<Begin Segment 5>

AC: So tell me about you going to school.

MH: My going to school?

AC: Yeah.

MH: Okay. I went three grades at Oak Grove School which is near my, the home that my dad and mom, we all lived in. You probably know at that time that the firstborn of the Issei family always had to go two years to first grade because they didn't know any English. Most of the families, the firstborn had to go two years in the first grade. Of course, as the rest of us come along, then we kind of picked up English, so we didn't have to go through the first grade. But I spent three years at the Oak Grove School, and then Dad bought the place that, closer to town, so I went to Barrack School from fourth to eighth grade. Then I went to junior high school for a couple years and then Hood River High School for the rest of the years.

Could I mention my brother? He was right above me, and he was killed in an accident, but he was so smart. I don't see it too much now, but nowadays, before they used to pass you one grade. Well, he was passed two grades. He was fifteen when he graduated from high school. And I notice when he was sitting up in the front there, his legs would not hit the floor. He was like this. But they did that. They don't do that now. And if they do, I think the parents would object to it. But my brother was very smart. In fact, I have to brag. Our whole family had, got pretty good grades, even my kids. He went to college, and he even received a PhD at Illinois out of Chicago. My father was so proud of him. He was a chemical engineer.

AC: And so how did he die?

MH: This car accident. When he came home, he was, yeah. He was in his, I don't know what year he was at Oregon State, but he and my younger brother took their stuff to college and registered and everything. He was bringing the family car home, and Wyeth, which is right near Hood River, he must have fell asleep and the car went down the slope and landed on the railroad which is down there. So when my family got heard of it said there is a car on the railroad. Well, then they found out it was my brother. But he climbed up the hill up to the old highway. You know, now we got this highway on the, by the river, but it was the old highway. He climbed up to the road and hailed this person down and happened to be a soldier from Fort Lewis who lived in Payette, Idaho. Well, I was here in Ontario then, and so he, they took him, he just directed them to the hospital. They took him to the hospital. But I don't think he got a very good deal because they didn't give him a room. They had him in the hallway. And when he was injured, I got the call saying Ak was in the accident. He was in Hood River Hospital, and they gave him surgery, and they thought he was going to pull through. But the next day, I heard, I had got word that he died. I guess there was some internal injury that they didn't catch, but he died in the hallway. That was discrimination I feel.

AC: How does that make you feel --

MH: When he was so bad. So my husband and I after we came home from the funeral, I went to visit this fellow in Payette who picked him up and thanked him and told him that my brother had died, and he felt bad, but that's the way it goes.

AC: What year was this?

MH: Huh?

AC: What year was this that your brother died?

MH: Let me see. My son is fifty-six, and he was about almost two so '48, '49, '50 because he was born in '48, 1950 I think it was. It's hard for a parent to lose a child. In fact, it's hard to lose a parent. I think it's harder when you lose a child because they got lots to live for. It's too bad, you know.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2004 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.