<Begin Segment 12>

RP: So what was, what was Reno like for you? You had never been up there before, had you?

TI: Oh, yeah. Yeah, we'd been there. On our honeymoon, my wife and I went to Reno. It was nice. And people there were very nice.

RP: You got yourself set up at a Chevy dealership.

TI: Yeah, I got a job at the Chevy dealership almost immediately. And I worked there for a whole year. And in the meantime, I heard, some friends of mine told me about how they were looking for mechanics for, at the airport. So naturally that's what I wanted to do. So I quit my job at Chevrolet, and applied for this job. And I said, "Well, where can I get this job?" Said, "You're a mechanic, aren't you?" I said, "Yeah." Says, "Well, we got one here in Ferndale." I said, "Where's that?" "Just a little ways from here, it's in California." And I said, "Well, no, I can't go there because I, when I was in camp, when I left, they said, 'You're not to return to California for the rest of the war.'" And the guy said, "Who told you that?" I said, "Well, the camp, in the camp they told me that." And he said, "Well, what camp?" And I said, "Manzanar." "Where's that?" So I told him, and he said, "Well, never mind. We need a mechanic real bad, so you go to work for us." So I went there. And sure enough, nobody said a word. So I went to work there as a mechanic. And I said, "Where's the motor pool?" And they said, "No motor pool here." I said, "Well, where am I supposed to work?" He said, "Well, you're over here at Hangar 1." And I said, "Well, working on what?" "Airplanes." I said, "I'm not an airplane mechanic." He said, "You're not? But you're a mechanic." I said, "Yeah." They said, "Well, we'll teach you how anyway, 'cause you know how to work with tools." So before you know it, I was working on an airplane mechanic, as an airplane mechanic. And before you know it, why, they had to have somebody to test fly 'em after I worked on 'em. So they taught me how to fly during noon hour. Noon hour, they took turns teaching me. And I had six hours of dual time, and I was able to solo out in six hours. So I started just flying the planes.

RP: What type of planes were they?

TI: These were all dual, I mean, single engine. They were just dual passenger training planes, that's all they were. Mostly Piper Cubs and Aeroncas, that's all they were. Nothing big.

RP: Can you describe to us the facility that you worked at? Was it a naval facility?

TI: Yeah, under naval contract.

RP: And who was running it?

TI: Oh, he was a civilian, actually, under naval contract.

RP: Like a flight school?

TI: Yeah, running a flight school.

RP: So tell us what was there at the base.

TI: Well, they had a, well, at first they had to run their place like giant buses where the students all lived in it, and they were taught how to fly. And the minute they got in their flying time, they went to a different, higher school. I don't know where the other schools were located, not around there. Where those guys were trained to fly the small planes, they went to bigger airplanes. And then from there on to combat ships.

RP: So this was the lowest level.

TI: Yeah, lowest level.

RP: The beginning flight students?

TI: Beginning flight.

RP: And so there were barracks or buildings there for them to stay in.

TI: Yeah. Well, there were buses, actually.

RP: Buses?

TI: Yeah.

RP: Oh, that's interesting.

KP: How far away from Reno was this?

TI: Roughly, I think it's forty-five miles.

RP: Did you drive that or commute that every day, or did you --

TI: Oh, yeah. Well, at first I did, but after I got working there, one of the other guys lived in Reno, too. So he and I both drove back and forth. But there's nobody on the highway those days. You could go down the road. But it was good.

RP: And eventually you were allowed to ferry planes from Beckworth...

TI: Yeah, well, I was doing, no, not... from Reno.

RP: Oh, at Reno.

TI: But I only visited, I think, twice. I was afraid somebody was going to get in trouble if I got caught and they said that I was Japanese, you know. So I didn't want to take a chance.

KP: So you flew planes from Reno down to...

TI: Concord.

RP: And then how did you get back?

TI: By bus. I wasn't telling anyone. There was others, but they weren't Japanese, though, see. But it's funny, in all that time, nobody, I flew into Sacramento, and nobody ever said a word as to what I was. Concord, I flew in there, and nobody said a word.

RP: You flew the planes in there, and then you said that the wings would be taken off?

TI: Yeah, and then they took 'em off and, by truck, they hauled 'em down to Pittsburgh, that was called. Where the... isn't that it, Pittsburgh down there? It was a naval shipping base at that time. It was put on a freighter and shipped to the South Pacific. Or they were used as observation ships.

RP: And these were the same planes that you learned how to fly in?

TI: No, they were a little bit better.

RP: A little bit better?

TI: Yeah. The same type, though, two-passenger.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.