<Begin Segment 16>

MH: When you returned back to Gresham, we talked a little bit about it, but there were some people who actually really helped the Japanese people, right? Can you tell me a little bit about that, your father's experience, how he got back, etcetera?

EF: Yeah. Well, my father was an old timer here, and he had some acquaintances that, you know, never would turn against him that were very supportive of him because they all knew he was a hard worker. And you know, hey, he was a very friendly person and very knowledgeable person for Japanese, so he got a lot of respect that way. And people used to come up to him for information about the quality of land in this area and what he thought of it. Actually, he's here, so he must have thought highly of the area, but people would come and ask him, is this a good area to come into? And I know he told them, oh yes, it's a good area.

MH: And you had raised onions and failed, and your dad wanted to sell them to somebody?

EF: Yes.

MH: Tell me about that?

EF: Well, this was the first guys after we came back, and he owned the 12-Mile Corner, he owned a big store.

MH: What was his name?

EF: Carl Zimmerman was his name, Zimmerman's 12-Mile Store. He always was good to Japanese even before, even when we went to camp, he'd call up and say, "You guys need some stuff?" you know, and he'd bring it down. He'd bring it down to the assembly center. They would just meet him, and he'd have whatever they ordered, so very friendly person. Well, my dad had told him that he had some dry onions that he brought from Eastern Oregon. Well, he says, "Hey, I can use them. I'll take them all," he told him. So, you know, my dad was glad to get rid of them because I don't think they were anything outstanding as far as the price was concerned, but he just wanted to get rid of them, and he's the one that took them all. And like I said, he was here for us. He was a good man for us.

MH: Was he also there for the other Japanese who came back?

EF: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, everybody, everybody all had good words for him, yeah.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.