<Begin Segment 15>

RP: These, these men that are, that came back from the service, did they, did any of them talk about their experiences in the war?

CT: Not very often, no. Hardly at all except Jack 'cause I had befriended, he befriended me or vice versa and we would run around together a little bit after he got back. And he'd say some of them. But not, not really elaborate, no. One story I do remember is our neighbor J.D. DeWeize, he was in the marines, and he was somewhere in the Pacific. And said he was walkin' through this high grass and he was, there was guns and everything, but he was by himself walking through the grass. And pretty soon this other guy was walkin' through the grass and one was a Japanese or Oriental of some kind, Japanese I guess, and they met right in this pathway. He said they both turned around and took off and ran the other direction, period. And this is a big ol' tough guy but he knew, he was smart enough to run away. Neither one of 'em shot. They were both scared to death. That's the story he told us.

RP: After you got out of your military service, Clyde, did you return to Big Pine or...

CT: Sort of. Let's see, yeah, I did for about, oh, maybe a couple years. Okay, after I went in the service I met this girl named Elfy. And she migrated from Vienna to Canada about a year before I got out. So I got out of the service and I was, fooled around for a year or so, couple maybe. So then I went up to Canada and we got married in Canada. And she, and then we come back to Big Pine for a small, small amount of time. And then we went to, went to Taft Junior High, or Taft Junior College. I think it was a college then, I don't know. Graduated from there and just went on with our lives from that.

RP: What, what career did you settle into?

CT: Well, my sister and her, my brother-in-law moved to Sacramento. So I came to Sacramento just to see them. We had had a trailer in Taft College, so we, they had sent us to Arizona. No, no, no. This, I'm gettin' ahead of myself. So I pulled the trailer up to Big Pine and one of the welding instructors came up and stayed with us for a while, just for a visit. What was the question?

RP: What, what career did you settle into?

CT: Oh, okay. So then my sister and brother-in-law lived in Sacramento so we came to Sacramento, pulled the trailer over and put it in her driveway. And I started lookin' for a job. 'Cause I had to go to work. So I just called J.G. Moore and Commissary Company. And they gave me a job. And they fed anything that needed a commissary or needed a kitchen or... they had railroad places and farms and ranches and lumber companies. Everything that needed... but anyway, they sent me to Arizona. And we was there for a little over a month for the Braceros. And that was an experience, too. I think it was four, four ranches that had Braceros. And there's my boss and then myself was the only two people that had to take care of all of 'em. You know, the cooks and all that. But one day we went out there and the cook had quit. And I don't know how to cook. [Laughs] There's a few, few of the Braceros that had stayed, stayed in the camp and they didn't want to go to work or were sick or whatever, so they saw my predicament and they all dove, dove in and we went up there and we put tortillas and soup and everything we got. When they came in from the field they could have anything they wanted. Everybody was happy so we got out of that.

And then from there I worked there a year. And after this year I had exactly the same amount of money in the bank as when we started, period. No, no, nothin'. Maybe I would have made more if I'd stayed, but for after a year I was even... so I was foolin' around and I saw this service station on 30th and L, the Texaco station. So I found the owner of it and asked... and he was, he had a "for sale" sign or somethin'. I found it was for sale. I found the owner and I said you wanted to sell it, asked if he wanted to sell it. I was just green. I was only twenty-somethin' years old. And said, "Yeah." He goes, "Do you know anything about a service station?" I said, "I used to work in one." And he said, "Well, that's about it." So I borrowed fifteen hundred dollars from my father and he loaned me that money and I got the service station. I was there for eight years, excuse me, eight years I believe. Made enough money to buy our first house. I was tired of the bell ringing and they wanted me to stay open all night. So that was the end of that. Then I went to work for Cal Gas, the propane company?

RP: Here in Sacramento?

CT: Pardon?

RP: Where? In Sacramento?

CT: Yeah, in Sacramento, yes. This is all Sacramento now. And I retired from, well after they sold it in, retired from Cal Gas you might say, twenty years later.

RP: And you had a boss at Cal Gas who actually was a former internee.

CT: Pete Okamoto.

RP: Yeah. Tell us about Pete.

CT: Pete, he's a very, very conscious, a very fine person, good mentality. He's the one that gave me the job. He's the one that kept me on it and showed me lots and lots of things. And he was in, he, he went I think somewhere up north. I don't know which camp he was in. But he joined the army and I think he went in that four... I don't know if he was in that one or not. But he joined the army. And he was the only person when he joined that went back east for his departure. And he was scared to death, he said, for part of the time 'cause he's the only Japanese in the whole place, the whole train. So anyway, he's my, he's still in... I think his wife has passed away. He's still in Sacramento as far as I know.

RP: Yeah, just to share a story with you. The gentleman who we're working with here at the church contacted me the other day and said that Pete, Peter Okamoto was interested in being interviewed.

CT: Oh yeah, I bet he would be.

RP: So...

CT: He's a very nice person. He has two sons, two or three sons, I think. He had a small business related to propane or natural gas. He was my boss for quite a few years.

RP: This program that you, you saved this program from the game? Was that the original program that you had?

CT: Yes.

RP: And, and about a year or so ago you gave us a call and wanted to donate it to us.

CT: Well, maybe it was that long ago. And this is where Bob Layman comes in. He saw the program or I had it sitting under a... he married this Japanese woman. So I asked if he knew any Japanese around town and of course he does. And... he wanted to take the program and show it to 'em, I believe. So I gave him the program and he showed it to this one person, I can't remember the name. I can hardly remember my own. But anyway, he's the one that really got started going to Manzanar. I don't know if he's the one got, goin' to Manzanar, but this guy wanted to see it. And we all thought it was... I don't know how I got in touch with you, tell you the truth. Did you call me or did I call you?

RP: I think you called us. But...

CT: Maybe I did. I don't know. My wife'll probably remember.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.