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Q: Fred, would you tell us about your family background and a little bit about what your parents did, where you lived, and where you went to school, things like that?

FK: Well, my parents had a nursery right near the Oakland/San Leandro border. And right next to the nursery, it was all open field out there. They had farming at that time. And alongside of it there was a foundry where they cast iron, things for gears and things like that, for motors and stuff like that. And later on, I believe they did some defense work there during the Second World War, but that's where we were. And I had three brothers besides me. I was the third. And, you know, the family tradition was my dad always favored the oldest son. And, of course, the next son, well, he was the smartest, you know, and everything he did was wonderful, you know. And the third son, you know, that's me. [Laughs] And everything I did, I was getting into mischief. So they always, everything I did, they sort of criticized me or something, I mean, that's the way I felt. So I was always, to get attention, I was in mischief, I believe. And then I had another brother that was younger, and he was the cutest, I believe. So that's the way it went. But anyway, I went to grammar school, they call it Stonehurst grammar school, that was about... oh, about two miles away from where we lived. And from there, I went to the junior high school which was about four miles away from there, after that. And then after I finished there, I went to Castlemont High School, which is the high school which is another two or three miles further than that.

Q: Did you have any schooling past high school, and what happened once you graduated high school?

FK: Well, my oldest one, my oldest brother went to Davis in Sacramento, college there, and then from there, after he graduated, he went to Cornell. And my second brother, he went to Armstrong business college. And then I, by the time I decided to college, my dad told me that there wasn't any more funds for me. So if I wanted to go to college, I had to work my way myself or whatever that I can do to go to college. And I picked Los Angeles to go to college, city college, so I can work. I found work over there. But it didn't work out, so everything I did over there, I probably got in mischief. [Laughs] So it finally just didn't work out, so I came back to the nursery and helped out there until the time... it was before the war, oh, must have been a year, year and a half before the war, and then my older brother finished college and he was back home. And my other brother finished college, too, so we all, all of us were back at the nursery. And it's a small nursery, it had four acres, a greenhouse. And year before the Pearl Harbor attack, everybody was getting into defense and so forth, you know, because of the war in Europe. That was getting hot and heavy. And so since quite a few of my buddies were working in defense work, and since all my brothers were home, I figured I could, you know, I'll be more useful working in defense than at the nursery. In fact, I was just in the way more or less, you know. And so I suggested to my parents that I'd like to go in as a welder, and they said it was all right, so I took up welding. And I went to school and took up welding, and I finally passed the test, and I was accepted in the shipyard as a welder.

Q: Did you ever think about going to other kinds of defense work or the military or any plans that way?

FK: Well, at that time, they had, the draft was called, you know. Everyone over eighteen had to register to the draft, and I was going around with a bunch of high school kids that I was acquainted with through, all through the school. And we decided to jump the draft and join the National Guard or the Coast Guard so that we would be, still located on the West Coast, we wouldn't have to go out of the state. So we decided to go and enlist in the National Guard, I think, two or three of them joined the National Guard. Well, I wanted to go into the Coast Guard anyway, but just for fun I went over to the National Guard also to enlist, and they wouldn't even speak to me.

Q: Why was that? Could you describe what happened?

FK: Well, they wouldn't give me an answer. They said, "I'm sorry, we can't accept you," and that was before Pearl Harbor. So a few blocks away, the post office was there, and they enlisted for the National Guards and the Marines and so forth -- I mean, the Coast Guard, it was the Coast Guard. And so another friend of mine decided they would join the Coast Guard. They're all Caucasians; they weren't Japanese. So I went in there and also tried to enlist in the Coast Guard, well, they wouldn't even speak to me. They just sort of laughed and says, "Sorry, we can't accept you." They didn't give me any reason. I had an idea of what it was, because, you know, I was Japanese, that they wouldn't take me. And so they got accepted.

And then we used to play, on Saturday night, we used to visit... well, his name was Johnny, I forgot his last name, his house, we used to play cards or we'd go out together. But we always used to meet at his house first, and if there wasn't anything to do, then we'd play cards. And all our girlfriends and everybody, we all joined, meet there at his house first and decide what to do. Well, one day I was going over there, and he comes out of the house to meet me, and he told me that he cannot associate with me anymore. And I said, "Why?" He says, "Well, my commanding officer called me in," and he knew all about me, and that we went around together through high school and all that, but he had orders that he could not play with me anymore. And so did the rest of 'em, even those in the Coast Guard. They were called in, too. So they knew all about me, about, and them, that we were acquainted and so forth, and that we'd been friends through school. The government knew all that already. That was before the war. And you know, I felt real bad about that part, you know. A thing like that to happen, they felt bad about it, too, but they're now in government work, so they said they had to obey the orders.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1983, 2010 Densho and Steven Okazaki. All Rights Reserved.