in the fact that I do my best to try to give you the best piece of equipment that I can create. And whatever goes wrong with it, I'll fix it. [Laughs]

SY: That's great.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.