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MR: Now, your father didn't want you to be a WAC.

YH: No, he didn't know what the heck that was, I don't think.

MR: Did he, did he have any thoughts about your brother joining the military?

YH: Yeah, I... he's of the old school. He used to say, "If you," he told him, "If you go to war, you die for your country." And so when my brother, Mineo, said he'd, said this and we were rehashing this, that he, he went to see him. He says, "I'm going, I'm joining the army and I'm going to war." And he told him, "If you fight for your country, you fight for your country, but don't come back." He mentioned that. What an idiot. Who'd say something like that? [Laughs] But he wanted him to be, fight for the country, and he says, "Your country is this country." Which surprised me, 'cause he was sort of gung ho, very much pro Japanese in his thoughts. So he said that to Mineo, and then he got back and so everything was fine. Then my brother started college and then he re-enlisted. Then he went to Korea and he was in the Korean War, through the whole thing, and it was, we didn't know where he was or anything. And he came out -- he's funny -- he came out, he has every medal that's given by the government except the Congressional Medal, and he has, it's just a plaque like that, it's decorated. But he just, he's a little guy, but he just gave it all. He's alive, and he retired as a lieutenant colonel, which is surprising too. And he's in the Hawaii, what do they call it, Hawaii... it's not Medal of Honor, but Hawaii military honor. They have a museum and his picture's in it. They honored him by asking him to join, and so he's in there, so he's very proud. So we went over for the service. It was nice.

He's retired now and he's, he got a boat, had a man build a boat and he went around the world as close as he could. Damn near killed him. The other fellow was, went with him, and he jumped ship at Guam or some place, said, "I can't go anymore." And so my brother went on by himself. And he went, he went New Zealand, or Australia. He went all -- and he has this boat, it's a sailboat, motorboat, and it's fifty-seven feet but it's a steel hull, and he was doing all that hoisting and on, and he had, I think that's what broke his health. He's not really well now. But he did all that by himself, and the stories he tells are just great. He talked about the fish, the dolphins following him for miles, just, I don't know how many, but, and then the flying fish would land on his boat, so he'd throw 'em out and feed the dolphins and they kept following him. And then he said he got to the point where he had a bad tooth and he pulled it. And I thought, "Oh my gosh," you know? Then he said he, there're days there, all of a sudden he started not wearing any clothes. He's walkin' all around the ship naked, happy, happy. [Laughs] I said, "What if someone --" He says and then a boat did, a ship came up, and he was a little scared, so he went down, got his, he had a revolver, I guess. He had it in back of him and he asked what they wanted. They thought it was an abandoned ship, I guess, and they said, "Oh, you okay?" And he said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm doing alright. You want anything?" And they said no, so they went off. But he was a little bit scared then. But he went through storms that were unreal, just, he's, I don't think he'll ever write a book, but the stories are just real precious. Then he went to Africa, and the people there were so nice to him. They, these are Caucasians, and they took him in their home, they fed him, they clothed, they made him clothing, they fed him, just enjoyed his company. And they followed through and they asked her if she had gotten home yet. He hadn't yet, but he did get home, and it was a very beautiful thing. But I went on that and I got sicker than a dog. God, I got so sick. I was so excited to ride his boat when he came back and we went, and I just jumped on the little dinghy and got on the boat, and George was just amazed that I was so eager, 'cause I, he knows I get sick. And I was so happy, I got on and everything was fine until there was a little door opening, and I bent over to close it and that was the end of it. I was sick from then until, I don't know how many -- I says, "When are we gettin' back?" He says -- and every time I'd look it'd look like it was going two steps forward and three steps back. We just weren't making headway. He says, "We're getting there." He was getting a little worried 'cause my head was in the bag the whole time from then on. I just, and then my nieces were rubbing my back. I couldn't even talk, couldn't do a thing. Then he saw me and I was sort of pale. He's trying, his boat wouldn't go any faster. But boy, that's the last time I've been on a boat. I don't care if it's a dinghy; I won't get in it.

MR: Where was the boat trip you were taking gonna, going to go to?

YH: Just to the next, just around the corner. [Laughs] It wasn't going anyplace. It was just going to Diamond Head and back. We never got there. I got so sick. And that was sort of, he sold it finally, but it was nice to be with him when he got back. I just, I'm, he's my younger brother right next to me, so I'm pretty close to him. I used to beat him up all the time when I was a kid, and so... and he used to, I'd say something, even after we're adults, he'd sort of pooh pooh me. But I'd sort of get a little bit like, "Hey, wait a minute. I'm your older sister." [Laughs] And he, he'll listen. He's gotten over this "girls are just for nothing," so we get along. I call him once a month. In fact, I have an apartment with him. I had to twist his arm to make him put in his money, but he, I really had to talk to him, but he said okay. So now he gets some money every month and he's happy. He calls me, every time he gets it he'll call me, then we chit chat. So I'm hoping he'll come through this fall. But it's good.

MR: We were earlier talking about getting out of camp and coming back to Portland. What did you do for a living when you got back?

YH: Well, see, I lived in Denver in this business, so I left from Denver, and these people, they recommended, gave me a nice recommendation. I went back looking for a job, and I couldn't get in that field, but I got a job at the YWCA. It wasn't that as such; it was a student department, and it was, comes out of New York, National Student Council. And they, and then they had a world student service that was helping the European young people to go to college, and so I worked in that office and had real good bosses. They were very patient with me and nice. And so I found a job there, and my sister found a job as a, in the library, and she worked there until she got married and moved away. And so I worked the, I worked there I don't know how many years, because I got married and then I got, I was, worked there until I got pregnant, and then I quit working.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.