Densho Digital Archive - Paul Saito Interview (denshovh-spaul-01-0003)

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PS: That's kind of still in my high school days, and remember went out for football, but never was very successful. The biggest thing I can remember about going for football was getting knocked cuckoo at a practice in junior year. And I was really going to stop this guy carrying the ball in practice, and boy, I hit him head on and knocked myself silly. I guess that's what everybody on the football team remembers me for, getting knocked silly. But anyway, it was a good experience. I remember walking home from practice, after practice, well, it was dark by the time we get home, it's a five-mile walk. But that was the way things were. And I think in senior year, brother Abe, he had a motorcycle, so I was able to use that during football practice. Probably lucky I didn't have an accident with that thing, but anyway, that was a fun thing to have. And a neighbor kid and I, we'd, get a ride home with me. But lived through that experience. I wasn't that interested in sports. I took a couple years of glee club and band, and I think back now, I don't know how I ever got interested in that. But I had an excellent instructor, so I think that was probably the reason I got interested in that.

Then, of course, since I liked my farming, I took Future Farmer, FFA, four years. Then in senior year, why, five of us made a trip to Oregon State College, as it was known back then, senior FFA guys to come and participate in some of the things at the college, see what things were like at college. So you take a kind of an introduction, I guess it was. So I think we were down there several days, and we stayed in fraternity houses and it was a real good experience. I remember that pretty well. By the time we started home, why, nobody had any money left. I think we had enough to buy some gas. But out of the five of us that went, I think I'm the only one that's left. One of the kids that was in that group, he was a former mayor of Ontario. Another one was real active here in civic activities here in Ontario. But anyway, it was a fun trip.

So I graduated in May 1941. Let's see. I had the older two brothers, Abe and Joe. About that time, '41, Joe, who never got to go to high school when we lived over in Clackamas, or Carver, so he went to a business school in Boise for a couple of years, different periods of time. Then in July of 1941, I'm not too sure of the month, but I think that's the year brother Joe volunteered for the U.S. Army. I think that's about the time. I don't know whether it was earlier than that. But anyway, by the time Pearl Harbor came, why, he was on a troop ship headed to Hawaii. They were able to get turned around and come back, I think they came back to San Diego.