1 100 4 https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/5dc9236a0d5d85a56919dba0140ec4b9.xml 9c4e5d022b75b5e9a221cac49c07a86a Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Willie Tanamachi oral history interview, part 1 of 3, May 19, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanamachi, Willie: narrator Horsting, Robert: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 56:00 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-05-19 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Houston, Texas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2006OH0670_01_Tanamachi Description An account of the resource Willie Tanamachi discusses life on the farming Texas with his 12 siblings. Growing up in the 1920's there was no electricity and he cherished opportunities to go to the county fair and movies. His favorite teacher is Ms. Monroe (first grade teacher). Ms. Monroe treats him like a student and did not show racism. She also promotes him to the second grade. At home Willie speaks Japanese and English. He also learns Spanish to speak to the farm workers. On occasions, Willie visits Mexico because a food and things are less expensive. After graduating from San Benito High School, Willie works on the farm for a few year before going to the Army Air Corp. Willie shares his basic training experiences. 171st Infantry Battalion Army Air Corps baseball basic training Child rearing childhood activities farmer Farming homecoming homestead Issei parents Japanese American Japanese language school languages mochi New Year Nisei picture bride primary school siblings https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/db441486b2b13d0dd2dd99c85c87a4cf.xml 94f31a3280a8fe80ff3b285a7046a609 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. URL https://gfbnec.org/oral_histories/mp4/670-Tanamachi-Willie-2.m4v Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Willie Tanamachi oral history interview, part 2 of 3, May 19, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanamachi, Willie: narrator Horsting, Robert: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 58:34 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-05-19 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Houston, Texas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2006OH0670_02_Tanamachi Description An account of the resource According to Willie Tanamachi, there are two ways Japanese Americans joined the military. One way is being drafted before the war. Another way is enlisting. Willie’s brothers Goro, Saburo, Walter, and himself served in the military. Unfortunately, Saburo is killed serving in E Company, 2nd Battalion. Goro works in the motor crew and Walter serves his time in the military in Germany. During World War II, like some Japanese American soldiers, Willie faces struggles with promotions within the military. The only option is to transfer to different units. At the time Battle of the Bulge starts, Willie is approved to transfer and joins 171st Infantry Separate. Willie discusses his duties and departments within the military. He works in the personnel department and post-war in supplies. After the war, Willie stays with the military. His decision is based on the way he is treated as an equal by his colleagues. Although there are some racist individuals, there are more people who see past his ethnicity. During Occupation in Germany, Willie stays there from 1945 to 1953. He describes the effects of war on the cities and how the cities start to rebuilding economically. He also mentions the Hermann Goring and Rudolph Hess’s trial and the German gang Werewolves. In 1946, Willie works in a supply depot in Munich. There are two supply depots. One is called Indiana Supply Depot (food) and the other is called Alabama Supply Deport (clothing). When troop's dependents came over to Germany, the BMW factory becomes furniture storage for dependents. As the economy starts thriving, the BMW asked for their factory back to build cars. Besides working in the military, Willie finds himself lucky in love and marries a German woman. They have been married for 53 years. 100th 171st Infantry Battalion 442nd Air Corps alcohol Black Market Buddaheads buddha heads cigarettes Dachau death camps E Company Germany Hawaiian incarceration Japanese American Katonk Killed in Action Mainland Nisei Mainland soldiers married Medical Corps military Munich Nazi Nazis Nisei occupation of Germany Pearl Harbor post war prejudices Racism radio restrictions ROTC segregation siblings World War Two https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/a9201a3dd4305898205a982f2160c854.xml bbf47c0026b45a2600cc762a3657ddb1 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Willie Tanamachi oral history interview, part 3 of 3, May 19, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanamachi, Willie: narrator Horsting, Robert: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral Histories Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/m4v Extent The size or duration of the resource. 59:53 Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-05-19 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Houston, Texas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2006OH_0670_03_Tanamachi Description An account of the resource Willie Tanamachi discusses his tours. The first time he goes to Berlin is in 1958 when he is stationed at the American Embassy. Willie lives in Germany for nine years, from July 1945 to October 1953. During those nine years, he did come home on leave a few times when his Dad becomes ill. However, when his dad passes away, his request for leave is denied by the Redcross. While stationed in Germany, Willie meets his future wife Ingeborg. He describes what he does for socializing. Two examples Willie mentions are eating at Wienerschnitzel and going to the opera house. Besides being stationed in Germany, Willie is also stationed in the United States and Vietnam. This included Fort Lee Virginia, American Embassy in Germany (until 1959), Fort Huachuca Arizona (about a year), American Embassy in Vietnam (Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay), Eglin Army Base in Florida (training camp for Rangers for jungle and swap training stay a few months), Strike Command Headquarters MacDil Air force Base 1962 and Fulda Germany Army Base. Willie says there are not many military setups. He works with the Military Assistance Advisory to help set up the German military-diplomatic Corps. In November 1971, Willie retires from his service and works at various companies such as Toyota, Defense Contract Administration Service, and University of Houston Procurement Technical Assistant Services. Willie and Ingeborg have four children together - Linda, Judy, Tim, and Tom. Their grandchildren are a dog and a cat. Willie's purpose of doing oral history is to share what lessons his Issei parents taught him and what childhood experiences shaped his thinking. From racism in the military, life lessons, and his military service, Willie wants his children to do their best and tell the truth. He gives an example of reparations and how not every Japanese American did not receive reparations. At the end of the interview, Ingeborg speaks and says their marriage is like Rocky Road ice cream and she hopes their children will appreciate their dad after watching the oral history. 171st 171st Infantry Battalion 442nd camp employment family incarceration camps Japanese American military Nisei Nisei legacy Nisei veteran story occupation occupation of Germany post war reparations travel Vietcong Vietnam World War Two https://ndajams.omeka.net/files/original/61caab077c3eadfcd2f8499f399edbba.pdf 58bdae69c297975b86613a25d1b19d4f PDF Text Text Go For Broke National Education Center Oral History Project Oral History Interview with George Fujimoto, May 19, 2006, Houston, Texas 669-Fujimoto-George-1 INTERVIEWER: We're gonna get started here. I'll---I'm just gonna announce that we're interviewing you and do intros of who's here and then I'll ask you to introduce yourself. FUJIMOTO: Okay. INTERVIEWER: And start off with your date of birth and where you were born. I'll ask you to lean forward again and I'm just gonna pull your jacket down again. FUJIMOTO: Raised up again, huh? INTERVIEWER: Okay. We all ready? Rolling? CREWMEMBER: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Okay sorry. Today is May 19th, 2006. We are in Houston, Texas at the Hilton America's, and we are interviewing George Fujimoto, the 442nd service company. Today attending is his daughter, Donna Cole. On camera and audio is Tim Yuge. Interviewing is Robert Horsting. George I wanna thank you for coming for this interview, and on behalf of the Hanashi Oral History program. FUJIMOTO: Thank you I appreciate it. INTERVIEWER: Would you please start off by introducing yourself and stating your date of birth and place of birth? FUJIMOTO: My name is George Fujimoto. My date is birth is January 13th, 1920, and--INTERVIEWER: And where were you born? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 1 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: I was born in Colusa, California. INTERVIEWER: And we wanna go back a little bit before that time. FUJIMOTO: Alright. INTERVIEWER: Could you tell us a little bit [00:02:06.04]---Introduce your parents. What were their names? FUJIMOTO: My dad's name was Tom Tadao Fujimoto. My mother name was Tsuya Miyoshi Fujimoto. INTERVIEWER: And where was your father born, and what did he do before coming to the United States? FUJIMOTO: He was born in Japan in Kumamoto, but I believe he was farming in Japan. INTERVIEWER: And what do you know of why your dad chose to come to the United States? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess more---Better himself and probably make money. INTERVIEWER: Was he the eldest son or somewhere--FUJIMOTO: He's the oldest son, but he wasn't the oldest member of the family. He had a sister older than him, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Traditionally in Japanese family properties and that type of thing are passed on to the oldest son. Do you know why did he decide to leave with that prospect? FUJIMOTO: That I do not know. I just know that he wanted to go to America and the rest of the family didn't want to go, except one sister encouraged him to go if that's what he wanted to do. So he come. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 2 of 90 �And where did he first come to in the United States? FUJIMOTO: Mexico. Actually he was a vagabond I believe so from the story I get he was released before he got to the land. So he had to get off on water and go into Mexico. And while he was in Mexico he got a kind of a house job with some Mexican lawyer. And they send him to a school [00:04:03.07]. So I believe he went to school about two years in Mexico. And in order to get over here to stateside they had a revolution in Mexico and he didn't want to stay there. That's when he come over to the United States. INTERVIEWER: And where did he come to when he came across the border to the United States? FUJIMOTO: I thought he come through by San Diego, but I have a younger brother that said he come through in El Paso. So I have to go by that. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And what do you know of where he lived prior to where you were born? FUJIMOTO: Where I was lived? INTERVIEWER: Where did your dad travel if he came in through El Paso, what do you know of where he lived prior to California where you were born? FUJIMOTO: Oh, I don't know. I guess he kept on going into California, and I don't know whether he actually got to Fresno or Colusa at that time or not. But that's where he was and I was born in Colusa. INTERVIEWER: And please describe for us what did your father look like? How tall was he? What was his build? FUJIMOTO: He was built kind of like me. He weighed about 165 pounds, 5' 7". INTERVIEWER: What kind of man was he? What was his demeanor like? FUJIMOTO: Oh, I don't know just like a regular ole farmer. Tough ole farmer, I guess. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 3 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Was he a humorous man or did he--FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: How did that humor come out? Give us an example. FUJIMOTO: I don't know I guess maybe [00:06:01.26], what can I say about like him I guess. I enjoy people. I enjoy life. That's how it was. INTERVIEWER: Did your dad joke around or did he pull little pranks or did he just enjoy--FUJIMOTO: Not too much. No he didn't do that very much. Most of the time he was serious. INTERVIEWER: Tell us a little bit about your mother. What was your mother's name? FUJIMOTO: My mother's name was Tsuya and she was a farmer's kind of housewife, and she done a lot of work on the farm also. And she had a pretty good chore raising a bunch of us kids. INTERVIEWER: And how did your parents meet? FUJIMOTO: Well I don't really know. I know my mother's parents were here in the United States, and how they got together in California I never did find out. INTERVIEWER: Okay, but to you knowledge they married in California? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: And describe your mother for us. What was her stature and--FUJIMOTO: She was kind of small and she enjoyed life. I guess that's about it. Worked hard. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 4 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. How many kids were in your family? FUJIMOTO: Seven of us. INTERVIEWER: Could you name them for us and start with the oldest? FUJIMOTO: I'm the oldest George, and I had another brother next to me Harley. And then after that I had a sister named Miyo; and then a brother Roy; and another brother Willie [00:08:02.11], and a sister Marie; and a sister Doris. Does that make seven? INTERVIEWER: Yup. Now you're giving us all American names. Did your parents give you American first names? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess I got it on the birth certificate, but I have a middle name also. So you want that? INTERVIEWER: Sure. FUJIMOTO: My middle name I refer to the middle name is Kazuo. And Harley's name was Tsugio; and my sister's name was Miyo, I said Miyo; and my other brother's name was Mitsuo; and then Yoshio; and Marie was Akiye; and Doris was Tamiko. INTERVIEWER: And when your parents referred to you did they refer to you by Japanese name or by an American name? FUJIMOTO: By Japanese name. And later on I find out by just knowing a little bit of Japanese language our names, the four boys name is Kazuo meaning number one, and next one is Tsugio, I don't know if you now that or not, and then Mistuo, and Yoshio, it would be one, two, three, four. I think Tim knows that. Don't you Tim? INTERVIEWER: And let's see. Of your siblings who are you closest with? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess Roy my brother. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 5 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. What's your earliest memory of California? FUJIMOTO: I don't---My dad said he left there at 18 months old so. INTERVIEWER: Okay, that was pretty early [00:10:01.28]. FUJIMOTO: Pretty early, yes. INTERVIEWER: Okay, when your dad left California where did he move to? FUJIMOTO: He come to Loveland, Colorado. Then he started a cherry orchard. INTERVIEWER: Now when he was in California was he farming at that point as well? FUJIMOTO: No he was working for a different farmer. I don't know what their names were or anything, but he was working on the farm. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Do you know what kind of crops he was growing? FUJIMOTO: No, I don't. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Now you said in Loveland he had a cherry orchard? FUJIMOTO: He purchased a cherry orchard, yes. INTERVIEWER: And what was that like? Life on the farm with cherries? FUJIMOTO: Well see I was still pretty young then. I don't know how old I was, maybe six-years-old so I don't really know. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 6 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: When you're six-years-old what do you recall of the neighborhood and were you close or far away from any neighbors? FUJIMOTO: I believe we were pretty far from any neighbors. I'm not too sure being you know that young. We don't get around too much. And I remember the only social thing I think that might have occurred to me which I don't really remember. My parents they registered us in a Presbyterian Church. And whether I went to that church or not I don't know. I have the paper for it that’s all. INTERVIEWER: So do you recall at all any functions like Sunday school or any--FUJIMOTO: No, I don't remember all that. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Prior to [00:12:03.10]---You had the paperwork to prove that you're registered as Presbyterian. FUJIMOTO: That's all. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember your parents practicing any other religion or anything that they had in the house like a Butsudan or any type of a shrine to indicate--FUJIMOTO: No, they were Buddhist and they kind of practiced whatever they knew about Buddhist I think. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of anything in your house that would indicate if someone were to walk into your home at that time? That it might show that there is a Japanese family living there. FUJIMOTO: I don't know if you walk in a little further you know they had a---We call it Butsudan. Do you know what that is? Okay. INTERVIEWER: Actually could you describe what that is though for people that are listening that might not know? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 7 of 90 �Well I don't know really---I just know what it is. It's just that the Japanese people would go to that to do their prayer, praying. We call it Butsudan and that's all I remember. INTERVIEWER: Can you describe it for us? What do you remember seeing there? FUJIMOTO: Well it's---You might say it's kind of a maybe not a building, well I guess it's really a temple. It's cut out shaped you know. That's all I can describe it as. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Do you recall anything about incense or a photo or scrolls or anything? FUJIMOTO: No I know we used to use incense like sometime in the funeral or something like that. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Is there anything else in your house that somebody might say oh this is, you know, these are Japanese decorations or artifacts [00:14:05.07]? FUJIMOTO: No, I can't think of anything else. INTERVIEWER: What photos if any did your parents have of their family members? FUJIMOTO: I think my mother had her folks pictures but my dad didn't have any. Just my mother. She had her mother, and father, and brother. Of course they were in the states, you know so that's probably why they had their picture. I'm not sure. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember that photograph? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: How were they dressed? FUJIMOTO: They were dressed in suits just like we are. They didn't dress in that kimono or whatever you call. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 8 of 90 �And what were their expressions? Were they smiling or were they very straight, very serious looking? FUJIMOTO: I would say more serious looking. I wouldn't say they were smiling. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of the type of food that your mother would cook for you? FUJIMOTO: Oh it would be rice and meat was always cooked. But in a Japanese family all their meats you take one steak and it would probably feed four or five people because it's cut up. It's got a lot of vegetables and thing in there. And of course she makes some American bread, biscuit, gravy and such as that also. INTERVIEWER: How would she season or cook the meat? FUJIMOTO: Well a lot of it is seasoned by shoyu. You know what shoyu is and probably some sugar. INTERVIEWER: And so kind of like a teriyaki style--FUJIMOTO: Kind of, yes. INTERVIEWER: And uh---Now for [00:16:01.04] this farming family having steak sounds back in those days, sounds like a pretty good meal. Was that typical? FUJIMOTO: Yes, by being a farming I believe we never starved. We never were short of food. The only thing we got short of was sugar, salt, shoyu, things that we can't raise ourself. INTERVIEWER: What was the last thing I just asked? Oh, we were talking about foods. What were things aside from the preparation of your mother did of the steak teriyaki style. What other things did she prepare that were considered typical Japanese foods? FUJIMOTO: Well mostly rice and what the Japanese call okazu which has got some meat in it, vegetables, and things chopped up and prepared. That was the mostly stable thing I think. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 9 of 90 �How about fish? Was fish a typical part of your diet? FUJIMOTO: Uh no we had to buy that so we probably had fish once a week. INTERVIEWER: What type of fish would you normally get? FUJIMOTO: Mostly red snapper when they bring 'em in you know. INTERVIEWER: And how would your mother prepare that? FUJIMOTO: She makes sashimi out of it and then she makes some of---Slice it and deep fry it for me because I didn't eat sashimi. INTERVIEWER: Oh no. FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] INTERVIEWER: And did the other---Your other [00:18:02.06] brothers and sisters did like sashimi? FUJIMOTO: Yes, they ate it. INTERVIEWER: You're the only non-sushi man, huh. FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Was it texture or what was the problem for that with you? FUJIMOTO: I don't know I never did get to liking it. I'm sure I tried it but I don't eat it. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What during your childhood, what do you recall of the neighbors? What was the racial makeup of your area? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 10 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: The neighbors? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: Oh we had Germans. We had Russian people. I guess most of them were Germans and Russian people in our area. INTERVIEWER: And how about Japanese. Were there any other Japanese families around you? FUJIMOTO: They were not that close. They were probably anywhere from oh 15 to 20 miles away. We were kind of scattered out. INTERVIEWER: Of your neighbors did you get along? Did you intermingle with them? FUJIMOTO: Um hmm. Sure did. INTERVIEWER: And you mentioned your father spoke Spanish, correct. FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: And how was his English. FUJIMOTO: He spoke English also, yes. INTERVIEWER: And was he pretty fluent? FUJIMOTO: Pretty fluent, yes. INTERVIEWER: And how about your mother? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 11 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: No, she wasn't too much in English but she managed to get along with the rest of the people, all our neighbors. I don't know how she done it but she did. INTERVIEWER: Excuse me. How old if you know, how old was your mother when she came to the United States? FUJIMOTO: I think she was pretty young. I'm not too sure how old she was, but her mother and dad they'd come here so I'm sure she was pretty young. INTERVIEWER: And do you remember your grandparents on your mother's side? FUJIMOTO: Yes [00:20:04.00]. INTERVIEWER: Did they live near you or were they still in Southern California? FUJIMOTO: They lived pretty close to us. Actually my grandmother, that's on my mother's side. Passed away fairly early, but my grandfather he lived until he was 90-something odd years old. And he saw me going off to the Army. And my other brother, second brother just as he got in the service he passed away. So my brother and cousin they got to leave the camp and go to his funeral. So he was in the stateside until 1940-something. INTERVIEWER: And how was your grandfather's English? FUJIMOTO: No, he didn't speak much English, no. INTERVIEWER: Okay. So it sounds kind of rare that your mother didn't speak much English since she was actually Nisei. FUJIMOTO: No, my mother's not a Nisei. She was from Japan but she come young. INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 12 of 90 �But she didn't learn English I guess. Not much anyway cause she picked it up after my folks moved to Houston. When they moved to Houston they lived in the city and all her neighbors were you know Hakujin people. So they got together. They played cards and made meals together and she talked with 'em. I don't know how she done it but she got by. INTERVIEWER: Okay, that close social function of the neighbors and all that. FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: She really picked up the language? FUJIMOTO: I think so. INTERVIEWER: What year did they move to Houston? FUJIMOTO: They got to Houston in 1953. INTERVIEWER: When you were kids what holidays did you celebrate? FUJIMOTO: We celebrated Christmas. We celebrated 4th of July [00:22:02.05]. I guess that's the two holidays only we celebrated a year [00:22:06.04]---Fourth of July and Christmas. INTERVIEWER: And your parents, how about like Boy's Day, Girl's Day, anything Japanese. FUJIMOTO: Well they talked about it but they didn't have too much chance to go because we had to go 50, 60 miles to Denver to go to those functions so they didn't do it. I think my mother taught my sister how to do some of the flower day Hanamatsuri dance and things like that, obon too you know. You know what that is? INTERVIEWER: Can you tell us what is obon? FUJIMOTO: Well obon is celebrating or trying to celebrate the death of I don't know whether it be GI's or just regular people but that's what it is. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 13 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: And is to celebrate their spirits or their memories? FUJIMOTO: Memories or spirit I don't really know. I'm not real familiar with. INTERVIEWER: And what's Hanamatsuri? FUJIMOTO: Flower festival. I don't know what month it is. Do you know Donna? She don't know either. INTERVIEWER: You're saying that your mother taught your sister some of these dances and things. FUJIMOTO: Yes, um hmm. INTERVIEWER: How about crafts, did your parents pass any crafts down to you? FUJIMOTO: My mother had crocheting, I mean she really done a lot of crocheting, but that's about the only craft she done is crocheting. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Can you tell us is there---Your father was obviously pretty busy working these cherry orchards. FUJIMOTO: And farming, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Was there a time that your father would take away from work and as a family you'd go do [00:24:05.14] things to just kind of relax and spend some quality time together? FUJIMOTO: Not unless it was a holiday, 4th of July we all took off and went some place. Christmas we took off and maybe we didn't go anywhere but we you know kind of rested. INTERVIEWER: What's your favorite memory of a day like that that you spent with your family in your childhood? What made it special? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 14 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Well 4th of July probably we'd go to the mountains which is not far from there. We took picnic lunch and just kind of celebrated, that's about it. INTERVIEWER: And would the neighborhood get together and have any fairs or that kind of thing? FUJIMOTO: No we didn't get together with the neighborhood because maybe they had their own, we don't know. INTERVIEWER: During that time what did you do in your spare time to go play and just explore? FUJIMOTO: Boy I didn't get much chance to do any of that of that stuff. I had to work pretty much until I went in the service. INTERVIEWER: How early do you remember having to work that you had to do chores that you had to do that were your responsibilities? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess I was pretty young. I'd say---I probably had to be about 10-years-old where I had to take care of my milk cows and horses. And I guess I get a little bit older when I was harnessing the horses getting ready to go to work with horses. INTERVIEWER: What kind of work would you do with them? FUJIMOTO: With horses? We'd plow in spring or fall. Summer time we'd use them to cultivate with a cultivator. Sometimes we walk behind a single horse [00:26:01.11] with the hand cultivator, cultivate our vegetables. INTERVIEWER: And how difficult was that? Was the ground very hard or would you irrigate beforehand? FUJIMOTO: Nah they were all plowed and worked up before we got to the cultivation so it wasn't too hard. The hardest part was get it plowed and worked down. INTERVIEWER: What was the---Was that work dangerous? Did any of you ever get hurt doing this? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 15 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: No, we didn't get hurt doing that kind of work. INTERVIEWER: Is there any time you remember during your childhood, something special that you and your father did together? FUJIMOTO: Yes. Our landlord, he had a big ranch north of where we used to farm, and he had a bunch of wild horses. And our landlord had two sons that was cowboys. So they brought in the horses, the wild horses, caught the wild horses and brought it to our farm where we were. And so my father and I we broke 'em for work horses. We didn't break 'em for riding horses, but to work, cultivate, and plow and so on and so forth. And to do that the horses were wild and they were pretty strong and husky and they could really go. So we always had a sugar beet wagon and on the sugar beet wagon we had rocks piled on there to put weight on there so it'd be heavy. And then we'd hook horses on to that and let them pull that wagon and we'd tame 'em down by putting weight on there so it wouldn't be too easy to pull. They had to work to pull it. That's what we done with his horses [00:28:01.16]. And after we used 'em for a year the landlord sold 'em for good work horses to somebody else. Then next year he'd bring some more. So that's what we done all winter long. His two boys are cowboys. They could bring the horses in and we'd break 'em. INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you started doing that? FUJIMOTO: I'd say 12 years old when I first started helping my dad. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And how about your mom can you describe a special time that you remember with your mom? FUJIMOTO: No, I can't remember a special time because she had to get up early and wake us up and feed us and get us out to work. INTERVIEWER: What would she make for breakfast for you guys? FUJIMOTO: We always had rice for breakfast and she had fried rice with bacon or ham and some potatoes and onions in there. And I keep thinking about that. I make that myself once in a while. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 16 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: And your mom, you know you're saying she really didn't speak English in those early days. FUJIMOTO: She didn't speak much English, no. INTERVIEWER: And you were pretty isolated, no Japanese in the neighborhood. FUJIMOTO: Um hum. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of what life was for her was it lonely? FUJIMOTO: Well I don't think so because most of us before we went to school we all spoke Japanese. I know I did and when I started school so they say I didn't know how to speak English. But after I learned English I forgot how to speak Japanese. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Your brothers and sisters, what kind of stuff did they get assigned around the cherry orchards and all the farm area? FUJIMOTO: Well my father was gone when we got rid of the cherry orchard. Most of the thing was just regular farming [00:30:10.16] so if they got a little bit older they helped carry the water to water what we call the hot bed. We made a hot bed for our plants, you know cabbage, onion, or whatever to transplant in the spring. And they would help carry the water to my mother or to me. I was the older one so I'd sprinkle that thing and the younger ones would carry little buckets of water for us to sprinkle on because we pumped it in a big horse tank and then carried it out and watered those plants. INTERVIEWER: Now you're bringing up pumping water for the plants and everything. How about bathing? FUJIMOTO: No, we had to bathe in the tub. INTERVIEWER: And describe what kind of tub was this? FUJIMOTO: Oh we just had those big tubs and then after, I don't know how old we got. Then my daddy made a big tub, furo. Do you know what that--This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 17 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Can you describe that for us? FUJIMOTO: Well furo is that tub, probably that hold 50 or 60 gallons of water. And you have a place build up where you put fire underneath there. Then you heat that water up and that's where you take your bath. When you draw the water out of the tub in another pan, you wash yourself before you go into the furo. INTERVIEWER: And what was that made out of? What material was it made out of? FUJIMOTO: It was tin floor and wood sides. INTERVIEWER: And so the purpose of that was that more to relax and--FUJIMOTO: It does, it really relaxes you [00:32:07.01]. INTERVIEWER: And would each person get fresh water or was this the family soaking tub? FUJIMOTO: It wouldn't be a fresh water. It's that one gallon that's why no one could wash in there. You had to draw that water out and do all your washing outside before you get in there to warm up. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And typically was the family by age getting their turn to go in there? FUJIMOTO: No, I don't think so. I think we got in there whatever chance we had to get I think. INTERVIEWER: And how often, was this a daily ritual or was this something that would happen a couple of times a week? FUJIMOTO: No, we had to take a bath every night [Laughs]. In fact a lot of work that we had done we had to take a bath every night or we couldn’t sleep. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 18 of 90 �Now you know these days we take plumbing for granted. FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: That’s just part of everyday living, but how about toilet facilities. What was that like? FUJIMOTO: Outhouses. INTERVIEWER: Can you describe what an outhouse is? At some point along no one is going to remember this. FUJIMOTO: Well outhouse is a hole dug in the wall so deep and you gotta building probably--INTERVIEWER: In the ground. FUJIMOTO: Oh 4 x 6 building and it's built with a seat and it got a hole cut out in there so you could sit on it to do your business, and that's what we call an outhouse. It's an outdoor toilet is what it is. INTERVIEWER: And typically how far away from the main house was this? FUJIMOTO: I'd say it's probably about oh 300 feet away. INTERVIEWER: Down wind? FUJIMOTO: Mostly yeah. Down wind, down hill. INTERVIEWER: As far as your school life, what do you recall---Where did you go to school and [00:34:05.03] how many people were in your class? FUJIMOTO: We went to school in Longmont, Colorado out in the country. And I don't recall how many students we had. I don't think we had too many, but our teacher taught us ABC with some This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 19 of 90 �corn, beans, whatever it is. The way she done is at that time we had a little square desk like this to sit in. And she'd come on all the desk and write "A" like this and she'd say students this is the letter "A", you put the beans along that and make your "A." Then she got the small "a" and you put the beans around there, and that's the way we learned, I learned my ABC's is she wrote it with a chalk on a table/desk, and we had corn or beans or whatever. We lined that up on A, B, and C. INTERVIEWER: Now this seems pretty innovative for that time to do that like it would really stick in your memory. Was the use of these different grains was that part necessity because of the shortage of chalk or just her style of teaching? FUJIMOTO: No, it's probably because it was a necessity thing because if we didn't have that there is nothing else. We could line that up and you know to write ABC because I don't think we knew how to write A or B. INTERVIEWER: Did you guys have a---Did the school supply pencils or paper, writing materials that type of thing? FUJIMOTO: No, I think we had to furnish our own paper and pencil. INTERVIEWER: Okay, and was this a one room school? FUJIMOTO: Yes, one room school. INTERVIEWER: So what do you recall like how many grades? FUJIMOTO: I'm not sure how many grades [00:36:04.26] there were. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Can you describe that school room for us? What did it look like? FUJIMOTO: It was a brick house I remember, but it was awful small. And I don't remember if we had any more than one teacher. Maybe that's all we had. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the teacher's name? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 20 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: No, I sure don't. Not back then. INTERVIEWER: And how about here you are in Colorado, it's gonna get pretty cold at some point here. FUJIMOTO: It does. INTERVIEWER: How about the heating? What kind of---Did they have a pot belly stove or what did they have for heating during those times? FUJIMOTO: That's what it was, pot belly stove and we had a big you know cook stove, and we had coal. That's what we used, coal. And there was two grades of coal. One called Hanna Coal Company and that's where we bought most of our coal. A lot of people bought it from different places, but the Hanna Coal was the coal that was a hard coal that would burn better and I remember that. And that's what my dad used to get is that Hanna Coal. INTERVIEWER: Huh. And what was the other type of coal. You were saying like less dense or something? FUJIMOTO: It's a softer coal. This Hanna Coal for some reason it was harder coal and it burned better. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And the people that used that softer coal was there a specific purpose that it would be used for or was it just a cheaper--FUJIMOTO: Cheaper coal. INTERVIEWER: Okay. How far away was school from your house? FUJIMOTO: A mile-and-a-half. INTERVIEWER: Mile-and-a-half. And how did you get there? FUJIMOTO: Walked [Laughs]. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 21 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: How about during winter? FUJIMOTO: We walked in the winter too. I don't know how we done it, but we walked through that snow in the winter time. INTERVIEWER: So that made for a good story when you raised your own children, your daughter right? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. I never tell her that but [00:38:01.27] [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: Okay, did you have the opportunity; with kids there did you have any organized sports? FUJIMOTO: About sixth or seventh grade I think we start playing a little bit of baseball, some football, which I didn't have time to do that because I had to work most of the time. So in sports I didn't get to participate in sports, basketball, or anything. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You know you were mentioning these Japanese families were about 50, 60 miles away. When would you or do you recall getting together with these different families? FUJIMOTO: I don't know that I told you they were 50 or 60 miles away. I think they were about five, 10 miles apart. INTERVIEWER: Oh I'm sorry. FUJIMOTO: And occasionally we'd get together. A lot of the weddings we was always together. And I know they used to have some Japanese school, but I didn't get a chance to go to Japanese school. So that's why I don't know. INTERVIEWER: What was that like for you to get together with other Japanese kids or did it feel any different to you? FUJIMOTO: No. Just same cause we talked English and so. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 22 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: When you were younger the fact that you were racially different than your neighbors, was that a factor for you or how did you think about that? FUJIMOTO: No, it didn't bother me at all because our neighbor, there was one neighbor there just cross the irrigation canal [00:40:01.23]. I don't know whether I should tell this or not but anyhow there was girls in that family. I think they were from Russia, but we used to go in that water, we'd play and get together and down below there were some people there. We would all play together. We had no problem. INTERVIEWER: So is this like the common swimming hole? FUJIMOTO: Yeah, real common. INTERVIEWER: [Laughs] Okay. FUJIMOTO: I think about that every once in a while [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: With those neighbors no one ever made a point of your race being different or? FUJIMOTO: No. We had a man by the name of Greenwald. Dad and Greenwald they got along together. I think he was older than my dad. So this happened just before the war, and he used to call dad Tom because that was his American name. He says, "Tom, I got this 160 acres of land. I want to sell it to you." My dad said, "I don't have no money. I can't buy it." He said, "Don't worry about the money. I'm going to give you 40 years to pay for it. Give me so much down and do it." That's two different improvements. Every 80 acres had improvement on there, but they would sell their house and everything. But I wasn't old enough to even trying to buy or do anything about it. I think as time goes on I wished I was old enough because that property would be some pretty good property there. And he'd give us a chance to buy it real cheap which not very many people give you that opportunity. INTERVIEWER: So your dad opted not to buy it at that time? FUJIMOTO: Yeah [00:42:01.04] because he said he didn't have no money, but if I was older I think we could have done it. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 23 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Yeah. When you---Actually who were your closest friends outside of the family? FUJIMOTO: Such as--INTERVIEWER: Like your childhood friends. Who are your closest friends? Do you remember if you could give us any names? FUJIMOTO: Well, yes I guess there is one fellow when he started in grade school there in Ault, Colorado. A boy by the name of Ward. We was pretty good friends. We got along real good, but that was during for the time I got to go to school. So that was just a short while but his name was Ward. That's all I can remember. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And during that time in your childhood was there a particular girl that you thought was really pretty that you liked there? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: What was her name? FUJIMOTO: Rita I think. INTERVIEWER: What made her so attractive to you? FUJIMOTO: I don't know I just thought she was pretty, that's all. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You said you made mention of the fact that while you were able to be in school. What changed your situation that you had to leave school and what grade were you in? FUJIMOTO: When I quit school or didn't go to school anymore I was in ninth grade. I just started ninth grade. But that's when my dad got hurt so that's when I had to quit school and you know work on the farm. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 24 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: What happened to him? FUJIMOTO: Oh he was kicked by a horse when we was training a horse [00:44:01.24]. And he got his back hurt, and he just couldn't work anymore. INTERVIEWER: Now as a result of that injury was he paralyzed in any way? FUJIMOTO: No he wasn't completely paralyzed. You know people with bad back there was a lot of things he can't do. He can't pick up anything and gets real weak at times. And I realize that now because of my back. And thing is if I hold on the side you know I can hold things pretty good, but I cannot hold anything like this very long. I don't know why that is but I can hold things on the side. But that's what my dad's problem was. And he was bent over more than I was from the injury. INTERVIEWER: How old were you at that time, do you recall? FUJIMOTO: What? INTERVIEWER: How old were you at the time he injured his back? FUJIMOTO: Mine or him? INTERVIEWER: No, when he injured his back. FUJIMOTO: Well I was just starting freshman year so it took me about four years to get there, so I guess I must have been pretty old up in age quite a bit I think. That's why it was easy for my dad to say well you have to go to work and take care of the farm because he felt that I was old enough. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Now your school life, did you enjoy school? FUJIMOTO: No, I didn't [Laughs]. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 25 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: What made school a difficult thing or something that wasn't enjoyable to you? FUJIMOTO: I couldn't keep up with the class and when you can't keep up with the class it's not enjoyable any more. It took me at least two years maybe longer to make one grade. So I said this is no good [00:46:03.10]. INTERVIEWER: And why were you not able to keep up with the class? Were there duties with the farm that kept you out of school? FUJIMOTO: Yes, I stayed out of school about oh half the year. You can't go to school half a year and pick it up or catch up. And that's what I found out. So when my dad told me that I was real happy about it, but you know as time goes on that education I wish I'd just had a little bit more. It's too late, but that's why I encourage education with him [Pointing to someone]. INTERVIEWER: Now when you were in school what was your favorite subject? FUJIMOTO: I guess reading nothing. Writing I guess, spelling. INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. Okay. Is there anything of that period prior to the war that really stands out in your memory that you want to talk about? FUJIMOTO: Not really. Maybe a little competition between us and our neighbor there. Of course the neighbor boys they were all big fellas and I always competed with them. Like in the following year hauling sugar beets we pitch them things on to the truck and haul it to the dump. I couldn't hardly do more than they do, but I fairly kept up with them cause they was big and husky. And they can shovel them shovel beets up there in the truck a lot easier than I can. But I kind of enjoyed that. I thought that was a pretty good competition to see if you could beat 'em. We couldn't beat 'em but. INTERVIEWER: And would you work the same fields with them [00:48:04.08]? FUJIMOTO: No. They had their own field and we had our own. I mean they were harvesting their beets, and we were harvesting our beets. But we was always running in competition because we were across the fence from each other and there was some more across the This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 26 of 90 �fence over there. Then we'd go run up and down the middle of the trucks or wagon or whatever it is the haul the beets to the dump. INTERVIEWER: You know I've only ever seen beets that were in a can or all cut up. Can you describe and kind of show us how big is a beet and what does it look like? Is it a root or what? FUJIMOTO: It's a beet but the beet you're talkin' about in a can and the beet that I was talking about hauling like this, this is what we call a sugar beets. Sugar beets are white and they get about that big around and probably about that long [Can't see of the screen]. We chop the roots off and haul 'em to our dump or to the factory and they make sugar out of that. Okay now the beets that you're talkin' about is a red beet, and they get about this big around about like that and it’s cooked. They peel the peelings off and can the inside of 'em. So that's the difference in the beet. The sugar beet and our red beets what we call canning beets. INTERVIEWER: And the beet itself like the sugar beets that you grew did they grow under the ground? FUJIMOTO: In the ground, yes. They go down in the ground about a foot deep, foot-and-a-half deep. And we have to take what they call a plow or a beet puller and raise 'em up, and then we stack 'em up in a pile or row and we go over there and we cut the tops off because they don't want the tops [00:50:01.11]. They just want the beets, so then we haul the beets to the sugar factory. And then they make sugar. INTERVIEWER: As far as for your family, you said things that you might run out of are salt and sugar. Did you just get paid in cash or did you do a trade for---[Phone rings] We were talking about the beets and the shortage of sugar and salt. When you turn these beets into the place that would make ‘em into sugar did you just get paid cash or did you do an exchange? FUJIMOTO: No that's cash. In other words when we take the beets in after getting them all hauled in, they would have all the weights that we have in there and the sugar beets they would make us a check for that---For the beets. INTERVIEWER: Okay. So you'd go to the store and just buy your sugar. FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 27 of 90 �Now today we went to the grocery store to get things. What kind of store did you go to for your supplies? FUJIMOTO: It's kind of like these here grocery store only it’s a lot smaller. They had everything in there, bread, sugar, jelly, candy, cigarettes, whatever, meat. INTERVIEWER: So this was I guess the term typical at that time was the general store? FUJIMOTO: General store, yes. Grocery store. INTERVIEWER: How far was that from your home? FUJIMOTO: Oh probably about four or five miles we had to go. INTERVIEWER: And refrigeration, what type of refrigeration did they have at that time? FUJIMOTO: Icebox. Do you know what an icebox is? INTERVIEWER: Yeah, can you describe it for us and did you have one at your home as well? FUJIMOTO: Yes. It's just a container, insulated container that you could put a block of ice on top, [00:52:05.08] and then you put your meat and whatever you want to keep fresh in the bottom. But if we want refrigerated meat and things we had to go to town. In fact we always rent a locker in town because they had storage. So we as a farmer we butcher our own meat, chicken and so forth. Then we put it in the storage so when we need meat we go get it. INTERVIEWER: So your freezer was about five or six miles away? FUJIMOTO: Yes. The only thing we had was an icebox which was a temporary thing that we keep there for two or three days like meat and things like that you can't keep it in there because some of it we kept it for quite a while. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 28 of 90 �Sure. And to replenish the ice did somebody come around to the different farmers? FUJIMOTO: No, we went to town to get it. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And the transportation you used, did you have a car or did you use a wagon? FUJIMOTO: No we had a truck. INTERVIEWER: What kind of vehicle was that, do you remember? FUJIMOTO: Well we had a Dodge truck. We had a Dodge car. Of course we had wagons but we didn't have to use wagons to go grocery shopping. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. And the Dodge truck you had was it a pickup truck or an enclosed like a van? FUJIMOTO: No, it's a regular large truck, bigger than a pick up. It had a wooden box on there where the sides come down in order to we could dump off our produce. INTERVIEWER: Was it one of those flat beds that you had the walls you could--FUJIMOTO: Sides, yes. INTERVIEWER: You could put in and out. FUJIMOTO: You would call it a flat bed, but it was not. It was a bed that the manufacturer [00:54:01.18] or like I guess not carpenters. But anyway they made what we call a beet bed, and it's made on a hinge so you could just take it down and slide the side down so we could take our produce off. INTERVIEWER: Okay. The---Your school when you said that you were out and working. How about your brothers and sisters did any of them have to leave school? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 29 of 90 �They got to go. Okay, go back a little ways. I was the oldest one in the family; therefore I was not able to finish out school because I had to go to work. But my second brother Harley since I had to do all of this he was able to go to school. So he finished school. But my sister needed to help my mother so she was one of those girls that couldn't finish school either. And then--INTERVIEWER: Which sister was this? FUJIMOTO: She was the third girl. I had me and my brother and then my sister. INTERVIEWER: So Miyo? FUJIMOTO: Miyo, yeah. And then in the Korean War my brother Roy, he lives in Houston. Now he was in the same situation I was. He was the oldest of the two that was left. So he had to help on the far a lot too. He didn't get to go to school all the way. I don't know how far he went. But then my other brother, younger brother Willie since my other brother Roy was doing a lot of the work, he got to go to school. So there is every other one of us in that that didn't get to go to school because of this situation. Somebody had to help the parents. INTERVIEWER: Yeah [00:56:00.29]. FUJIMOTO: Do the work [00:56:04.07]. INTERVIEWER: Um [00:56:07.18]. BEGINNING OF VIDEO TWO 669-Fujimoto-George-2 INTERVIEWER: [Okay, let him call his daughter and see.] I want to bring us up to the war time, just prior to the war. What do you recall if anything of articles in the newspaper or people talking about what was going on in Europe and Japan if that was ever discussed? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 30 of 90 �Before I went in I don't think I really heard too much because we was out in the country a lot. And you don't see a lot of people there that really talk about it. So there was not very much talk about for or against. Us being discriminated at the time. So I can't really say. INTERVIEWER: How about at the general store was that sort of a meeting place where people to kind of talk about things going on in the neighborhood or anything? FUJIMOTO: It might have been, but you know we didn't hang around 'em. So if you don't hang around you don't hear anything. INTERVIEWER: Sure. Sure. And as far as communicating with your neighbors did you have a phone at home? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Describe for us what did that phone look like? FUJIMOTO: Well the phone we had was an old timey cranky phone, you know crank and you crank. You seen one of those? And then you call the number and that's the only thing I can remember, it's an old phone. INTERVIEWER: And what was the speaker like and the ear piece? What did those look like? FUJIMOTO: Oh it has a hand piece that kind of come out like that and you hold it, and your speaker was on the thing. The ear piece is on the [00:02:00.28] cable you held it here [Holding his hand to his left ear.] and stay close to the mic part which is on the box itself. You just have really stand there. You can't walk around like you do with these phones. You have to stand right there at the wall. INTERVIEWER: When you called did you call directly to a neighbor or would it go through a switchboard? FUJIMOTO: No, I forgot. I don't know whether we got a direct line to them or whether we had to go through an operator. I really forgot. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 31 of 90 �Okay. And along the lines of communication also I want to go a little bit actually, mail, would you get mail sent out to you or did you go pick it up? FUJIMOTO: No, we had a rural route mailbox at the farm. That's what they call a rural route. And people---Postman delivered it so we got ours in the box. INTERVIEWER: Oh okay, and the postman is this somebody you would see and recognize? FUJIMOTO: No, cause he comes when we're not around there he gets there and he's gone. So it's not like it is in the city today you know. You can see the postman because he's going to deliver right to your house. And most of the time somebody's at the house to see him, but our mailbox is away from the house. We're always working so we don't get a chance to see that postman. INTERVIEWER: Okay. I'm gonna go back to that pre-war period. You're saying that you don't really recall people talking about the war one way or the other. Where were you when you actually heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor and what if anything did that even mean to you? FUJIMOTO: I guess we probably [00:04:04.18] heard part of it on the radio we had. That Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor you know and we were havin' the war. My dad says, "Oh man." I remember him saying that. "We got war on." I forgot what he said. We have to watch out or something. I don't really remember. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of your parents talking about this war being on and how it might affect the family? FUJIMOTO: You know I don't think my parents talked too much about it. He said that's a bad thing that happened and that's all I remember happened ever being said. Some other folk might something different, but my folks didn't say that. They said that's sure a bad thing. That's what they kept saying. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. What do you recall of how your neighbors responded to you now being Japanese, if anything changed at all? FUJIMOTO: No. We got along pretty good and actually during the time that I was at home why the people around us, they didn't bother us. So what happened after that I don't know. A lot of This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 32 of 90 �things----You know a lot of the discrimination thing actually started quite a bit after the war. Right at the time the war started I guess it was too much a shock so people probably didn't think too much about it. Cause our neighbors, they didn't say anything, you know. They talked with it and got along alright. INTERVIEWER: When [00:06:01.22]---After that initial period where people you know were kind of in the state of shock and kind of absorbing what had taken place and then started to realize that okay this is the country we're at war with Japan. These people there are Japanese people in our neighborhood. When that started to take effect how did it manifest itself? Were there curfews or were people watching you in any way? Did any police agencies or government agencies check on you? FUJIMOTO: Not that I know of. I know we had I don't know whether they call curfew or not. But folks were limited to go no more than 50 miles from home. And if they wanted to do something, business 50 miles away from home they had to call the courthouse and get permission from somebody to make some kind of statement so they could go out. And I remember this is already in '53 when I was hurt and my parents had to get permission. Of course they went through Red Cross and that's how they got their permission to come to Georgia to see me. But they couldn't have come by a we're gonna go see George. They had to get a permit to come on out. INTERVIEWER: Now was this 1943 or--FUJIMOTO: '43. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And the other than the fact that they came to see you, how often would your parents ever even travel beyond 50 miles? FUJIMOTO: I don't think they done any travelling. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: At that time. INTERVIEWER: You know I just want to step back [00:08:00.28] a minute. Did your parents ever go back to Japan? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 33 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Yes, my dad went to Japan. But that's what Donna and I was talkin' about. When he went back there. And we can't really figure out when he went back. But my mother never did go back. She never did wanna go back. Of course she come to the United States with her parents, you know, so she probably didn't really have nothin' to go see or anything. But dad, I think he went back in 1971 or '72, I'm not real sure. INTERVIEWER: Okay, so never in your childhood? FUJIMOTO: No. INTERVIEWER: Okay. With the war starting you're saying the one restriction you were aware of was this 50 mile travel limit? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: And were there any other signs of people acting differently toward your family prior to your going into the Army? FUJIMOTO: No sir, I don't remember. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of any stories? What was happening on the West Coast to Japanese Americans? FUJIMOTO: Well that's---I think I was away from home then. But I know my dad, just before I went in the service we rented another farm. So he had two farms there. It was close together, but two different landlords. So when this thing happened some people from California that was evacuated was going to come to Colorado. And I'm not really sure because they were not our relatives as far as I know. But my dad let them have one section of that land he had rented, he already had it planted [00:10:06.16] and everything so he let them have his cultivator horses to take care of that crop. That's about all I know. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. So your contact as far as directly, families being affected by the war was this family that came to work your land? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 34 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Well I was gone then to so my dad just let them have it. He said you could have it. You could get the profit and everything out of it. So dad let them have it. I knew that's what he done, but I was not at home. INTERVIEWER: Okay. How is it that you got into the military? FUJIMOTO: I guess at that time there was all draft so we had our name in the pot there, and I was taken in. INTERVIEWER: When did you go in? FUJIMOTO: '42, gosh I don't know when in '42. INTERVIEWER: I've got a date here that says March. FUJIMOTO: March. Probably that's right. INTERVIEWER: And your own thoughts on Japan going to war with America. How did you personally feel about that, and you know the fact that now America is actually in a war. FUJIMOTO: Well we were all Americans so that's the only thing we thought about it is something gonna happen or we gotta go to war. My folks thought that too. INTERVIEWER: How about any discussion between you and your brothers? FUJIMOTO: We didn't have any discussion between our brothers. In fact the way it was, I was the oldest one and so we left [00:12:01.07] our house one by one as time come on. So I don't think anybody talked to anything much about the war or anything at our house. INTERVIEWER: How much older were you than Harley? FUJIMOTO: Two years. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 35 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. And prior to your being drafted were you still at the farm or had you left home? FUJIMOTO: No, I was farming. I mean I was doing the farm. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. So when you got drafted did your father say anything to you when you were leaving or did your parents say anything to you? FUJIMOTO: No, they just told me good luck. Shook hands and here we go. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And when you first went in where did you report? FUJIMOTO: I reported Fort Logan in Denver, Colorado. INTERVIEWER: And that was just your reporting station? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: That was our---I don't know that's where they took us in first and then they sent us to different places from Fort Logan. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And how long were you at Fort Logan? FUJIMOTO: There probably three or four weeks maybe. INTERVIEWER: So you're pretty tall for Japanese Americans of that time period. Any problem with uniform size or--FUJIMOTO: No, I didn't have any problems. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 36 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: And where you reported did you notice any other Japanese American soldiers there or was it just a mix of guys? FUJIMOTO: No, from that Weld County, I was in from Weld County and there was several Japanese boys drafted at that time. And out of that whole bunch I think myself and Willy Kiyota, and one more boy was in the 4-4-2 [00:14:02.04]. And the others you know went to other places like in the military that intelligence school, you know as interpreter. And they got separated and they went different places. INTERVIEWER: And Willy Kiyota did he join you at the 4-4-2 eventually? FUJIMOTO: We was drafted together. INTERVIEWER: Okay. But after you left the fort there in Colorado, where did you go to next? FUJIMOTO: Camp Robinson, Willy, we all went to Camp Robinson and took our basic training there. After basic training that's when we went to Fort Riley, Kansas. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And while you were in Robinson how long was basic training. FUJIMOTO: I don't think it was too long. I'm not sure how long we took basic training. But I don't really think it was very long. INTERVIEWER: What was the hardest part of basic training for you? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess the worst part of basic training is maneuvering through the Arkansas River. INTERVIEWER: What was that like can you describe it for us. FUJIMOTO: Oh man that was the pits because it wasn't so much water and all, rattle snakes in there. And water moccasin’s, oh I was afraid of those. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 37 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: What's a water moccasin? FUJIMOTO: It's a snake. They got what they call a cotton mouth, and they got the other one that's kind of smooth skin. But the cotton mouth was smaller but that was the real poisonous one. And of course the only thing that probably saved a lot of us is we have leggings. INTERVIEWER: And were these snakes typically in water or on land? FUJIMOTO: In water. Yeah they call it cotton mouth [00:16:00.27]. INTERVIEWER: And your maneuvers there were you in the water a lot? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: What did the maneuvers in the water consist of? FUJIMOTO: Oh nothing [Inaudible] except going across the water where they think that well we might go overseas and you know hit the water, river, we gotta cross the river and that's about what I think happened. What the training was. INTERVIEWER: When they're training you for river crossings, what kind of stuff did they teach you to look out for and to make sure you're using the right path to get across and things like that? FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] I don't remember that. All I done we knew that we just had to go across those river things. INTERVIEWER: And you said you had leggings that helped protect you from these snakes. What did the leggings consist of? FUJIMOTO: The leggings is a thick canvas you use to cover up your calves up to here. That's pretty thick canvas. So I don't think those cotton mouth could have penetrated that. In fact I haven't heard of anybody getting that. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 38 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: And those leggings were those only special use or was that part of the regular issue? FUJIMOTO: Part of the issue we had to wear. INTERVIEWER: Did that kind of give you guys the World War I doughboy look? The uniform at that time? FUJIMOTO: I guess maybe so. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What was during that time while you were at Robinson you had mentioned an incident that you didn't take too kindly to. And it was when President Roosevelt visited. FUJIMOTO: No. That was after Robinson. INTERVIEWER: Okay, I'm sorry. FUJIMOTO: That was when we left basic training. We got through with basic training so they shipped us out to Fort Riley, Kansas [00:18:00.27]. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: Fort Riley, Kansas, all the Nisei boys were detail boys. I mean every one of us, we had to do KP, help cook, feed the officers, clean the officers' quarters, and some of them that was swimmers they had to wash the swimming pool, clean the swimming pool. All kind of detail job like that. And then when Roosevelt made his rounds at that camp, the fort, that's when we was in the barracks. INTERVIEWER: Can you describe what happened? FUJIMOTO: Nothin' happened. We had to stay in there and not do nothin' [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: So they restricted you to your barracks? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 39 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: That's where we had to stay. INTERVIEWER: And what if anything did they do to enforce you actually had to stay in the barracks? FUJIMOTO: I don't think they had to enforce anything. They just had guards around. That was enforcement enough I think. INTERVIEWER: And what did they tell you as to why you had to be restricted to barracks? FUJIMOTO: I don't remember whether they actually told us anything or not. But they told us President Roosevelt was coming to town or coming to this camp, and so that's where they put us in the barracks. That's the only thing I know. INTERVIEWER: How did you feel about that? FUJIMOTO: It didn't feel too good, but you can't do anything about it. INTERVIEWER: Prior to that was there anything through your military service up to that point that made you feel like you were singled out because of race? FUJIMOTO: No. That's the only time really to me. You know I don't know how somebody else felt. INTERVIEWER: Now you said that you're in the service doing all this detail work [00:20:05.28]. Did you feel that it was just the Nisei guys that were doing that? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Or were other guys doing that? FUJIMOTO: They were. All the Nisei boys that were there and we were the only ones that were there that had to do all that stuff. We had to feed the officers and wait on the officers in the kitchen, in their house, and clean the house, and do the lawn work and that kind of stuff. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 40 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Were you resentful of that? FUJIMOTO: Yes. But we had no choice, that's where they put us. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. At that time did you meet any Nisei's from Hawaii? FUJIMOTO: No all the Nisei's we met was after we volunteered to go to Camp Shelby. INTERVIEWER: So all the guys you were with there at Riley were all mainland guys? FUJIMOTO: Right. INTERVIEWER: And what areas were those mainland guys from? FUJIMOTO: From all over, California, Oregon, Utah, wherever. INTERVIEWER: What was it like for you to meet so many other Nisei's? FUJIMOTO: Well I don't know just same ole, same ole I guess. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Did you get exposed to any more of Japanese culture or foods while you were there because of little care packages from families? FUJIMOTO: No. The care package from family all I got is cheese and crackers [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: How about the other guys? FUJIMOTO: I don't know what they got. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 41 of 90 �You guys weren't sharing at that point? FUJIMOTO: No. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You were---You did your basic over at Robinson and typically basic training was probably about two or three months. FUJIMOTO: I'm gonna say maybe even not that long. I'm not sure how long we stayed there. INTERVIEWER: Okay [00:22:00.26]. How long were you at Riley? FUJIMOTO: I think we was there about two months also. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You had mentioned also something about the difference between the young lieutenants and captains at Riley. How was that different in the way they treated you? FUJIMOTO: Well I think the older officers they probably had a little more respect for us than the younger ones. In fact I say the younger ones, probably not because the officers their self, but the lady folk. That's the one that kind of irritated me. The second lieutenant's wives. Now the captain's wives, so on and so forth, they were older and they had more sense. And I think that's why to me they were better. The second lieutenant's wife they were, I don't know what to say. INTERVIEWER: Try to say something here. How as it they were different or less respectful or more demanding? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess the reason I say they were not respectable is the military officers, captain and up, their wives and things kind of kept their clothes and things pretty neat. They didn't have their dirty clothes strung all over the floor. The second lieutenant's wives that's the way they were, a bunch of trash to me I thought. And boy I hated that. INTERVIEWER: So they just sort of take advantage of the fact they knew someone was going to come by and clean up after them. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 42 of 90 �Yeah, clean it up for 'em. And we had to take turns doing this and if I had to do that I had to do that for three weeks or four weeks. Whatever time it was. And then we get to go home on a furlough. When we go home on a furlough we don't go back there. Somebody else took our place so we just don't go back there no more [00:24:05.23]. That's how it was. That's how we got away from them. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: We can't say we're not going to do it no more here. You gotta do it till your time is up or whenever it's up. When you get somebody to replace you when you're going on a furlough then that's too bad because we're not going back there. INTERVIEWER: And typically how old were these second lieutenant's and their wives? FUJIMOTO: I'd say they weren't probably much older than we were. We were 21, 22 years old. The second lieuy is about that old. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: They just went to the GI school and become second lieuy and they got married and their wives. INTERVIEWER: And at that time the second lieutenants were they---We heard a term that became popular during the war, 90 day wonders. FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Were they--FUJIMOTO: That's what they were. INTERVIEWER: So they had an abbreviated officer's training school? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 43 of 90 �Yeah, they just got through the officer's school. Some of them just got their bar and someone gets stationed there, and then they get their quarter so then we have to take care of their room. INTERVIEWER: Specifically did a lot of these second lieutenants that you dealt with were not graduates from West Point or something? FUJIMOTO: Nah. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: That's why I say second lieuys. INTERVIEWER: Okay. You mentioned something about getting a furlough. Where did you go when you got your furlough? FUJIMOTO: Back home to Colorado. INTERVIEWER: And how long did you get? FUJIMOTO: Well, that took a day's bus ride and we got four days, so that gives us I guess six days furlough time. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. And during that time when you went home how did your absence now [00:26:03.29] affect your dad and the work environment there? FUJIMOTO: You mean during the time I was in the service? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Who took over for you? FUJIMOTO: Well after---By the time I left why I guess Harley was probably out of school so he helped then. So he was finished with school when he got drafted. But he was old enough that you This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 44 of 90 �know he helped dad a little bit. And I guess kind of dad took it a little slower so he didn't farm as much as he used to. I think that's what happened. INTERVIEWER: You said Harley finished school. Did he go to college or did he--FUJIMOTO: No. INTERVIEWER: Just high school? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: How about leaves---How about leaves when you had time off either in the evening or on weekend pass. Where did you go? FUJIMOTO: In the Army? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: There at camp and we played cards and things like that. INTERVIEWER: Was there a town for you to go socialize in or--FUJIMOTO: Yes, Fort Riley there is a town called Junction. We used to go there once in a while. INTERVIEWER: How is that different from what you knew before you got into the Army? FUJIMOTO: Going in town? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 45 of 90 �Well it was pretty good. I enjoyed it going into town. In fact I was lucky I met some girls there you know, and got to shoot the bull with 'em, and had a good time with 'em and so forth. INTERVIEWER: And how did you spend your time was it at a bar, would you guys dance or--FUJIMOTO: No, I didn't do any bar drinking and I didn't do no dancing so we [00:28:04.15] INTERVIEWER: How would you socialize? FUJIMOTO: Just talked and held hands I guess [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: Did you bowl at that time? FUJIMOTO: No, I didn't bowl until after I got hurt. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Let's stop here then--FUJIMOTO: I was saying we was invited to---INTERVIEWER: Hold on one moment because we're gonna turn on. FUJIMOTO: Oh, you're on okay. INTERVIEWER: I was asking you about dancing. You mentioned you really didn't dance before, but tell us about the time that you did almost experience that. FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] Well we had an invitation from the girls from Rowher, Arkansas. I don't know whether you call it a USO, but anyway there was a bunch of girls there holding a dance for us GI's in Shelby. So we paid our dues to go to that dance. But anyway in the supply company this one guy he didn't have the paid dues you know, so of course he was a sergeant. He says well George I'm gonna go, you're gonna stay here. Oh man, okay. So I had to stay and run the supply while he went, and he didn't have his money paid but he got This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 46 of 90 �to go. I said well okay so forget it. After that I never did learn to dance, which I think I could have learned at that time if I went. INTERVIEWER: And the dance that they held at Shelby did you go there? FUJIMOTO: No they held it at Rowher, Arkansas. INTERVIEWER: There was a time I don't remember if this was before the dances at the camps, but there was a time that a bunch of girls from Jerome, Arkansas came to Camp Shelby for a dance. FUJIMOTO: Well I don't remember that. The only one I remember is going over there, and I didn't get to go. INTERVIEWER: Oh, I'm sorry to let you know you missed out on another dance [00:30:01.16] closer to home [Laughs]. FUJIMOTO: That's alright. I missed one so it don't make any difference. INTERVIEWER: Okay. How about---We had talked before you said you had a radio at home, and what kind of things did you turn the radio on for? Did you listen just to news or did you listen to any of those radio plays or music? FUJIMOTO: Music. I'm trying to think what we used to listen to. It was all music. I forgot what they call that. INTERVIEWER: Was it big band music you would listen to? FUJIMOTO: Well yeah some of those but---It was all music. All the music, “Hit Parade.” INTERVIEWER: Okay. Who was the host of that? What was the typical show like? FUJIMOTO: Ew man I don't know. We just listened to it and that was it. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 47 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. The "Hit Parade" did they do any kind of---Did they have any comedians or skits or was it strictly just--FUJIMOTO: No, strictly music and that "Hit Parade" carried through to quite a ways during World War II I think it did. INTERVIEWER: What made that one so popular for you? FUJIMOTO: I don't know, I guess I just liked that music. INTERVIEWER: What groups or performers did you really like? FUJIMOTO: I kind of liked to listen to country, yeah, and some of those old songs are pretty nice but these new ones I don't get it. INTERVIEWER: [Laughs] Not into hip hop, huh? Okay. Is there a particular singer that you liked? FUJIMOTO: Yeah, those baritones like Ernest Tubb [00:32:04.10], you know Ernie Tubb? INTERVIEWER: I've heard of him. I'm not familiar with a song of his. FUJIMOTO: And oh I can't remember a lot of the names any more. And we used to listen to a lot of Lawrence Welks. INTERVIEWER: When you left Riley, where did you go to from there? FUJIMOTO: Camp Shelby, Mississippi. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And prior to your going to Camp Shelby what unit were you actually with? Who were you assigned to? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 48 of 90 �I don't think we had any kind of a special unit. I don't know what they even called it. INTERVIEWER: Okay. When you were at Fort Riley, what had you already heard about formation of a segregated Japanese American unit? FUJIMOTO: Well at that time that's when I heard most of it that they were all segregated and put into camps and so forth. And I used to hear a lot of my buddies say well his parents are in there and this and that. But since my parents was in Colorado, and they didn't have to evacuate. I didn't keep closer contact unless I had a real good buddy that had family that went in there. So that's the only contact I had it’s just a few friends that was in Fort Riley that their parents were over there. INTERVIEWER: What did your friends that had families in these camps, the internment camps---What discussions did you have with them about the treatment or what it was like and--FUJIMOTO: Well I guess really I couldn't have had [00:34:02.13] too much session with them. I knew it was a bad deal but since I was not involved in that, you know my folks and all. We don't have too much to talk about like if my folks was in there and his folks was in there. Well we come from here and there and we got to put in this camp, and this camp and so forth, but I didn't have that contact cause I didn't know. INTERVIEWER: Do you ever remember discussing with them the fact that their family were behind barbed wire and some of these guys were either drafted or volunteered? FUJIMOTO: No. INTERVIEWER: Alright. Prior to going to Shelby, what do you remember of hearing about the 100th Battalion? FUJIMOTO: Well we knew the 100th Battalion because we heard of them. I think they were in Wisconsin, I think or somewhere up that way. INTERVIEWER: Up in McCoy? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. And somebody said we're gonna join up with ‘em. So that's all I know. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 49 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: What did you think of the idea that the Army was putting together a segregated Japanese American unit? FUJIMOTO: Well I thought that was pretty neat, but at least we thought well at least we're gonna get a chance to do somethin' but---I guess it turned out okay. INTERVIEWER: So when you got there, you're going to Mississippi this is the heart of the South. What was different for you? How was that a different experience from what you'd known prior to that? FUJIMOTO: Well nothing would have been really different. It was just that we were down South [00:36:01.04], and we thought it was South. We didn't know it was North and South really, except to go down there. INTERVIEWER: How large was Camp Shelby versus the other post that you were at? FUJIMOTO: I don't really know, you know we didn't go all the way around it so I don't know how big it was. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: But there was a lot of GI's in there. INTERVIEWER: How about the units other than the 442nd? What other units did you see there? What races were there? FUJIMOTO: I didn't see any. I don't know why I didn't see any. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And as far as your---You know you were talking about socializing going to town before. What was the difference in going to town, Hattiesburg was the nearest town there. Did you go to Hattiesburg? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 50 of 90 �Um hmm. INTERVIEWER: What was that like for you and how was that experience? FUJIMOTO: It was pretty good. The only thing that a bunch of us GI's were discriminated by going out with a White girl in Hattiesburg. And what I heard the policeman was raising holy Cain about that so our commanding officer wrote them a letter that this cannot happen. Keep going. So it stopped at that point is what I heard, but I'm not sure. I know I used to go with some White girls there see. INTERVIEWER: Now when you said this cannot happen was he talking to the policeman about harassing? FUJIMOTO: Policeman. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: And the word that I got is that he was going to turn some of the regiment loose toward the policeman if that kept going. But whether that really happened, that's what he said [00:38:01.04]. I'm not sure. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: I can't be positive about that, but it could have been. INTERVIEWER: In the South being that you know we think of especially at that time, very racially charged, a lot of discrimination. How were you viewed racially? You know, what was your designation in that society? Were you considered like Blacks or--FUJIMOTO: I don't think myself I don't think we had that problem. I mean that's how I feel because when I was going to town I could see the people there and I’d talked to 'em. And we went to this Army Navy Store. His name was French I think, but he had an Army Navy Store and he really treated all the Japanese people real nice over there. And after the war ended I heard that he moved to Hawaii and put up another Army Navy Store to get a lot of the Japanese people that was in the service give some service there. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 51 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Was that Earl Finch? FUJIMOTO: Finch, yes. INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to his house? FUJIMOTO: No, I just been going to his store. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: You mean that was in his house in Mississippi? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: No, I never have. INTERVIEWER: Okay. How about the Blacks there in Hattiesburg? How were they treated? How were they different than you guys? FUJIMOTO: Well you know that's funny that I say this, but I never run across very many Black people over there. I don't know why. And even when I went to town well we got dates with these girls and so forth, but I [00:40:04.17] can't recall seeing that many Blacks there. I'm sure there were but I don't remember that. Maybe I just didn't want to think about it. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. What do you recall of that segregation between the Black and the White society there. Do you recall seeing anything about separate facilities or entrances or designated areas where Blacks were to go? FUJIMOTO: I didn't. I saw that before I went there. I saw that in Kansas. I forgot where I was, probably was in Topeka, Kansas. Someplace in Topeka. That's where I really saw segregation because I was in post exchange or in a bar. I didn't drink so it wasn't a bar. It was a soda fountain I think, ice cream. I sat there for the longest time and I tried to catch this waitress’s eye and I never could catch it. And she wouldn't wait on me. [Inaudible] This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 52 of 90 �afterward I guess where she got where she wasn't too busy she come over there to me and said, “You want to get waited on?” I said, "Yes ma'am I do." She says, “Come on you gotta move over.” That's when I first run into real segregation. Until then it never occurred to me about that much segregation. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: Because we didn't have it in Colorado. And went to Kansas and then I run into---After I went down to Arkansas and then back up north. So I guess Kansas is still Dixieland I guess. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. How about an instance that you experienced trying to get a haircut in Kansas? FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] [00:42:02.26] This is after the war, way after the war. INTERVIEWER: Okay, FUJIMOTO: This is in 1970 so that's pretty late. INTERVIEWER: That's really late. FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: What happened there? FUJIMOTO: Well I was working the vegetable in a place called Sabinal, Texas. I thought I needed a haircut so I went in to get a haircut and there are a few people around waiting to get a haircut. So I just sat there and waited, and waited, and waited. And I guess about four or five people got their haircut. And after the fourth guy got their haircut the guy said, “We're closed.” I said, "What do you mean you're closed. I said I been waitin' here all this time and you didn't tell me you're gonna be closed.” He said, “Well we're closed. I'm not cuttin' your hair.” Ah man I could have done somethin' but I said oh heck forget it. So then after a while I talked to the farmer that was over there. He said, “You mean that's what he done to you?” I said, “Yeah he did.” “By God” he says, “He'll find out that I'm not gonna get a haircut anymore.” He was a White man. His name was ??Reams??. And I don't know what the rest This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 53 of 90 �of 'em done but I think maybe I could have done more damage than that. I waited for four guys or five guys to finish getting a haircut. And then he wouldn't cut my hair. INTERVIEWER: When I saw that in the note I thought it was actually around the time of the war. FUJIMOTO: Nah, this is after, way after. See and then of course after I got out I said god darn the young punk, he don't even know what the war was. I don't think he was in the war because he was too young. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: But he wouldn't cut my hair. INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. Okay. FUJIMOTO: So really that's the only real discrimination I had. I think there's a lot of other people had that kind of discrimination where they didn't get their haircut and this and that. INTERVIEWER: Yeah [00:44:02.22]. I wanted to ask you also while you were in Shelby what was that like for you to suddenly experience this huge gathering of all these Nisei boys together? What was the atmosphere like for you? How was it different from what you knew? FUJIMOTO: I don't know. I guess it wasn't too much different. A lot of these things you know I take it for whatever it does. So whatever group I get into, big, small, it doesn't affect me that much. I enjoy what I get to do. INTERVIEWER: The fact that this is a segregated unit of all Nisei's, what was your sense of purpose that you know that was expressed there. What they needed to prove or what they needed to do aside from maybe the Caucasian guys that were in the Army. FUJIMOTO: Well I guess all we had to prove is that we were true Americans, and that’s we were born and raised here. And that's why we're in the United States Army. And nobody could take that away from us. So we felt that whatever we do we deserve to have credit for that. And that's about all as far as I know. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 54 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. Do you remember guys talking about more of those issues and the pressure to succeed. Or the fact that they would push themselves harder to show that they could do what the other guys could do? FUJIMOTO: Well I think most of the people talked about that. We're gonna be strong and do whatever we can. So that was kind of a---Seemed like a common talk. That nothing special it's something that just comes out. INTERVIEWER: Now when you went to---When you first came to Shelby where were you assigned? FUJIMOTO: With that service company [00:46:05.20]. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And what were your duties in the service company? FUJIMOTO: Well we deliver supplies to you know different outfits, A Company, B Company, and so forth. And I took most of the stuff to motor pool. So I had a little contact with motor pool, and I think they sent me to motor pool from service company which was connected to motor pool. And so I went to motor pool for a while and then I come back to service company. And that's when I went to this guard duty. INTERVIEWER: Who are the guys that were in the service company with you? Who were in your direct unit? FUJIMOTO: Hmm, I don't even remember that. INTERVIEWER: How about your friends? Who were your friends there? FUJIMOTO: The one that I really made friends with a guy in the motor pool, he was from Hawaii and I don't know how we got along so good together. I thought I would never forget his name. He was a big fellow and he was a policeman in Hawaii before he come into the Army. Golly I can't think of his name. Hmm. Earl Kubo. He was a policeman in Honolulu before he come. And he was really the only guy that I really got close with. The others we worked and go, worked and go. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 55 of 90 �Yeah [00:48:02.10]. What seemed to be the thing that made you guys hit it off? FUJIMOTO: I don't know we just start talkin' and that was it. And we got talkin' about where we come from and so forth. He told me where he come from and I guess that was the basic start. INTERVIEWER: And did he speak clear English as you knew it or did he speak Pidgin? FUJIMOTO: He got Pidgin language. INTERVIEWER: How is that for you? FUJIMOTO: It wasn't bad. I got to where I talked that way too after a while. INTERVIEWER: Was that something that was easy for you to adopt? Was that something you learned fairly quickly? FUJIMOTO: Oh after a while I did. At first I couldn't but you get that---Just like anything else you use it a while and you get to talkin'. INTERVIEWER: And when you were first trying to understand what he was saying did you have to ask him a lot of questions? FUJIMOTO: Oh, yes. INTERVIEWER: Was he happy to tell you or did he seem a little irritated? FUJIMOTO: So he give me a Hawaiian name. It's supposed to be George I guess. I'll think about it. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What were things that you guys did to socialize in town? What were typical things for you to do in Hattiesburg? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 56 of 90 �Oh we didn't have a whole lot to do if we didn't go out with girls. What else you gonna to do? Go out to that Army store and look around. Probably go get a Coke or somethin'. But after a while I learned to drink beer with him and the Hawaiian guys. We drank beer and had social. INTERVIEWER: Uh huh. What do you remember of any tension between the mainland guys and the Hawaii guys? FUJIMOTO: The mainland guys and who? INTERVIEWER: And the Hawaii guys. FUJIMOTO: We didn't have no tension that I know of. INTERVIEWER: Okay [00:50:10.12]. Do you remember any nicknames given for the Hawaii guys versus the mainland guys. Like was there a term that was used to say these guys are from Hawaii and these guys are from the mainland? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. I think from Hawaii they call them kanakas. INTERVIEWER: The mainland guys were kotonks? FUJIMOTO: And oh they call 'em---They had another name. God. I can't think. That was one of them but there was something else that you call 'em. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: But I forgot what it was. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Now you were in the motor pool. Because you were in the service company and your main duties were to supply all these other units. Did you ever go overseas or did you stay mainland? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 57 of 90 �No, I got hurt so I don't know whether it’s---We haven't got there yet maybe but from there this was after we got through with our basic training now. And evidently the government probably did not trust us to go overseas to fight the war yet. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: So that's when they sent a bunch of us to Alabama and guard German prisoners that they brought back from Afrika. And the work there was to watch those prisoners that was stacking up peanuts to cure before they thrashed 'em out [00:52:09.22]. And that's when I got hurt coming back from the duty and I never did get to go overseas. INTERVIEWER: How long were you in Alabama guarding German prisoners? FUJIMOTO: I don't think we was too long when I got hurt. I think they had some more time after I got hurt. INTERVIEWER: These Germans did you talk to them and--FUJIMOTO: The German prisoners? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. These prisoners. FUJIMOTO: Oh yeah, they said how come you guys are here. They just figured we were in Japan see. We says well we're Americans, we're American soldiers. No you're not, you're Japs. I said no we're from here and a lot of them talk good English, the German people do. Then they kept saying you don't belong here. But we didn't have no trouble with ‘em. INTERVIEWER: Did the---A lot of those early guys that were prisoners from the Afrikan Campaign. Do you recall were these regular troops were they from tank divisions or---FUJIMOTO: No I don't know what division they were from. INTERVIEWER: Okay. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 58 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: All we know is we got some German prisoners from Afrika. You go guard them and that was it. INTERVIEWER: And the prisoners that you were guarding were they typically line soldiers or were they officers? FUJIMOTO: No, I don't think they were officers. They were probably regular GI's I think. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Did you talk to them at all in discussions about where they were from and you know home [00:54:00.04]? FUJIMOTO: No, we didn't ask that. All they said was Germany, Germany. INTERVIEWER: Okay. When you left that duty---Or you said you got hurt on the way back from that duty? FUJIMOTO: No we was comin' in from that evening from doing that duty see. And then our truck went over a river bank and it just tore the truck up and got us messed up. INTERVIEWER: How did you get injured? FUJIMOTO: I was in the back when the truck with 30 other guys and investigating officer said after I was in the hospital. They said that they lost one boy, and one got a broken collar bone, and one with a broken wrist. Then I had my hip problem, broken hip. INTERVIEWER: How long were you in the hospital? FUJIMOTO: Twelve months. INTERVIEWER: Wow. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 59 of 90 �In a body cast. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to get out of there, but then I can't get out. Finally I got transferred to---Then that's when they took me out of there. I was rattling in that cast like a peanut [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: So that time in the hospital I know it had to be pretty frustrating especially one year. What do you recall hearing about the rest of the unit, all the guys that you trained with and served with? FUJIMOTO: Well I just get some news that they invaded part there in Italy, and there was a lot of boys got killed [00:56:01.09], this and that. Here I was just laying on back over here in the hospital. So some of those guys from on that book they wrote notes and things like that. One of the buddies wrote hey you old hard luck bum, I guess we'll meet you down the road some place [Laughs]. Things like that on the book. That was it. We didn't get to hear too much there at the hospital. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Hearing these stories about the guys going off to fight and the large number of guys getting killed or wounded. What was stronger you sense of pride in their accomplishments or the sense of loss? FUJIMOTO: I would imagine it would probably be the pride. They had pride is what they were working for. INTERVIEWER: How about for you personally when you were reading these stories? And what was the source that you were reading? Was it through “Stars & Stripes” or the regular paper? FUJIMOTO: I don't know I got some paper in that hospital every once in a while. And of course you read that some guys you went with you wonder why you get left behind. You kind of want to go with them, but well that's just wishful thinking. There was no way I could have gone anyway. INTERVIEWER: Sure. FUJIMOTO: The way it was. And especially for the time I spent in that hospital, why heck. They were gonna let me die there. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 60 of 90 �When you got out of the hospital what happened to you? Were you put back in active duty or were you discharged? FUJIMOTO: No, I was discharged. I got out of the cast and I took therapy and they sent me [00:58:03.12] to two different kind of physical training places. And they sent me to the State of Washington. And they discharged me in Washington. INTERVIEWER: Okay, the places that you were doing your rehab, your physical therapy, at that point were you already meeting up with some of the soldiers that had come back from war? FUJIMOTO: Yes, but they were not from our outfit. They were others yeah. INTERVIEWER: So what kind of things were you hearing about their stories of the front and things that you experienced? FUJIMOTO: Well they were pretty tight mouthed. I mean you know a lot of those people they don't say a lot. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: Unless you were just right up there really asking question they're not gonna say anything. INTERVIEWER: Okay, we're gonna stop there [00:58:59.29]. BEGINNING OF TAPE THREE 669-Fujimoto-George-3 INTERVIEWER: We were just talking about [Excuse me] your being released from the hospital. And actually I wanted to ask you a little bit more about these guys that were returning from war. What do you recall of those early returnees? What theatres were they coming from? What areas were they coming from? FUJIMOTO: I think most of them close to my bed was from Europe. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 61 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: And what do you recall of any stories that you heard as far as the type of fighting they had come up against or regression of the enemy at the time? FUJIMOTO: No, I never did hear any story like that from any of those GI's that come back. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. Okay. When did you get released from the hospital? FUJIMOTO: 1945. INTERVIEWER: Oh, '45. Okay. Do you remember what month that was? FUJIMOTO: I'm not sure, probably May or June maybe. INTERVIEWER: Okay, so it wasn't too much later that the war in Europe ended then. FUJIMOTO: No, about two years. INTERVIEWER: You mean from the time you got out of the hospital? FUJIMOTO: When the war ended? INTERVIEWER: Yeah. FUJIMOTO: No it ended before two years. The war was ended in '45 wasn't it? INTERVIEWER: Yeah, so if you got out in maybe May and Europe had ended just a few months later [00:02:02.18]. FUJIMOTO: Yeah, I think that's about right I think. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 62 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Actually before. Yeah so when you got out and you said you gotten discharged, where did you get discharged? FUJIMOTO: In Tacoma, Washington. INTERVIEWER: And where did you go from there? FUJIMOTO: Back to Colorado. INTERVIEWER: And where in Colorado did you go to? FUJIMOTO: Back to Ault. INTERVIEWER: What did you do when you were there? FUJIMOTO: Well I didn't do too much there, and I went back and tried to farm again in Colorado. INTERVIEWER: And was this with your parents or separately? FUJIMOTO: Uh, no I was separate then. I started farming separately. INTERVIEWER: What kind of farming did you do? FUJIMOTO: I raised sugar beets, cabbage, onion, all the vegetables. INTERVIEWER: And this property that you were working was this property you bought or were leasing? FUJIMOTO: No, this is---The farm that I was farming on in Colorado was leased. I rented it. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 63 of 90 �Okay. And the money that---You used the money that you’d accumulated from your service? FUJIMOTO: Some of it, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did you have a pretty big windfall when you got out of the hospital? FUJIMOTO: No. INTERVIEWER: No? FUJIMOTO: No, I went in small and I come out small. INTERVIEWER: [Laughs] To pass time you talked before early on in the service some gambling with your friends. Did you do any gambling while you were in the hospital? FUJIMOTO: Um hmm. INTERVIEWER: Were you successful or not? FUJIMOTO: Well I tell you the only time I was successful is when I met this Indian boy. He was paralyzed on one arm, but he was a sharp crap shooter [00:04:02.29]. He says, “Don't play against me.” I got to know him pretty good. I said, “Why?” He said, “You ain't gonna win if you play against me.” “Okay, I won't play against you. What do you want me to do?” He says, “You stick around. You just stick around here close by. And I'll be shootin' craps and eventually I'll probably get hot and start getting a lot of money and people are gonna fade off.” He said, “That's when you fade me and then I'll crap out and let you win.” That's the only time I could win in craps [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: What other games did you play with the guys there? FUJIMOTO: We played pitch. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 64 of 90 �What's pitch? FUJIMOTO: Gin rummy. You know I kind of forgot how to play pitch. They call it high, low, jack, joker game. And we only got six cards dealt to us and two can play. There is high, low in the card and somethin' else. I really forgot how to play. We played a lot of gin rummy and pinochle. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. Okay. When you had gotten out and you're farming did you keep up with the news as to what was happening with the 442d? FUJIMOTO: Um umm. I sure didn't. I should of but I didn't. INTERVIEWER: How did it make you feel when you heard the news that the war in Europe was done? FUJIMOTO: Well I guess I felt pretty good it was all over with. INTERVIEWER: How about when you heard what had happened in Japan as far as the dropping of the first atomic bomb? FUJIMOTO: Well the only thing we thought is that was sure a bad deal because there is nothing else we could say or think [00:06:07.03]. I don't think. INTERVIEWER: What do you recall of the news, the reporting at the time? Did they describe the bomb in any manner as far as you know the power or the devastation that it had? FUJIMOTO: Oh, not that I know of except for the fact that we knew how powerful that atom bomb was and how destructive it is. Whenever it hit that Hiroshima and Nagasaki it just blew that place all up. And I said man they don't leave nothin' and that's about the only thing I could think of. INTERVIEWER: How did---Did you feel connected to that at all in the sense of---The idea that they dropped something so strong in a country that people of your heritage. FUJIMOTO: No, I didn't really have any feelings in there because first thing we don't know anybody. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 65 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: I mean they're strangers to us. INTERVIEWER: Sure. FUJIMOTO: It's like if they dropped the bomb in Russia or China or something. The same thing because we don't have any contact. We don't have any feelings. I don't know how my folks felt, but they never did say anything. But to me I didn't feel anything. INTERVIEWER: How about the idea that now Japan surrendered. Any personal effect that it had on you as far as your outlook? FUJIMOTO: No. I guess we could just say we was lucky that they surrendered. That's what my dad said. My dad told me he said, “It's a good thing Japan lost the war [00:08:01.01].” Of course there for a while I didn't say anything. Then after a while I paused and said, “Why do you say that?” He said, “You know how Japan is. You guys got Japanese face.” And he says, “If Japan would have lost you kids would have been tortured because of our face.” INTERVIEWER: Oh if they had won? FUJIMOTO: Huh? INTERVIEWER: If they had won or--FUJIMOTO: That's what my dad said, yeah. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: So that's what--INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 66 of 90 �And did he feel that would happen because did he view Japan would view you as Japanese Americans as traitors to them? FUJIMOTO: That's right. That's what he said. INTERVIEWER: Now your brother actually---What was happening in Japan had more effect on your brother Harley. Talk to us about his service. FUJIMOTO: Uh, I can't because I don't really know. In fact all of my brothers their service time I don't really know. INTERVIEWER: Who did---What unit did Harley belong to? FUJIMOTO: I don't really know except that he was with intelligence corp. And what unit he was attached to, I don't know. INTERVIEWER: Okay. But as far as you know he was with the Military Intelligence Service? FUJIMOTO: [Nods yes] INTERVIEWER: So he went through Japanese language training? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Do you know where he trained? FUJIMOTO: At Fort Snelling I think, Minnesota. INTERVIEWER: And when he actually was deployed, what do you know of---What can you tell us as far as what you do remember of his service and the unit that he went to or anything? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 67 of 90 �No, I can't because the only thing I know is I know that he went to this Military Intelligence School [00:10:03.14]. And after he got out I don't really know except for what he's got in that book he wrote. Unless you want to read that and it's in there, but I don't remember. He wrote it himself. INTERVIEWER: Okay, we'll take a look in there in a little bit. Do you remember at all if he went to Japan or got shipped overseas? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. Yeah he went to Japan not really at wartime. I think he said in there---I don't know whether it was over or not, but they were going---They headed out to Alaska and somethin' happened. The prop broke or somethin' so they were at sea for two weeks before they got off some time. INTERVIEWER: Okay, it must have been fun for him. FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] INTERVIEWER: After your discharge you went back into farming. How long did you stay in farming? FUJIMOTO: After I got out let's see I stayed in farming until 1952, no I stayed longer than that. I farmed in Colorado until '52. I harvested the crop in Colorado in '52. Then I went to the Rio Grande Valley in '52 and moved over there and I was going to farm. And so I bought 60 acres of land with my father and myself and 20 acres of citrus, orange, grapefruit and so forth. And we cleared some land and done a few things and the next thing we know we had a drought. So I said well we gotta water our trees. We had some young trees so I bought me a truck [00:12:01.03] to tank water and the tank water that we got was in these ??bar pits??. Down in the valley they got a lot of ??bar pits?? are places where they could leach it out and water could set in there. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: So we got that water not knowing what kind of water it was. We put on those trees and it was brine, salt water and killed the trees. Here that goes and with that drought we didn't have no water in the river. So my farming deal there went bad. I turned the land back. I turned the citrus back and I start farming again, and I farmed for a little while and worked for a produce company and Campbell Soup trying to get on my feet. And I bought a little This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 68 of 90 �acreage there in Mission, you know puttin' a little money down in there until I got ready to go to the Uvalde down in there and put up a bowling alley in Uvalde in 1970. INTERVIEWER: What did you do for Campbell's Soup? FUJIMOTO: We was a carrot contractor. We contracted carrots for them for makin' soup. And Mr. Wallace is a subcontractor I guess you would call that. So he was the one that was selling to Campbell, but I was tied with Campbell more. So Mr. Wallace sold the carrots to Campbell Soup, and I also went to different areas to pioneer some growing onions and carrots, and beets, and things for Campbell Soup. INTERVIEWER: Now when you said you went to these different areas to pioneer that were these areas that somebody in the company determined would be really good for growing these [00:14:02.08] particular crops? FUJIMOTO: Naw, we had to pick it ourself. I had to pick it out and I had to talk to the Chamber of Commerce. What kind of weather conditions they have. When there are frost and freeze and so forth and go by that because the land was there. We have to just lease it. And that's what I done for Campbell. INTERVIEWER: Okay. So these lands that were available for farming did Campbell end up hiring local people there to farm those lands once they purchased it and deemed they were going to go into--FUJIMOTO: No I had to contract it to the grower. INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: So Campbell Soup did not have to hire anybody. I contacted the grower and if the grower, the carrots and things, and we paid for the products that were produced. Campbell Soup did not have any labor in the crop itself because I contracted to the farmer and bought it and give it to Campbell Soup. INTERVIEWER: Okay. After Campbell Soup and then your moving to where you live now. What inspired you to start a bowling alley? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 69 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Well, it's a place that I liked. I used to go to that area where I'm at now, and we liked when Campbell Soup we pioneered the carrot crop for them in different places. Over there I started a carrot deal and pickle deal for another company. And I got it going over there and got in contact with farmers growing over there and I really liked that area. I told my wife I said you know mom [00:16:00.29] I says I been around quite a bit all over Texas and different places. And when I get ready to retire I want to retire in the Uvalde because I like that. Anyway in 1970 I bought the bowling alley there and put up a bowling center there with intention before that I was going to retire there. But it got to a point where I went over there and still worked [Laughs] and still working. So I didn't get to retire. That's why I got to Uvalde because I liked the area and I wanted to live there. INTERVIEWER: So were you a very active bowler? FUJIMOTO: Pretty much. INTERVIEWER: What was your average at your high point? FUJIMOTO: At my high point I carried 190. INTERVIEWER: Okay. How are you doing now? FUJIMOTO: 90 [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: Just a little drop off huh? FUJIMOTO: I dropped off quite a bit. I think I'm way down to about 150 now, but I haven't bowled last year at the start of the season I signed up for the league. And I fell and broke my ribs. That knocked me out. And then September I got this crazy old disease called Bell's Palsy. And the Bell's Palsy got away, but I got something else, another kind of Palsy. And that thing hurt, hurt, and it just never stopped. So at the Veteran's Hospital they went through my jaws and somehow they hit a nerve. They killed a nerve so my pain has stayed there and I got numbness here. And it took me a long time before I got rid of my pain [00:18:04.07]. But I got a machine that took care of the pain. So I'm pain free except from the numbness and that's not going to go away because they said they cut a nerve. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 70 of 90 �So is it the procedure that the Veteran's Administration that hit that never? FUJIMOTO: Yeah, and they said well you can try and take acupuncture. You know what acupuncture is? INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: I tried that and that don't kill the pain because it was real painful because it was in my ear right through here. So one day I was going home from Donna's place there, after we come back from Denver. And the acupuncture guy he's Mexican fellow but he's pretty good fellow in San Antonio. So on the way home I figured I'm half way home, I called him up on the phone and I says, “Lupe I'm getting ready to go through San Antonio. I'll be in San Antonio in about an hour-and-a-half.” I said, “Would you have time to give me a treatment?” He says, “Yeah, stop by.” I stopped by and I got my treatment. After I got my treatment he says, “George are you in a hurry to go home?” I says, “No”, I says, “What's up?” He says, “My brother got a machine called a Vibe Machine and he checked it over and it's made in Colorado and it does wonders for patients of almost all kind of ailments.” So he said, “Would you try it?” I said, “You're darn right I'd try it” because you know when you're hurtin' I'm gonna try anything. INTERVIEWER: Sure. FUJIMOTO: I tried it. And I guess I took about four treatments and my pain started to ease away, go away. And also [00:20:02.01] at my fifth treatment I done away with my cane. I don't have to use my cane no more. A friend of mine says man George if that thing gonna help you that much we're gonna buy one. So he went ahead and not bought one, he bought two. And he give one to his sister-in-law which is on about 70 miles from where we live right now and I got one in the bowling alley where I'm givin' different people treatments. But that really helps a lot of people especially in pain. A lot of people with cancer. It takes care of their cancer and people with kidney problems and all that kind of stuff. The only thing right now Gene Koonce is the manufacturer. He told us specifically we do not advertise that we cure this, this and that because the machine is not FDA approved. But you can use it in your home and you can treat people and you can call it a session, not a treatment or cure. So that's what I been doing. INTERVIEWER: And how does the thing work and what does it look like? FUJIMOTO: It is a vibration electrical thing that it's got a round cylinder like this. It's got a lot of little tubes around that. And when you turn it on it vibrates, buzzes, and I kind of think like a This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 71 of 90 �laser. I don't know how you really call it but it goes through your system and it kills the bad system. In other words it gets rid of your toxins. So by doing that I think that's what is curing people with cancer and different [00:22:06.11] kind of thing because it's killing the cancer the germs or disease, the toxins in there. INTERVIEWER: You move it over the body sort of like a massager? FUJIMOTO: No, you just stand there just like this, I mean sit there three feet away from that and I turn around. And the treatment is from three to 10 minutes. And every minute it goes on for 30 seconds it buzzes and goes off. It does that for 30 seconds and goes off again for 30 seconds. And we give 'em treatments from three minutes to 10 minutes. They recommend 10 minutes at the most. And so far all the people that I have given treatments to down there, I have only gone as high as eight minutes. And there is one fella there with multiple sclerosis. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Sclerosis yeah. FUJIMOTO: I wanna take 10 treatments. I want to see what it does, but that multiple sclerosis is a real bad disease so they say it didn't help him. It helps me he says about four hours and after that why my pain is there so he's not takin' it any more. INTERVIEWER: I want to go back in time a little bit. Do you discuss your---You brought your wife up. How did you meet? FUJIMOTO: I guess I was still in the Army in recovery, you know when I was takin' physical therapy. And she lived in Denver and I guess a lot of the girls from that---It wasn't an organization there was about six or seven girls [00:24:01.20] that stayed in one building. And they was all going to school like beauty school, nail school, and whatever. All those girls got together and they come up to see me, or they come see somebody because they didn't know me either. I just met 'em there and then we got to goin' together for a while and we got married. INTERVIEWER: What about her attracted you? FUJIMOTO: Oh, I don't know. It's a girl I guess [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 72 of 90 �You know it's a lot of years now, I think you can admit it. FUJIMOTO: [Laughs] INTERVIEWER: No one is going to hold anything against you. FUJIMOTO: Yeah, it's been sixty-some years. INTERVIEWER: Yeah. What's her name? FUJIMOTO: Mary. INTERVIEWER: What was her maiden name? FUJIMOTO: Masunaga. INTERVIEWER: Okay, and what was she studying? FUJIMOTO: She was going, studying to be a beauty operator, but it didn't pan out for her. She didn't do it no more. INTERVIEWER: And when you first socialized, what kind of things would you go do? FUJIMOTO: Back in those days they still had these here it's called drive-in. You heard of those drive-in, food stand and drive-in theaters? That's what we be doin'. Go to the drive-in theater to eat and go to the movies or somethin’. INTERVIEWER: Now at some point down the road someone is going to listen to this thing and they're not gonna know what a drive-in is. So could you describe a drive-in for us? FUJIMOTO: A drive-in is a place where you're driving your car. You have a date. You go to a fast food place is what it is. You go to a fast food place and you park it and you got girls waitin' on This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 73 of 90 �you. Some of 'em come in skates. Some just walk around. And they come wait on you, hamburger, soda, whatever [00:26:02.17]. And that's what we used to call a drive-in. INTERVIEWER: What was the name of the place that was most popular at the time that you went to? FUJIMOTO: Eww, I don't know there was too many, I forgot [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What did you used to like to order? FUJIMOTO: Probably hamburger. INTERVIEWER: And now when did you marry? What year did you get married? FUJIMOTO: 1940---Was it '45 Donna? COLE: Yes. FUJIMOTO: '45. INTERVIEWER: You're lucky you had her to bail you out. FUJIMOTO: I know. INTERVIEWER: [Laughs] FUJIMOTO: I know. That's why I got her here. [Laughs] We went through a lot of that. We were lookin' through that book yesterday because we didn't know when my dad died or mother died. We looked to see when it was. INTERVIEWER: Here's the prankster in me. I might get you in trouble with this question. Two question. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 74 of 90 �Okay. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember your serial number? FUJIMOTO: Yes, sir. INTERVIEWER: What's your serial number? FUJIMOTO: 38085399. INTERVIEWER: Okay, here's the bad part. Do you remember your wedding anniversary date? FUJIMOTO: June the 6th, 1945. INTERVIEWER: Oh, you came out with flying colors, pretty good [Laughs]. FUJIMOTO: I'm not in trouble [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: That one usually gets a lot of guys in trouble. How many children do you have? FUJIMOTO: That one. INTERVIEWER: And excuse me for asking this. When was your daughter born? FUJIMOTO: May, excuse me May, June the 9th, 1952. I think I'm right, am I right? COLE: Yes. FUJIMOTO: See. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 75 of 90 �How did that feel to have your first child? FUJIMOTO: Father. INTERVIEWER: How did that change your life [00:28:02.11]? FUJIMOTO: Oh, I don't know I knew that I had to work harder. INTERVIEWER: How did your parents feel about your bringing a child into the world? FUJIMOTO: Oh, pretty good. They wanted a grandchild, you know. INTERVIEWER: And was your daughter the first grandchild in the family? FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: It must have been really exciting for them. FUJIMOTO: Oh yeah. INTERVIEWER: Did your parents get to spend a lot of time with her? FUJIMOTO: No, we didn't live very close. We lived too far away. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: We as in Colorado one time when she was born in Denver and we moved in '52. And we went down to the Uvalde and the folks was with us. We bought land together, but then we didn't have any luck so I had to send them someplace else. And I sent them on up to Houston. And they done different things. They started a nursery and so forth. After that why he farmed a little bit. That was no good. So he went to work for the Houston Flood Control. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 76 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: When did your parents pass away? FUJIMOTO: 1975 my father passed away, and my mother passed away in '73. INTERVIEWER: And how about your siblings, who is still with us? FUJIMOTO: Huh? INTERVIEWER: Your brothers and sisters, everybody still alive? FUJIMOTO: Yes. INTERVIEWER: Oh great. FUJIMOTO: It's a wonder, isn't it? INTERVIEWER: Where do they all live now? FUJIMOTO: We got two brothers here. Two sisters in California, and the one that Tim went and saw. INTERVIEWER: And what do your brothers and sisters do now, or what did they do [00:30:04.10]? FUJIMOTO: My brother was a, Harley was a union man. He was a retail clerks union. And my two brothers worked for Harris County here. One of them was a flood control and the other one was a mosquito control. INTERVIEWER: Which brother was with the flood control? FUJIMOTO: Roy. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 77 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Okay. FUJIMOTO: And the youngest one, Willie, he's with the mosquito control. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And your sisters? FUJIMOTO: And my sister Miyo, she's in Denver. And she was working for a dry goods store for a good many years and she retired. And I got another--INTERVIEWER: Is she married? FUJIMOTO: She was married but her husband passed away. And the other sister Marie, I don't know she worked someplace but I forgot where she worked. But her husband passed away, too. They live in California. And the youngest one is Doris, and she was working for import export for some man there for several years. And she is retired from that, too. She just retired about three years ago. I remember the last family reunion I didn't get to go but I was telling her I said you know in our family we got seven kinds in our family. I said the oldest one and the youngest one still workin' [Laughs]. INTERVIEWER: Is your extended family pretty large? Do you have a lot of nephews and nieces? FUJIMOTO: No, not that many. Willie is the one that’s got the most. I think he's got five kids I think [00:32:01.18]. And Roy's got four. My brother Harley's got one. And my youngest sister has two, oh and my other sister Marie has got two now because she got twins. INTERVIEWER: You said earlier that you know for your daughter you really stressed education. What did she go into? FUJIMOTO: My sister? INTERVIEWER: No your daughter. FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 78 of 90 �Oh okay. She's in chemical business now. She was supposed to go to college in Edinburg. She didn't want to go to college. My wife said, “Dad, Donna don't want to go to school.” I said, “Yeah you got to get her to school. She gotta have an education.” She says she's not gonna go to school. She wanted to come help at the bowling alley. I said, “I'll send her to school.” So in Uvalde they had junior college. Started her in junior college, but she didn't like that junior college. And then so we sent her to school here in Houston but it was still in that data processing. But that wasn't her line of business. Cause she went to work at different places, but that was I don't know what kind of school you call it. It’s not a regular college see, maybe a trade school like. They promise you, you go finish this and we get you a job. You know how that goes. She finished that and she didn't get a job. She got a job at one place and got another job at another place. And I think the last place she went to work was she went to work for a doctor. And she said, “This don't work either”, but then she says this doctor brings his home problems to her [00:34:02.10] and she don't want to listen to that. So that's when she went to work for Lone Star Gas Company which is petro chemical. And I guess she didn't like that too good, so she got in a partnership with another fella and got into this chemical business. After a while a year or two or so she was telling me she said that's no good, I can't stay here. I'm gonna have to quit or buy him out. So she bought him out then she's on her own and she's in the chemical business which a lot of the chemical company, men told her she would never make it in chemical business because she's a woman. She says naw, I'll show you. So she's doing good. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And did she get married? Do you have grandchildren? FUJIMOTO: She’s got a child. She's home now. She's in Hawaii. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And is she going to school or is she out of school? FUJIMOTO: Naw, she's out of school. She finished college and she wanted to become oceanography and she went to different places here doing that. And she wanted to go to Hawaii and she got a job there. And she went to different training there. She went to captain of a boat training and she's the captain of a boat now. INTERVIEWER: What's your granddaughter's name? FUJIMOTO: Tami. She's a hustler too. INTERVIEWER: Good. I guess she got some of her mother's spirit there [00:36:04.15], huh? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 79 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Yeah. INTERVIEWER: Is there anything else that you'd like to comment on as far as anything that you feel is really important that you'd like to express? FUJIMOTO: No, I guess not really. The only thing is like an organization like this we need to try to keep it strong so their kids, and their kids, and their kids will know something of what happened. That's about the only thing I could tell you. INTERVIEWER: What was for you---What inspired you to go ahead and grant this interview? Why did you feel it was so important for you to personally do this? FUJIMOTO: Well, I guess a personal thing is I have a daughter and she's real interested in it. And she's my daughter and she's got a daughter. And she needs to allow her daughter to see what really went on. And I think that was probably the main reason why I kind of wanted to do it. INTERVIEWER: What would you say was the most important values that your parents passed on to you? FUJIMOTO: Well be honest and work hard. That's the main thing. INTERVIEWER: What do you hope that you’ve passed on to your daughter and future generations? FUJIMOTO: Well education and work hard. That's what she done. INTERVIEWER: I want to ask you kind of a broad question here, but what do you feel that was accomplished by your generation, the Nisei generation [00:38:02.08] as far as how America has regarded Japanese Americans here in this country since then. Maybe how you felt they looked at them before and what you feel the result is of service to their country after World War II. FUJIMOTO: Well I don't know really except that you have to work hard to accomplish what you are trying to do and show the rest of your people or show everybody else that if you work hard you can get what you want to get. And other than that I don't know what else I could say. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 80 of 90 �INTERVIEWER: Do you feel that the fact that all these Japanese Americans during World War II served and served very bravely and took on really anything that was put in front of them that had changed the attitudes of Americans? The general population against their view of Japanese Americans now as far as their value to this country? FUJIMOTO: I don't really know. I hope so. There are some people that are. They really know the facts and they're really appreciated of it. But it's hard to say all of the people are that way. INTERVIEWER: Okay. What do you feel that service did in the way of opening doors for not just Japanese Americans of your daughter's generation but for Asian Americans period. FUJIMOTO: Well I think it opened the door for all of us in a big way [00:40:02.24]. INTERVIEWER: Could you explain it a little bit your view how you feel that it opened the doors? FUJIMOTO: Well I don't think there's anybody sittin' back and waitin' for different things to happen. They are all going ahead and if they got somethin’ in mind they're going ahead and do it. And I think that is great because they're not sittin' back. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Anything else you'd like to say? FUJIMOTO: No. I don't think I have anything else. INTERVIEWER: Are you in a hurry to get out of here now? FUJIMOTO: Nope. INTERVIEWER: Then we're gonna ask you to sit for a little. [Discussion between interviewees and interviewer.] INTERVIEWER: Okay, would you please introduce the person sitting next to you? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 81 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Yes, if it wasn't for her this wouldn't happen. INTERVIEWER: Are you blaming here or thanking her? FUJIMOTO: Thanking her. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Who is this person sitting next to you? FUJIMOTO: My daughter Donna. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Hi Donna, I want to thank you for getting him to this place and inspiring him to do this interview. COLE: You're welcome. I think it's a great opportunity. INTERVIEWER: Why do you feel it was so important for your dad to tell his story? COLE: Well, I can remember when I was a child going to school and how hard it was for me in school during the time in history when World War II would come up or December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. And UM I was [00:42:03.27] partly ashamed and embarrassed and hurt. And then a lot of the World War II movies would come out and the kids would tease you about being Jap you know. So it was very hurtful times and I remember dad telling me he was in the 4-4-2 and how when the Japanese Americans were sequestered or some of them were kept near their homes and they couldn't leave. And that he had joined the Army like many others and joined this 4-4-2 group that was made up of all Japanese Americans. And how well they did in the Army and the war. And so he had this album that was the 4-4-2. It was a blue book and I took it to school and every year that was my show and tell. So even though all of this wasn't in the history books I think it's so important because it is a part of the United States history where there was something happened to our race a discrimination and nobody spoke out that was wrong. That perhaps all of these people even the two-year-old and three-year-old children, they rounded up orphans and put them in these barracks and said that they were you know a national threat. For me I think it is time for us a wakeup call just as the Jewish community to say this did happen and so few people were a part of it and yet nobody spoke out for them. So for civil rights purposes I think it should be known because it certainly can happen today to Middle This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 82 of 90 �Easterners and others. And so I just want to make sure people know that you can speak out for other people when somethings wrong. INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you first started bringing that book to show and tell? COLE: Oh I think I was second grade. INTERVIEWER: How did the other kids there respond? How did their response to you change and what kind of weapon did that feel to you to be able to bring this book [00:44:02.18] and say my dad was in the Army and look at this group. COLE: It was great. A lot of them were surprised and some of them went home and told their parents obviously. And many of their parents didn't know it either. So had I not brought the book I don't think even the teacher would have believed me. INTERVIEWER: You talked about the idea of particularly at the time December 7th or times where these movies came out. And you know kids being young can be very cruel and say all these slurs and not really having a sense of how hurtful that can be. COLE: Right. INTERVIEWER: What was that like for you growing up as minority at that time? COLE: Well there weren't very many Japanese Americans in the Rio Grande Valley. And especially at my school. There were probably about six families, seven families. So we were clearly in the minority and it was mostly Hispanics and mostly a White community. So I didn't realize it until later that there was discrimination going on. You know whether you got invited to the parties or not, or got asked out on a date so at that time I think I was just a happy kid growing up and not really paying attention to what was really going on around me. INTERVIEWER: Okay. Personally what doors do you feel were open for you as far as---Well how do you view the service of the 442nd and U.S. history and particularly for Asian Americans? COLE: In terms of doors being open I think everybody realized after the war that education is so important. And to get these kids into schools and to be a professional instead of working in This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 83 of 90 �their own business where it was either difficult or they had long, long hours, either whether it was working [00:46:00.24] in retail. And so they were encouraging their children to get a degree and go do something else, whether it was being a lawyer, an attorney, or doctor. For Japanese Americans you see there is a lot in that area. You also see a lot who don't speak the language because the language was cut off. And you didn't want to associate with Japan and the language anymore because of being discriminated against. So you know I look back I think those are sad times for my heritage because that happened. I really wish I could speak Japanese, but in terms of what has gone on for others I think they did open doors for others to say that hey there are people out there who may look Japanese but they are not going to try and hurt you. And they really are Americans. Even though it's still difficult today because you live in a world where you're not really a Japanese when you go to Japan. And in America you have this face you're not really American either. So you have to find ground in between for us. INTERVIEWER: Now have you visited Japan? COLE: I have of late in March. So that was my first trip that I've ever been to Japan. INTERVIEWER: I want to ask you this because I know people of other heritages that talk to this question. Do you feel more American when you're in Japan? COLE: Yes, I did. It was very strange to go out on the streets and see people who looked like me, you know. And other people who were non-Japanese, they stuck out so to speak. So yeah it was very strange. And even coming back I think that's when we realized we were more American than we thought we were, yeah. INTERVIEWER: What do you feel that you've taken with you either from your family or that you may have adopted in later life that you feel is very culturally Japanese? COLE: Oh I think not speaking out [00:48:00.29]. Having a lot of things on your mind and holding back. I think in terms of being Japanese it is still all about hard work and being honest. And not making waves so to speak. INTERVIEWER: Is there anything particularly that you would like to say to your daughter as far as the importance of preserving this history? COLE: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 84 of 90 �I think it's very, very important because some day you'll have a child and because I married a non-Japanese that she has some rich culture and a heritage that she should honor and know at least from where was our family---Where did they come from and what did they do? How as it in the '20s and '40s, and what was it like in the '80s. So I think she's got something really nice to pass on if we preserve that for her. INTERVIEWER: Um hmm. Is she living in Hawaii now? COLE: She's living in Hawaii now. She'll be 31. INTERVIEWER: So she's actually in an area where the veterans there are Gods. COLE: Absolutely. Absolutely. INTERVIEWER: Is she connected with them? Does she interact with them? COLE: She's not connected with them and I think maybe that's why I want to push this so much is that you know kids aren't. And we have the grandparents and parents wanted us to assimilate and I think we assimilated so well that we don't know where our roots are. And that we don't stay together as a culture and know what's going on in the Asian community. And so what I'd like to see happen is less assimilation in that aspect and a little more integration. Kind of look at is as a salad, so if you're a fruit salad you're integrated [00:50:02.02]. But if you're a smoothie you can't tell if you're a banana, strawberry or what anymore. INTERVIEWER: Is there anything you'd like to say to your dad as far as how you feel about his particular service? COLE: You know I just think that I never thought about whether you were in Europe or fighting over there or in what type of service you were doing. And then to realize you were in a place that treated you really bad and gave you really awful jobs. You know and that it was so bad that you wanted out to join this 4-4-2 group to be with other Japanese Americans and go through boot camp again. It had to have really been bad, right? So I have to give him a lot of credit for that to say hey, boot camp was rough but I'm willing to do this again and to go and join the military. It's quite honorable. INTERVIEWER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 85 of 90 �Well I'd like to thank both of you for participating in this interview. For your bringing him down to make this all possible. COLE: You're welcome. INTERVIEWER: I want to get together with you later on tonight at the gala that is gonna honor your father. How do you feel about that? COLE: Oh that's so exciting. The sad part about it is we only found five you know in Texas that are still able to get around and be honored at this function tonight. We realize that they're all going pretty quickly. INTERVIEWER: Actually you know we're going to try to get together with you later on tonight to ask you this for a piece that we're going to give to the Asian Pacific American--COLE: Heritage Association, APAHA and the JACL? INTERVIEWER: We will ask you again at that point what this feels like to you the idea that you're being honored in this way [00:52:06.07]. So look out for us because we'll pick up from here. COLE: Sounds great. FUJIMOTO: We appreciate all the trouble you did for us. INTERVIEWER: Right. Thank you so much. I guess at this point we'll stop and we're going to go ahead and look at some of the pictures you brought. COLE: Thank you. FUJIMOTO: I don't know this is a family reunion book that my youngest sister's boyfriend took time to make. And he done a real good job and he made the family reunion where he even wrote the Japanese name and some of our pictures. So that's what we have in this book. CREWMEMBER: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 86 of 90 �So that's a picture of you? FUJIMOTO: Yes, that's George. Do you read and write Japanese too? CREWMEMBER: No, I can only speak. FUJIMOTO: Oh. I hope I could---I wish I could have speaked a little more. You can turn it whenever you want me to. [Page turns] That's my mother in a car and my dad. CREWMEMBER: Do you want to explain a little bit about that picture? FUJIMOTO: Evidently that's one of the pictures---Is that a GI patch I got on? It might be. COLE: Um hmm. FUJIMOTO: It might be one of my trips [00:54:08.24] I come home on leave in 1942 back to Ault, Colorado---Born in Loveland, Colorado. You speak Japanese some, remember when Robert and I we was talkin’ about how the boys were named? You know Kazu, Yoshi, and Mitsu, and Yoshio, one, two, three, four, kind of. CREWMEMBER: Um hmm. This is a picture of Harley. FUJIMOTO: Hmm. But I don't know when he went in the Army, in fact none of them I don't know when they went. COLE: [Pointing] Your mother. His mother. But here's the mother and father. So that's his mother, his father, this is George, Harley, right? FUJIMOTO: Um hmm. That's when we were talkin' about when my dad come from California to Loveland, Colorado. CREWMEMBER: Go ahead and talk about this picture [00:56:00.22]. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 87 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Hmm? CREWMEMBER: Go ahead and talk about this picture. FUJIMOTO: Well this happened in Houston in 1970. That's the first, very first family reunion we had and a--CREWMEMBER: Oh hang on a second. Go ahead and talk about your mother and father. FUJIMOTO: I don't have much to say except to say except that was my mother and father's---We had a--Was that the family reunion by itself or--COLE: No, it was their 50th. FUJIMOTO: Oh, 50th Anniversary. My mother and dad's and the only one that's not in there is Harley. CREWMEMBER: Okay, point out yourself on the right. FUJIMOTO: This is George, and this is my wife Mary. And where is Donna? Donna is right here. And this is my sister. [Photo changes] That was in 1941 just before I went in the service. They wanted a picture, you know. Young kids then. CREWMEMBER: So you're in the second row. FUJIMOTO: I'm on the right hand with a lot of hair---With a wig on [Laughs]. CREWMEMBER: And the one with Harley then--FUJIMOTO: Is the next one on the left hand side next to my sister there. [Photo changes] And Roy. COLE: And Roy? This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 88 of 90 �FUJIMOTO: Yeah [00:58:00.24]. Roy is Mitsuo. [Photo changes] Probably can't see it huh? Huh? CREWMEMBER: Go ahead and point yourself out. FUJIMOTO: Right here. Can you see it now? Can you see it? CREWMEMBER: Who is that again? FUJIMOTO: That's John Masunaga. That's my wife's brother. Mary, Mary's brother. He was in the medics. CREWMEMBER: Can you tell me that again. FUJIMOTO: Keoki. CREWMEMBER: That was the name. FUJIMOTO: That was the name they give me, K-e-o-k-i. CREWMEMBER: And what does it mean? FUJIMOTO: George I guess because he asked me if they give me a nickname. CREWMEMBER: And the guys who gave it to you were Hawaiian? FUJIMOTO: Hawaiian, yeah. CREWMEMBER: And they were your friend? FUJIMOTO: This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 89 of 90 �I don't know which one it was. It might have been Kubo [01:00:22.06]. This transcript is hereby made available for research purposes only by Go For Broke National Education Center. Page 90 of 90 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource George Fujimoto oral history interview, May 19, 2006 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource George Fujimoto oral history interview transcript [full interview], May 19, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fujimoto, George: narrator Horsting, Richard: interviewer Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher Type The nature or genre of the resource Transcriptions Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Extent The size or duration of the resource. 90 pages, typscript Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-05-19 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Houston, Texas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Go For Broke National Education Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2006OH0669_T_Fujimoto