Densho Digital Archive - Bob Fuchigami Interview (denshovh-fbob-01-0022)

<Begin Segment 22>

RP: Bob, we were just talking a little bit about what your brothers and sisters occupied their time in camp with. And you mentioned... you started with your sister Mary.

BF: Yeah. Before she became a councilperson she was a Sunday school teacher with the, with the Buddhist church, type of thing. And...

RP: Was she the only woman on the council?

BF: No. There were about three, I think, who were elected. She represented the 7-G. They had the election. But they were, I think, men before that, men after that. But it, it was rather rare for, for a Japanese woman or Japanese American woman to be on the council. And then after -- before the camp closed she worked for the, for the newspaper, Pioneer.

RP: So she was pretty sharp. Smart lady.

BF: Yeah. Then she, she switched from Buddhism to Seventh Day Adventist, or something like that.

RP: While in the camp?

BF: Yeah.

RP: Did she ever go to college?

BF: No. They, they... well, I guess parents just didn't think in terms of women go to college. Then my oldest brother left camp soon after he came into camp. He joined the, the military.

RP: MIS?

BF: Yeah.

RP: And that was, was that Walter?

BF: No, that was George.

RP: George.

BF: Yeah. And it was, it was a difficult decision because as the oldest brother he's, traditionally, you're supposed to take care of the family and stick around and, and he had to, he had to break tradition. And it created some problems, I'm sure, between him and his dad and, and I'm sure my dad took some criticism from other members of the...

RP: Community.

BF: ...in the, in the camp because he let my brother do that. They said, "Why are you allowing him to do that when they're treating us like this?" But he did. He went to Savage, Camp Savage. And...

RP: Was he, he volunteered for MIS?

BF: Yeah.

RP: 'Cause they did send around a recruiting team...

BF: They may have sent out a recruiting team, I don't know. But since he knew Japanese, he was a prime candidate and...

RP: You had another brother who left camp to continue his education.

BF: Yeah. The, the third brother, Walter, left camp to, to continue his education. He had, he had been in the, started junior college, community college in Yuba City. And then he had the chance to leave the camp and continue his education, so he did it. The Barnes Commerce School, or Business School in, in Denver.

RP: He came to Denver?

BF: Yeah. And then he left that and I know he went to, to school at LSU briefly and then he ended up at a community college in Duluth, Minnesota.

RP: All during the war?

BF: Yeah. He was doing his darnedest to stay out of the military, I think.

RP: Yes, he was doing a good job. Did he have any, did he have any help from the Student Relocation Council and...

BF: I don't think so.

RP: It was something he had to organize and plan for himself.

BF: Yeah. Walt eventually ended up in the MIS.

RP: Walt did, too?

BF: Yeah. He, I think he got drafted and then ended up at MIS and, I think Snelling, and then at the language school in Monterey. Went in with the occupation forces. He had got a commission and so... my brother George unfortunately contracted TB and got discharged after --

RP: After his...

BF: -- after he got treated. Then... it was North Dakota or somewhere.

RP: Oh, during his training he contracted it?

BF: Yeah. So he never finished MIS. But his, his group, I think, ended up in the South Pacific.