<Begin Segment 3>

SG: To get back to your brothers, did you have any contact with your siblings, your brothers that were, or your siblings that were left in Pendleton?

HU: Yes. My sister was, died at the age of sixteen, and my other brother grew up. And of course during the war, he volunteered to serve American military service, and brother went to Japan and then came back. He also volunteered for the U.S. Army. And other two, I mean my half brothers of course during the war, they served in Japanese army, so I had two brothers, Japanese army. And of course, we didn't know the fate of our two brothers in the United States at that time. We find out this was a fact after the war when we had a family reunion. And fortunately, all brothers came home safely. Only casualty in our house, immediate family, was my sister's husband. Later, she married to a family who owns a fishing boat fleet, and husband was killed. We assume he was killed in, somewhere in the ocean. He didn't have to go. He's the owner of the boat, but the shortage of the fishermen, he went along, and rumor was that he was killed in submarine, U.S. submarine. And in those days, all the fishing, relatively large fishing boat has a navy man on them, and they have machine guns. It's visible, just maybe trying to prevent from U.S. Navy or submarine people trying to capture the fishermen, so no sense having, the submarines protecting from the [inaudible]. But anyway, that probably kept up, and they just, submarines identify it as a fishing boat, as a navy boat because they equipped it with the submarine, I mean, the machine guns.

SG: Did... at that time because you had, your mom had some sons in the Japanese army --

HU: Yes.

SG: -- and some sons in the United States, it must have been very difficult for her.

HU: Yes. I don't know how she ever survived. But nightly, she sleeps in one room and I sleep in another room, and just even in the middle of the night, "Are you awake, Masuo, are you awake?" "Yes, Mother," you know. And then she talk about brothers and the daughter. We didn't know the fate of that daughter who died, but wondering how they are doing. And she often said about, "I never should have given up on them," son and daughter. Just almost nightly she talk about them.

SG: She felt very guilty?

HU: Yes. You know, I'm sure to be mother giving up two kids, even though it was adopted, and the situation was such that she didn't know exactly how she's going to survive in Japan. But...

SG: At that time because of the war, they wouldn't let you communicate with your siblings in the United States?

HU: Oh, no way. Before the war broke out and occasionally my oldest brother was writing to us, sending a little gift to us. But the war broke out and no communication whatsoever we established.

SG: When you did have the family reunion and all your brothers were there, you had brothers in the Japanese army and brothers in the American army?

HU: Oh, yes. As I said earlier that we didn't know the fate of two brothers in the United States. But year after the war ended, my oldest brothers came back as a federal employee and start working for the General Headquarters that we call MacArthur Headquarters. And then we find out every details and how the other brother is doing and so forth.

SG: Did they, what did they say about, did they ever talk about what it was like being in the Japanese military, your brothers?

HU: The brothers, no, it was just ordinary, soldiers. And so those days, it's our duty to just serve the military. And one brother, fortunately, they, Japanese military, they separated two brothers, not having a same unit, just the fear maybe the two may be killed at the same time. One brother was toward the end of the war into China, and my oldest brother is serving army, air force. In those days, no separation in air force, but army, air force transportation group. They were in and out of India, Singapore, those, the bases. So they were, one time, they were so close, just brothers fighting each other.

SG: Did your other brothers who served in the U.S. Army talk about their experience?

HU: He, fortunately, yeah, he didn't have to go to overseas. He remained, he joined, I mean, just before war ended, so he didn't have much actions, so he remained in the United States.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.