Densho Digital Archive - Kitako Izumizaki Interview (denshovh-ikitako-01-0017)

<Begin Segment 17>

MA: And so you left in January, early '43 and then married. And where did you live in Texas after you got married?

KI: We had an, I had an apartment, you know.

MA: Like around Fort Bliss area?

KI: It was right in El Paso, and then my husband and his friend were very good mechanics, so they picked up an old Chevy and fixed it, and he used to come home every night, except when he had to be a bugler in the morning or something. And I got a little job at the... first it was at the YW or YMCA, and oh, that was terrible. I had to be a maid to the whole place, and I just couldn't take it anymore, so I said, "Oh, I quit." And then I got a job as an office girl at Jose Fuentes Paint Company. I had to walk about ten or twelve blocks, 'cause way down, but I didn't mind. So that's what I did.

MA: What were your impressions of Texas, of El Paso?

KI: Well, I thought it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but to me, I didn't mind, I didn't mind. 'Cause my husband was on the, they were, they had a great baseball team, they used to play the semi-pros, and then play other camps like Biggs Field and stuff. They didn't win too many, but they had good players, and they are, Japanese are so small, and then the other hakujins on the team, they weren't that big. But when you play people like Biggs Field, they were great big people. So I... and then, see, the catcher was, I think he was, was he a Mexican? I think he was, Spanish or Mexican. And his wife invited us to this house and we had parties there. And we used to go, yeah, it was, it was nice. The army people get along very well. It wasn't that bad. I think it's outsiders that's worse.

MA: And there was a group of Japanese Americans there?

KI: Yeah, well, I had friends that was, she already had two kids and she was living about six blocks away. And then she, her husband and my husband, they owned this car together, and so they shared all the expense. And then, in fact, if they gave somebody a ride, they'd charge 'em so that they paid for the gas. Yes, it was good.

MA: And then how long were you in El Paso?

KI: I was there until, until he got shipped out to go to, see the 442 -- no, the 100th were getting beat up pretty bad and they needed new recruits and stuff, so he got shipped out to Camp... was it, gee, which camp was it?

MA: Shelby?

KI: Yeah, I guess it must have been, one of their... anyway, and then shipped to, he was shipped to Italy.

MA: And that was in '43?

KI: Yeah, '43. And so, because I moved to camp in '44 before the summer, 'cause my kid was born in October. So I know it was real hot when I was pregnant.