Densho Digital Archive - Henry Sakamoto Interview (denshovh-shenry

<Begin Segment 16>

HS: Anyway, came back to Oregon to be drafted. Let me see, it was the spring of '46, spring of 1946. I might have misspoke. I think I might have said spring of '45. In the spring of '46, my draft number came up, came back to Oregon to be drafted, and I was drafted, and I think I went into the army in May of that year and went to Fort Lewis, North Fort Lewis, Washington, for basic training. And one of the unfortunate things about that, being drafted at that time when the draft was ending, I was one of the last to be drafted and the army was going to discharge, demobilize whatever draftees were in the army. They wanted to, an army of all enlistees, volunteers. And so therefore, I was in our basic training company. I was one of maybe half a dozen draftees. Not that we were suffering any kind of prejudice, but every time it was payday, we had to be at the end of the line and enlistees would get paid first, and so the draftees were in a kind of a category that didn't quite fit. So when I finished basic training, the company that I trained with, they went overseas to Japan I think maybe to the Far East somewhere, but probably Japan. And then since I was going to be demobilized eventually, the army didn't know what to do with me, so they put me in a casual company. A casual company, what they do is they do all the dirty detail work around the fort. You fall out formation in the morning, and they say, "You, you, you, go to the coal detail, you guys go to the garbage detail, you guys going to get extra KP." You know, you do this thing. It's a lousy assignment, so that goes on and on.

One morning, sergeant asked if anybody knew how to type. Nobody raised their hand, so I raised my hand. I knew what a typewriter is. So not that I was really lying, but I was seizing an opportunity, yes, so they sent me to the personnel section for my boss, it was a clerk. She was very tolerant, and she told me to type out these personnel cards, so I did that for I don't know how long. But anyway, there was a Nisei fellow in the personnel section, and I chatted with him. And I said, "You know, I'm one of the last draftees, and the reason I got this assignment because I'm in the casual company, and they don't know what to do with me," you know, various aimless job assignments. So I says, "If you ever have an opportunity, have the chance, although I'm a last of the draftees and so I'll be one of the last to be demobilized, if you get a chance, put my name in a little ahead. I would appreciate it." I never knew, I never knew for sure if he was able to do that. But after one year of service, I got out. I was, got my discharge. It was one year of service. But having spent that one year in service, I was with the army, I was able to take advantage of the State of Oregon's GI Bill, and also the Federal GI Bill, so I went back to school. To continue my education, I went, signed up at the Vanport Extension Center which was in Delta Park which is a forerunner of Portland State University, so I've been involved with Portland State University a lot, but they don't really know that, you know. So anyway, Vanport Extension Center was at spring, and in the spring of '48, we had the Vanport flood, so Vanport Extension got flooded out. We didn't have to take final exams, but we got credit. So that fall, I went to enroll at the University of Oregon, the fall of '48, and those were the Norm Van Brocklin years, great football team, so it was good, 1948. But, at the University of Oregon, worked in the French dorm cafeteria, working my way through school, getting a free meal, being a busboy which is good, and so that was helpful. But anyway, I graduated University of Oregon, degree in business in 19, I think it was 1951, and the University of Oregon experience was, here again, it's socially speaking, it was good. Educationally, it was conflicted. I was not a real good student. I struggled, but I passed the courses to get a degree, had good friends going there at the same time, Albert Oyama, his current wife Mas. Who else was going there? Nobi Sumida, Albert Naito. He was the youngest of the Naitos or the Naitos. Fred Irinaga was going there, Bob Nishino, George Takeoka, a lot of the old timers. So socially, we had a good time as well.