<Begin Segment 13>

TF: Well, when I came back and entered school...

KP: This was after going to Idaho?

TF: Yeah, after Idaho, and now I'm in the class of '44, I don't know for what reason, but I get called into this room. And Mrs. Busey, normally they sit down, you know. But she don't even say sit down or anything. She said, "Better not even think about going to college. You'll never make it." And I'm wondering, "So what?" It's one of those things where when you're poor, at least when you're Japanese, you're sort of raised to help support the family. And when you're poor, I never think about college. I think about going to work. In L.A., I delivered the LA Times a little bit. And the Daily News, Manchester Boulding used to be the publisher, and nobody knew that I was scared of the dark. And in the early morning, you go out and do it, but any money I make, I gave it to my parents. And this is the way things are, you know. And so with her telling me that, it didn't mean beans. But fortunately though, after I get out of the 442, I come home with the knowledge that, hey, you get four years of college free for the GI Bill. And that's the first time I realized that I might even go to college. And so I get home, and the first thing I do is open up the Philadelphia paper, because this is in Bridgton. My folks were offered a job at Seabrook Farms where they have the frozen food. And there's an article there that says Lincoln Prep School getting high school credits. And you go there and take four high school credits, and if you pass it, Pennsylvania gives you the credits. So I decided I'd go there. And in three months, I take the exam, and I got four high school credits. So I applied at Drake University. I don't know why it's Drake, it's just that I head of Drake. And so they accepted me. And everything seemed like it fits in, because when I went in to the army, I asked the government to take ten dollars a month out of my paycheck to send to my mother. And so, this is just the Japanese way of contributing to the welfare of the family.

And after I got invited to go to Drake, my brother decided that -- he was in Seabrook also -- he'd drive me to Chicago where I could then pick the Rock Island Rocket and take the train to Des Moines. And so I'm ready to leave. [Cries] But they handed me this envelope, and it's got over three hundred dollars. She just saved it for me. That's one of those things that I'll never forget. Because she knew I could use the money to go to college, and she saved everything I sent her just for this purpose. And my brother's going to drive me, so I'll get to the school easier. Then I was able to get there, only he tells me that when he got back to his car, somebody broke into the trunk and robbed him in Chicago. Well, anyway, all of this little things, they happen for the good. And so it seemed like every time I turn around, life has been great, because you get support and encouragement. I don't know if I talked to you about, like the army.

KP: Before we get to the army, so did you graduate high school at Manzanar?

TF: Yeah.

KP: Why did you take the... you needed more college prep credits to go to the university?

TF: See, I never thought about college.

KP: So you didn't have the college...

TF: So all of my friends take the college prep school. Like at Poly I was sort of taking the commercial background, where Polytechnic, they have a lot of trades that you could learn, so when you get out, at least you know what you're going to do, at least thinking you're going to do. And so doing this other way, it gives high school credits only. Drake was able to say okay. But that was the first time I even gave it a thought.

KP: And what did you get your... did you get your degree in college?

TF: Oh, well, I went to Drake for a year, and then I transferred to the University of Utah, and then I got my degree in microbiology, because in the army, that was where my interests went. Although I have to kind of tell you this story, how I even got there. Because everything seemed like it was a dream/nightmare type of situation, and everything worked out. Somebody up there is looking out for me, as if this story has already been written and I'm just acting the part, because everything seemed to work out as if it was written. And so I feel blessed in that fashion. The reason I didn't want to be interviewed before, I had nothing to tell you all because the word I was hearing was how terrible the camps were. And I try to tell everybody, gee, most of us in the class of '44 didn't feel like that.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.