Densho Digital Archive - Aya Fujii - Taka Mizote Interview (denshovh-faya

<Begin Segment 21>

RP: This is tape three of a continuing interview with Taka and Aya about their experiences during World War II and we were just getting into the issue of resettlement in Hillsboro and how were you received, what were your feelings were about returning to actually your home?

TM: Well, frankly I don't recall any discrimination but I think I've heard from my brothers and dad that they were faced with some discrimination. But I don't think it was as bad in Hillsboro because there were so few of us Japanese originally anyway. So as far as I know I don't think they had --

AF: I don't think as much as like you might have heard from Hood River. Have you heard of Hood River? And Gresham was another place that, my husband was from Gresham and they had a lot of incidents that happened. But like she said in Hillsboro I think our parents were law-abiding, not rabble rousers, so they didn't run into any trouble, yes, we were fortunate that way.

RP: Now did the rest of your family also return? When did the two brothers return from the war?

TM: Gosh, I don't remember when they returned.

AF: When we returned to Hillsboro?

TM: No, when Arthur and Ike returned, I don't remember when they were discharged.

AF: Art was in the "Lost Battalion," you might have heard of that, and he was injured and I asked my brother Ike, "Were you there?" And he says he was in a different tanks or something so he was farther back so he was never in that rifle, you know, like my brother Art was. But they met several times together in France. But it must have been very hard for our parents to have two sons overseas. But we weren't the only families with... other families had the same situation. And remember when they had the gold stars and the blue stars, yes.

RP: Did you have that?

AF: I remember having the blue stars you hung in the window.

RP: Where did you have those? At the labor camp or the CCC camp?

TM: Yes, I think we did.

AF: I think we did.

RP: So when you came back to the farm, what condition was it in? Was it, had it been kept pretty well by the neighbor?

TM: Well, see I didn't come back from Idaho until January and they were already settled. So I think it was okay, I mean, you know. They didn't say anything that was --

AF: I remember this missionary came when she made a visit to the West Coast, she went up to the house to check on it. And she said everything was in good order.

RP: Was that Miss Peet?

AF: Yes, Miss Peet.