Eric Andow interview

Item

Transcript of Eric Andow interview

Title

eng Eric Andow interview

Description

eng Talks about his parents and how they immigrated to the United States, growing up in the Depression, farming dairy cattle and grapes, the values emphasized by his parents, especially education.  He discusses learning Japanese as a child and Japanese customs and foods, but also the importance of American culture in his upbringing as well.  He talks about attending Livingston High School and relations between Japanese and Caucasian students.  He discusses wanting to become an aeronautical engineer and attending Modesto City College and later Stanford. He talks about Pearl Harbor and the resulting paranoia about attacks and discrimination against Japanese Americans, his thoughts on the evacuation and being sent to the Merced Assembly Center and later Amache.  He discusses the loyalty questionnaire and getting permission to leave camp to work in Cincinnati before being drafted and serving in the 442nd infantry regiment.  Afterward, he talks about returning to Stanford and finishing his education and returning to farming.  He discusses his children and the changes in society that have occurred in regards to Japanese Americans.

Creator

eng Andow, Eric
eng Mendenhall, Jan

Relation

eng JACL-CCDC Japanese American Oral History Collection

Coverage

eng Livingston, California

Date

eng 7/11/1999

Format

eng Microsoft Word 2003 document, 51 pages

Rights

eng Copyright has been transferred to Fresno State

Identifier

eng SCMS_jacl_00017

extracted text

NARRATOR:

Eric Andow

INTERVIEWER:

Jan Mendenhall

DATE:

July 11, 1999

JM:

This interview is being conducted for the JACL Oral History Project of the Central
California district under the auspices of Fresno State University. I’m Jan Mendenhall and
I’ll be conducting today’s interview with Eric Andow. Today is July 11, 1999 in
Livingston, California. If we could begin with background on your parents; could you
share some of that?

EA:

My father was born in 1883 in Gifu Prefecture and soon after that was adopted by a
family in Aichi Ken. At a young age, he enlisted in the Japanese Navy; upon discharge,
he headed for England. After a short stay in London, he headed for the United States.
After working on Long Island for a short while, he headed for California, arriving here in
July of 1910 to work at the Okuye farm—returned to Japan, uh in 1916—or 1915, to
marry my mother.
My mother was born in Nagano Ken in 1898 and moved to Tokyo at a young age.
After getting married, my father and my mother returned to the Okuye ranch in 1916.

JM:

And on the Okuye ranch, what did they do?

EA:

My father was kind of a foreman of the place, and my mother helped in the feeding all
the workers that were employed by the Okuye farm.

JM:

And when were you born?

EA:

I was born January 2, 1922.

JM:

And brothers and sisters?

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EA:

ANDOW
I have four sisters. I’m—being the only son, and uh, I’m the fourth member of the family;
I have three older sisters, and one younger sister.

JM:

Can you share some of your experiences in growing up?

EA:

Well, I grew up during the Depression Era, so times were pretty bad in those days, but we
enjoyed whatever we had, and we had a lot of neighbors to play with and so the economic
situation didn’t—as youngsters it didn’t bother us all that much.

JM:

Because that’s the situation you grew up in—

EA:

Right.

JM:

Nothing to relate it to.

EA:

Right.

JM:

What types of things would you do for entertainment?

EA:

Well, we spent—like in the summer months we spent a good portion of our time, our
leisure time I should say, swimming in the canals. There were several Japanese families
within a half mile of my place, and almost every warm summer afternoon we were
swimming in the canal. And occasionally, we were allowed to go to a movie or perhaps,
play some sports.

JM:

What type of sports did you play?

EA:

Well we—I remember playing—I wasn’t very adept at playing baseball, although I did
play baseball and a certain amount of football and soccer and some competitive track
events.

JM:

So, these were all American type of sports that you played.

EA:

Right.

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JM:

ANDOW
Okay, now, your parents—when they first came here they were with the Okuye Farm.
How long were they—are they still there as you’re growing up, or they changed
occupations?

EA:

My father bought a farm—I believe it was in 1918, and moved to the farm which was
approximately a half mile from the Okuye farm. It was a dairy farm, and he had no
experience in dairying, but he was wanting to get on his own and so he bought this farm.
They farmed the dairy for—I believe it was a year, and it was getting to be too much of a
problem, so my mother and father decided to quit the dairy business, and go into raising
grapes.

JM:

And was that successful for them?

EA:

Well, it’s hard to say successful, because it takes several years for grapes to mature to the
point where you could harvest them and make any money. So, it was a difficult time for
them.

JM:

And growing up and—did you help out on the farm?

EA:

When we were of age, which I would say we were possibly around eight or nine, we were
already working on the farm, helping my parents.

JM:

And how did you feel about that?

EA:

Well, you do things that your parents tell you to do, naturally, but we realized that in
order to get ahead we all had to pitch in, and so even at an early age we did work quite
extensively out on the farm.

JM:

And was that true for your sisters, also?

EA:

Yes, it was. We didn’t distinguish between boys and girls; we all worked out in the fields.

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JM:

ANDOW
Um, even though out in the fields there may not have been that distinction, in the family
life, did you sense any difference between—being the only male child in the family?

EA:

Well, my sisters always said that I was favored, but I didn’t feel that that was the case.

JM:

What other types of responsibilities did you have growing up?

EA:

Well, we had our chores, you know, we used to have horses and it was my job to keep the
horses fed every evening, and as I grew older I used to have to cut firewood for our stove
indoors, and I had to attend to the bath, warming the bathwater in the evenings. And, oh,
I can even remember having to wash clothes.

JM:

Okay, it sounds like the family worked closely together. What types of values did your
parents instill in you that were important to them?

EA:

I think one of the primary concerns for my parents was that we all get an education. Of
course, that was one of our primary goals. And naturally, they always wanted us to be
honest and reliable and those are the kinds of things that my Dad especially used to
emphasize.

JM:

Coming from a different country, were there any values that they felt were important that
were difficult for you now growing up in a different country?

EA:

I can’t say that their values were different from what was accepted as customary here in
the country. Of course, my Dad always emphasized honesty and reliability. I think that’s
expected of any child, but in our family it was quite uh, emphatically emphasized.

JM:

Okay. And was your family a part of a Japanese community?

EA:

Being born in a rural area, you would think that we would be separated from others, but I
was born and raised in the so-called “The Yamato Colony,” which constituted about
seventy, or so, families—Japanese families, and so our life was centered around whatever

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the community did, primarily around our community church. Everything was centered—
all our social life, actually, was centered around the community church.

JM:

So, in terms of the community activities, you spoke of being in sports and the church was
a strong foundation—any other activities that you can remember, as part of the
community?

EA:

I can’t remember participating in these activities outside of the community. I know in the
community there were baseball teams that were formed that played other communities,
but I did not participate in any of those events.

JM:

Was there a Japanese language school?

EA:

There was for a time and my parents sent me there but I wasn’t too interested in learning
Japanese and so my parents kind of gave up. So after a year or so, I stopped going.

JM:

But you spoke fluently at this time.

EA:

I wouldn’t say fluently, but you know, that was the only way we could converse with our
parents so naturally, we picked up whatever Japanese we had to know to communicate
with our parents.

JM:

Was there anything else taught in the Japanese school besides language?

EA:

Not that I recall—it was primarily learning Japanese, and that was it. But, of course for
us kids it meant uh, uh—

JM:

Extra school.

EA:

No, it meant having some time to play with other kids in the neighborhood. That’s what I
used to look forward to, more than going to learn anything.

JM:

In terms of your Japanese culture, what was passed down to you from your parents?

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EA:

ANDOW
I can’t say anything that was specific from the culture itself, the Japanese culture itself, of
course, they always said that the Japanese, they used the term “Gaman” which was
expressed quite regularly in the family. You had to put up with a lot that you didn’t want
to put up with. And of course—

JM:

Were you immersed in the food and—

EA:

Well, yes. Our diet was primarily Japanese, and of course, I was raised on it and I still
love Japanese food.

JM:

How about holidays, Japanese holidays? Did you celebrate American and Japanese
holidays? Or (inaudible)—

EA:

I don’t recall ever celebrating a Japanese holiday. I remember—I think in one location I
remember that—I don’t know what holiday it was, but it was a Japanese holiday we
celebrated at the church, but I can’t recall what it was for.

JM:

So, it sounds as though your parents, in coming over to California wanted you to be
immersed in the culture here, versus both cultures in celebrating, is that—

EA:

Yes, definitely, they wanted us to always emphasize the fact that we’re in America, and
we’re going to be Americans so, uh—

JM:

They made it a question during the holidays, and um—

EA:

Right, and with our—well, like the Fourth of July was kind of a great event for us kids,
and of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, New Year’s was so-so. It wasn’t
celebrated with any great emphasis.

JM:

In going back to the church that was one of the foundations for the community, what
religion was that?

EA:

That was the Methodist religion.

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ANDOW

JM:

So, there again, it wasn’t the Buddhist religion?

EA:

No. The Buddhist religion never took hold here in the community. There was only one
church and everybody seemed to join that church.

JM:

In looking back, do you—? That’s interesting. Did you find that unusual that they
wouldn’t bring their religion?

EA:

Yeah, in fact, a lot of people point out the fact that in most other Japanese communities,
there is a Buddhist church with perhaps a Christian Protestant church. But in this
community, we were an exception in that we only had one church.

JM:

Um-hm, let’s talk about school, a little bit. What school did you and your family go to?

EA:

Of course, we went to grammar school in Cressey which was about a mile and a quarter
from home, and we used to walk it every morning.

JM:

And how did you feel about school?

EA:

Well, I kind of looked forward to going to school, because you know, it means being with
friends, and we certainly enjoyed whatever play we could find to participate with them.

JM:

Did you find school challenging?

EA:

I never did find these grammar schools or high school as challenging, of course we
always strived to get good grades, and our parents always made it a point that they put an
emphasis on that.

JM:

So, did they take an active role in school?

EA:

No, they never took an active role; they were always wanting to know how we were
doing, primarily through our report cards, and as a rule I could bring home a fairly decent
report card.

JM:

So your remembrances of the school were positive, on the whole.

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ANDOW

EA:

I would say they were very positive.

JM:

Do you remember how you were treated at school, and playmates, were they primarily
Japanese?

EA:

Interestingly, in my class, I think we had fourteen students, and out of the fourteen I think
nine were Nisei. So, my close friends were all Niseis, although, you know we had some
Caucasian friends, too.

JM:

So did you all play together, as it was a small class?

EA:

We always played together.

JM:

Okay.

EA:

It never occurred to us that there would be a difference in races, in that we always played
together and didn’t give it a second thought, actually, well, at least, while we were in
grammar school.

JM:

And would you have Caucasian friends over, and vice versa?

EA:

My friends would come over; I had a couple of Caucasian friends that were in my class
that would come over. But, they wouldn’t come over for dinner or things like that, just
for play, some in the afternoons, say.

JM:

And would you ever be invited over to their house?

EA:

I can’t ever recall being invited. Of course, we would go over to our friend’s place, but it
wasn’t that we were formally invited to a birthday party or anything like that. It was just
to go there to play.

JM:

So when you were in school was your identity of being Japanese-American, was that a
strong identity, or—no, you were just—you were just one of the kids?

9
EA:

ANDOW
I would say, at least in grammar school, we were “one of the kids.” I never really put any
emphasis on somebody being Asian, or somebody being white.

JM:

So, it’s the end of the school day, you and your sisters have dinner time—what would be
a typical dinner conversation?

EA:

Well, you know, we were fortunate in that respect. We loved to hear stories my dad used
to tell, and after dinner, I remember many, many evenings we would just sit at the table
for hours and listen to the kinds of stories that my dad had. He had all kinds of
experience with having been in the Navy, and having traveled throughout the earth, and
to England, and to New York. So, he had stories that I think in the process of telling
them over again, he would embellish a little bit, but it still was very enjoyable to listen to.
I used to be just—just—

JM:

Captivated?

EA:

Captivated by what he had to say.

JM:

And did he encourage—to hear stories from you and your sisters?

EA:

He was always interested in knowing what we might be doing in school, and naturally he
wanted us to keep good grades, so he was trying to let us know that he was aware of what
we were doing.

JM:

Now, how about your Mother, did she also—

EA:

Mother wasn’t quite as emphatic. I mean, she looked—she was always looking after our
well-being. She made sure that we had clothes to wear, and food to eat. And so I can’t
recall ever going really hungry, I—some kids used to tell me.

JM:

Uh-huh. So, it sounds like dinner time and that conversation, that communication was
really a key point in your family.

10
EA:

ANDOW
I think so. We were always a close-knit family; we always ate together at supper time.
Even—in fact, it just kind of carried over into our camp life when we went into Amache.
We always made it a point to eat together as a family.

JM:

If there was an issue, for any one of you—let’s say something happened in school, or
there was a challenge—was that also shared at the dinner table?

EA:

I don’t think our—we—I don’t recall having to—making a point to share our problems
with our parents, because usually there were little problems between kids, and we would
be kind of embarrassed to have our parents come into our problems and trying to iron
them out with other kids. We always solved our problems within our age group, I would
say.

JM:

So, would you talk to friends about problems?

EA:

Oh, I would—we wouldn’t talk about—I don’t ever recall talking about family problems
with our friends, but uh—

JM:

Not necessarily family problems, but just problems with friends at school, or typical
things.

EA:

Oh, I think we did, I—yeah, and looking back, I kind of felt kind of sorry for some kids
that kids made it a point to bully, which I don’t recall having participated in it, but at least
I didn’t try to protect these kids. So, I never did speak up, and I’m sorry that I didn’t.

JM:

Um-hm. What were the teachers like? Were they all Caucasian?

EA:

All my teachers were Caucasians; however, I never noticed any discrimination against us
just because we were Japanese. In fact, we got to know our teachers quite well, and we

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ANDOW
used to visit with them even after we—I say we, my sisters and I—we used to visit with
our teachers even after we got out of grammar school.

JM:

Now you’re a teenager, what lies ahead in those years, you know?

EA:

As a teenager, I think work was our primary concern. I recall coming home from high
school and I was going out to the field to work until it got dark. It was work, work, work.
I didn’t participate in any sports—I would have liked to, but I realized, too, that my
parents were having a hard time, being the Depression years, that as much as I would
have liked to have been doing something else, I always made it a point to go out in the
fields and help.

JM:

Was that pretty much the same for your friends, they were also—

EA:

I wouldn’t say—in fact I think our family probably worked harder than anybody—at least,
in seeing what the neighbors were doing. Of course, we were a little bigger operator in
that we owned a few more acres than most of the others, that uh—

JM:

And are you still primarily, at this point, in grapes?

EA:

Yes, in fact, during that time it was all grapes.

JM:

And so that’s very labor intensive.

EA:

Right.

JM:

And the high school you went to—that was which one?

EA:

I went to Livingston High School being uh, part of the district of—it was almost a
compulsory thing, because there wasn’t any other high school to go to, actually.

JM:

And in grammar school, it was over 50 percent Japanese in your particular class of
fourteen. Was that a similar experience, in high school?

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EA:

ANDOW
In high school I would say, out of a student body of somewhere between 375 to 400,
about 125 were Japanese. So, somewhere about a quarter of the student body was made
up of Japanese.

JM:

Yeah, and how were you feeling in high school about being Japanese-American? Was it
the same sense that you had in grammar school?

EA:

It was a little different in that when you get—when we got to high school you had a little
bit more of an inferiority complex, primarily I guess, because we were physically smaller
than Caucasians. And you know, they would be able to play football, but the Japanese
kids would be able to play certain sports that didn’t require the physical strength, like
they had basketball teams, and I think the D team was made up of kids under so many
pounds, and the D teams were usually made up of Japanese kids. And then, you move up
to the C class, and maybe about 50 percent of the kids were Japanese, and then you get
into the B class, and then maybe one or two. And you need to get to the A class, and the
so-called prime teams were made primarily up of Caucasians.

JM:

So there is that physical distinction. Was there any distinction in other ways of being
Japanese, of feeling inferior in terms of academics?

EA:

In academics, usually the Japanese were the ones on the honor rolls and school
valedictorians, and I think there was a certain amount of resentment among Jap—I mean,
among Caucasians, that Japanese kids did better academically in school.

JM:

And in terms of the community now being a mixture of Japanese and Caucasians, what
were your remembrances of how inclusive the community was in tolerance of different
ethnic races?

13
EA:

ANDOW
I think when we got to high school, the separation became more conspicuous. Japanese
stuck with Japanese, and Caucasian stuck with their group and I noticed, too, that what
few Mexicans were in the student body at Livingston High, they stuck together, too.

JM:

So, it’s almost like a silent rule.

EA:

Yeah, right. You become self segregated, actually, is what happens.

JM:

Were there any interracial dating?

EA:

I can’t recall of any interracial dating.

JM:

And did you and your friends date in high school?

EA:

In high school—I guess it’s different now but, in our days, it never occurred to us, at least
to many of us, to go out and date. I can’t recall too many of the fellows doing that.

JM:

So, it was basically go to school, go home and work. And, okay.

EA:

That’s right.

JM:

Now is the church still a strong foundation in particularly in your family? Is it still
playing a strong role during teenage years?

EA:

Ah—My dad always was—I think my dad was a charter member of the church, and while
we were growing up he was quite a devout churchgoer, but as we got into high school
and gone down to college—more and more I would say he kind of not moved away, but
didn’t get involved in church as much he used to. And so naturally, we didn’t get
involved, as kids, we didn’t get involved as much either.

JM:

Since the family as you recall, was very cohesive as you were in elementary grades, and
now you’re in high school, do you still have those wonderful dinnertime conversations?

EA:

I would say as we got into high school—of course, by the time I got into high school my
older sister was going on to college—so then college involving a lot of homework, and

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ANDOW
high school, too, involved a lot more of homework than, well, being in grammar school—
I would say those evening family dinner conversations weren’t quite as frequent as they
were when we were growing up, as grammar school kids.

JM:

But, were they still a big part of your family?

EA:

They were a big part still, because we always—my dad always wanted to know what was
going on in school with us, and naturally, in those days we didn’t have radio or television,
so if we weren’t studying, or doing chores, we had to do a lot of communicating with
each other.

JM:

And it’s now your senior year in high school and education is very important to the whole
family, so you’re looking at college. What are you thinking, and what are you wanting,
and what are your dreams at this point?

EA:

Well, in growing up it was always emphasized that we had to go to college. I don’t know
that it was so much that we wanted to go, but that we had to go. So, we just took it as a
matter of course that we were going to go. And naturally, that involves doing fairly well
in high school, so I think that we put a lot of emphasis—or at least, my parents did put a
lot of emphasis on getting good grades, so that there wouldn’t be any problems going to
college.

JM:

And what did you want to do? What intrigued you?

EA:

Well, you know, I’ve always been interested in airplanes. And my ambition was to go on
to college and get an engineering degree in aeronautical engineering. Although, at that
time, I was not aware of what all was involved, it just seemed like aeronautical
engineering—you designed the shape of an airplane. But of course, in those days, being

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somewhat naïve, I thought well, you go to college and uh, draw pictures of airplanes and
you can become an aeronautical engineer.

JM:

And what was the catalyst for the fascination with airplanes, especially in a rural area?

EA:

I don’t know what it was but I think one of the primary things that turned me that way,
were these dusters, the planes that used to come and dust fields. And they used to
fascinate me so much and I—and whenever there was a plane in the area that was dusting,
I would hop on my bike and go out there and watch them.

JM:

And were your parents encouraging about becoming an aeronautical engineer?

EA:

No, uh, my parents never encouraged—I think they always thought I would eventually
end up being a farmer. But, they never encouraged my becoming an aeronautical
engineer.

JM:

Were they encouraging in another major?

EA:

Well, one thing is that they thought perhaps—well, during the time we were growing up,
Nisei kids would go to college and get a college degree and yet, they couldn’t find jobs in
their field. And, uh—

JM:

And why was that?

EA:

It comes down to discrimination. And uh—

JM:

So, were you hearing this back in the community—

EA:

Well, you know my parents—I myself, didn’t hear it, but then my parents were aware of
it, and they thought that if it got to a point where the whole family had to go back to
Japan—that was not in our plans in any way, but they thought that if it ever came to a
point where we had to go to Japan, it would be quite advantageous to me if I had an

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engineering degree. That’s why they encouraged me to go to Stanford, which was highly
respected in Japan even during those days.

JM:

So, did they see this as a ticket off of the farm?

EA:

No, I don’t think they looked at it as a ticket off the farm, because they wanted us to be
American, and they always emphasized that, and that’s why we didn’t get involved in
Japanese culture at all as we were growing up.

JM:

So they saw this as: this is the American way, and you go to college.

EA:

Yeah, if it ever got to a point where we couldn’t make a living in the United States,
another alternative might be Japan, but there were no plans, as such.

JM:

So, from high school, then you went to—

EA:

From high school, I went to Modesto Junior College; my parents certainly couldn’t send
me to Stanford—couldn’t afford to send me to Stanford all four years, so, junior college
served as kind of a stepping stone to the next move. In fact, all my sisters did the same
thing. They went to junior college first, and then went on to the university.

JM:

So, from Modesto you went to Stanford, and that’s a major move. Modesto is fairly close
to here; that would take you about, what, an hour in those days, to get to Modesto?

EA:

In fact, when we were going to Modesto Junior College, there were about four of us Nisei
in the same—graduated with the same class at Livingston High and so we all went to
Modesto Junior College. And we used to drive up every day to—

JM:

You would carpool.

EA:

Yeah, with a carpool, naturally, we would take turns driving there. My sisters did the
same thing.

JM:

And your sisters—they all went on to college.

17
EA:

ANDOW
Yes, three of my sisters graduated from University of California and my youngest sister,
she was in college, in fact, she was at junior college when the war broke out. So, she
couldn’t finish. She couldn’t go on to a university here, but when we got into camp she
went on to Wesleyan University in Nebraska, and then transferred to Boston University,
from which she eventually graduated.

JM:

Well, starting at Stanford was a major change in your life, a brand new city—

EA:

It was really—it—

JM:

A residential experience on campus, is that where you were?

EA:

Right, and so I had a rather unfortunate experience when I first went to Stanford. When I
got on campus and entered my dormitory, somebody hollered, “Hey, Eric!” And I didn’t
know that anybody would know me, and when I turned around and said, “Yes?” This
fellow said, “I got a room with a roommate that’s a Jap.” Just like that. And he had
found out. I didn’t know what kind of a roommate I was going to have, but he had found
out that his roommate was going to be Japanese.

JM:

And how did you feel?

EA:

I—you can’t imagine how I felt.

JM:

No.

EA:

I didn’t even want to face him, actually. Because, at the time he just hollered to me and
in front of, oh, I would say there were fifty people in the room, and he said, “I have to
room with a Jap.” And um—

JM:

And this was a room of Caucasian people in there (inaudible.)

EA:

Yeah, all Caucasians, and he—and we were assigned a room together, and then he made
it so miserable for me. He would turn the radio—and in fact, in the mornings, he was

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ANDOW
“hashing,” you know, working in one of the mess halls. He gets up early in the morning.
He would turn the radio on real loud, early in the morning, and he would use everything
that I had, and so it made it really uncomfortable for me. And he himself requested a
room change, and they found a room for him in another room. And so, I roomed there
for awhile by myself. Then the university found me a single room, which I was glad to
move into.
Then this fellow—he was not from a well-to-do family. You can see he had no
college whatsoever. But, he was going to—he got a football scholarship, but, he didn’t
make the A team, he made the junior varsity, and he wasn’t much of a scholar to begin
with I guess, but I don’t know how he got to Stanford. Anyway, after one quarter, he got
kicked out because of his grades. And ironically, after he moved out he never apologized
to me, but he would approach me about certain things. In fact, he approached me once to
borrow some money. Well, I wasn’t going to lend him any money. But, he never
apologized to me. Although, once he wanted to introduce me to his girlfriend, and she
was the nicest gal, I thought, and I just met her that one time, but he made it a point to
bring her to me and introduce me. (laughs) But, like I say, he never apologized to me.
But, in one quarter they got rid of him, so I never have seen him since.

JM:

Do you know where his anger or his prejudice came from, or why he—?

EA:

I have no idea where it might have come from, I guess maybe the—of course, you know
and in that period of time, Japan was being aggressive in China and Manchuria, and I
guess that sort of thing was kind of overflowing to the U.S. newspapers, and he was
getting a lot of that aggression from the—

JM:

From the media.

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ANDOW

EA:

Yeah, from the media.

JM:

How about the other students, your other classmates, did you sense a similar type of
feeling?

EA:

No, it’s even—well, see I was—when Pearl Harbor came, I was in my first quarter at
Stanford, and uh, we were just getting ready for our first quarter finals, and so it was a
miserable time. But other students treated me real well, and I had no other problems with
the others.

JM:

Did you make friends with them?

EA:

I made friends with quite a few people, although, I’ve lost contact with them. Although,
it was a different story, it’s you know—well, maybe we can get back to this later, after
when I went back to Stanford, because there was the interim of the war.

JM:

So, let’s talk about—Pearl Harbor just happened. What were you thinking when you
heard this?

EA:

Well, it was really—it was devastating. You became so conscious of your race.

JM:

Your identity, yeah.

EA:

Yeah, and I remember I was reading the paper and listening to the news, and here this
news comes on the air and then I had to go to lunch, and it seemed to me that as I walked
on campus everybody was looking at me, and I’m sure nobody was aware of what was
going on, but it just felt that I was being looked at.

JM:

Especially because there weren’t a lot of Japanese on campus—

EA:

I guess that’s one reason, but, you know college kids as a whole are very liberal and
they’re (inaudible.) You don’t find much discrimination on campus.

JM:

Except, unfortunately, that very first incident.

20

ANDOW

EA:

Yeah, of course we got rid of him fairly soon.

JM:

Right. Were there thoughts about—concerns about your family? You’re so many miles
away from home now.

EA:

Yes, because naturally, you know, you figure there’s going to be some anti-Japanese
feelings, and here I am in the midst of my finals, and I couldn’t study, and then we would
have blackouts. Every night was black out.

JM:

Oh.

EA:

All of the windows were covered over with black material.

JM:

So it was physically—there was this reminder physically every minute of the day.

EA:

Right. And then there would be false alarms. We would hear sirens going off in the
night, and all of the lights would go out and so it was really a very unpleasant time of my
life.

JM:

Right, and with the paranoia throughout the land.

EA:

Right.

JM:

Yeah. And you were how old at this point as a junior?

EA:

As a junior I was nineteen.

JM:

And what happened now with the war and the relocation effort and being at school?

EA:

Well, I wanted to come home. Here’s another thing: we had to get permission to travel
any distance, I think it was ten miles. So, me living on campus, I had to get permission to
travel.

JM:

So, anybody had to get permission.

EA:

No, the Japanese.

JM:

Just Japanese.

21

ANDOW

EA:

Yeah, just Japanese. And I was wondering how I was going to get home, of course—

JM:

Well, how did you feel about that? Now suddenly having to have permission just to go
someplace?

EA:

Well, it’s a most uncomfortable feeling, now that you’re always having this feeling that
you’re Japanese, so they’re looking at you. But, I got permission to come home—I mean,
to travel, but the problem was how to get home. I guess I could have taken the stage,
but—oh, that’s another thing, we used to call the buses “stages.”

JM:

Okay.

EA:

But a fellow that lived just two miles from here was attending Stanford, and he graduated
from Livingston High School, so he offered me a ride home.

JM:

Japanese?

EA:

No, Caucasian.

JM:

Caucasian.

EA:

Yeah, Caucasian. And his mother was a school teacher and he was a couple of years
younger than I was, but he liked being with the Japanese. He was attending the Japanese
language school here in Livingston, and so he offered me a ride home because his father
was coming up, and so—

JM:

So that was a great relief.

EA:

Yeah, it was really a relief.

JM:

And this is after finals, though?

EA:

This is after finals and just before Christmas, and I, myself, decided I wasn’t going to
come back for another quarter, even if I was allowed to. But when I got home and talked
to my parents and at the time—

22

ANDOW

JM:

Because you wanted to be home with your family?

EA:

Yeah, I naturally, you know, you want to be home with the family at the time and help
out, but my parents felt that—well, at that time there wasn’t talk of evacuation yet, so
they talked me into going back for the winter quarter. So, I went back for the winter
quarter. I believe—well, I don’t know how I got back to the campus, but I got back
and—but it was the most miserable quarter, with so much uncertainty.

JM:

Right.

EA:

And my friends were being drafted right and left and the kids were really—got to a point
where they didn’t give a damn.

JM:

Right.

EA:

And so kids were failing; the A students were getting much lower grades, and it was—

JM:

It was such a time of uncertainty.

EA:

It was very much so. And so in that kind of atmosphere, you just couldn’t function
properly, being a student.

JM:

Right.

EA:

And we had these blackouts and all of these blackouts and evacuation exercises, and so
forth, and you think, we’re doing all of this because of the Japanese, and so being
Japanese, it made me more self conscious.

JM:

Did you ever talk about that to any of your classmates? Did it ever come up in
discussion?

EA:

No it really didn’t. I guess I really didn’t want to discuss that. There was one other
fellow, a Japanese fellow in my dormitory, and the second quarter—he tried to stick it out
the second quarter, too. The fellow—he was from a well-to-do family, because he had

23

ANDOW
his own car, you know, a brand new car. But I guess things got to him too, because his
grades just plummeted, and he couldn’t have gone back for the third quarter anyway.

JM:

So, at what point now is relocation?

EA:

Well, there still wasn’t talk—oh yes, there was talk of relocation. Some of the Japanese
farmers along the coast were being encouraged to relocate elsewhere. But we didn’t
think at the time that it would be such a mass evacuation of the Japanese, because they
were dividing areas from which Japanese would have to leave and these areas are
primarily along coasts, and so up until spring we didn’t think that it would involve us. In
fact, we got requests from families in the Bay Area that knew us, that wanted to move
into our area. Fortunately, we didn’t encourage them, because eventually we would have
to move anyway.

JM: So when did you get the notification that your family would have to move into relocation?
EA:

I don’t recall exactly when, but I think we got an inkling of what might happen in early
April, and—

JM:

So you left school, then?

EA:

No, I stuck it out for the whole quarter and I recall—I don’t know what kind of permit
Mabel had to get but she drove the car, the family car up to Stanford, and—

JM:

And Mabel was your oldest sister?

EA:

Yeah, and she came and picked up all my things and we came home. Then, in May it
was pretty definite that we were going to be evacuated.

JM:

And where were you relocated; where was the evacuation happening?

EA:

Well the assembly center, which there were quite a number in California, but we were
relocated to the one in Merced, at the Merced Fairgrounds.

24
JM:

ANDOW
So you are having to try and put the farm in order, and turn to finding somebody to look
after it?

EA:

Yeah, you know, kind of a community thing is that—oh, the farm co-op kind of got some
people to take care of the farms, and in our case, well, in our case too, we had started to
build a home, a new home in about September of ‘41. And even at that time, we had to
get permits for this, permits for that, because of the wartime situation. And we had
gotten all of the materials to build the house with, and so we started building a home, and
it was finished oh about the end of April. A brand new home, and so we thought well,
we’re going to have to be evacuated anyway, but let’s move in. So we moved into an
empty home just prior to—in fact, I think we lived in the home two weeks and then we
had to evacuate.

JM:

Did any of this seem real at the time?

EA:

Well, you know, up until the very end I thought that it could never happen.

JM:

Can’t happen.

EA:

It just wouldn’t happen. But, it did, and we were—I was really devastated. I went into
camp. When I went into camp, I know I laid out my cot, I think I lay on my cot for a
whole week, not even wanting to go eat or do anything. But finally I faced up to the fact,
that well, we’re going to be here a while so I’ve got to do something.

JM:

And what were your parents’ demeanors during your stay?

EA:

Well, like I say, being in a Japanese attitude is “Shigata ganai” which means “you can’t
help it, so you’ve got to put up with it.”

JM:

Were they or was your father a presence in terms of keeping the family united and—

25
EA:

ANDOW
Yeah, my Dad, I’ve always known him to be a strong person, and he never expressed any
weakness, at least, I guess he never did show it to the family. And so I would say—

JM:

So, that was a great challenge to you just to be—

EA:

Yeah, more than anything else, I think it was my father’s strong character that kept us
together and kept us sane, actually.

JM:

Um-hm. So the whole family was able to be (inaudible) at the camp together.

EA:

Yeah, my mother was rather emotional, but my Dad has always been strong and he
always had a knack for planning things, and looking back on it now I have to really hand
it to him being such a person.

JM:

You could always take with you what you could carry, is that correct?

EA:

Right. That is correct.

JM:

Do you remember you had very little time to pull together your thoughts, and what you
were going to take with you. Do you remember what you brought?

EA:

Well, the only thing I can recall is that we wanted to take our clothes naturally, that was
our primary concern, and you know, we had to leave things like the radio, and I can’t
recall taking anything else, other than clothes and maybe some toilet articles.

JM:

How long were you at the assembly center; were you in Merced.

EA:

We went into the assembly center, I think it was about May 12, and I’m not sure of the
exact date, but the people that were going to run the farm while we were gone took us to
the assembly center in our car. In fact, we had a relatively new car and they took us to
the assembly center, and we were directed to these old tar—they were new, but they were
just tar-paper shacks with only a piece of plywood dividing apartments, so on top of the

26

ANDOW
clear opening all the way—so if somebody hollered at one end you can hear at the other
end.

JM:

So no privacy.

EA:

No privacy whatsoever. It was really depressing.

JM:

Especially being such a private culture, too.

EA:

It was the most depressing experience I ever had.

JM:

And you were there how long?

EA:

They started moving people out—we went there in may, and they started moving people
out to the concentration camp in Amache, Colorado.

JM:

So when did you know you’d be going to Colorado?

EA:

We started hearing rumors I think it was just prior to when they started moving people
out, and I think two of my sisters volunteered to go with the first group to get the camp
ready. They wanted to have a certain kind of people to go there before the others and
organize things. So, I think, Mike and Jake I think, went ahead.

JM:

So that’s difficult because now the family’s being—even though you know you’re going
to be together—

EA:

Yes.

JM:

Now you’re being divided.

EA:

Well, in a way, we heard that the relocation camps or the concentration camps were much
better than the facilities we had, in Colorado so—I mean, Merced, so we were kind of
looking forward to going.

JM:

So it sounds like the most opportunities for communication was through the rumor mill,
somebody knows something—

27

ANDOW

EA:

Oh, yes.

JM:

There was no official—

EA:

Rarely ever hear it official news, it was always rumors, and you could hear the wildest
kind of rumors.

JM:

(laughs) Which adds to the feeling of uncertainty.

EA:

Yeah, it did add to the uh—right. And then I got a job. Well, then I had to do something
in camp to keep me occupied so I joined the fire department, and being a member of the
fire department I didn’t leave the assembly center until the last group. So, I think we
went on—my two sisters went first, and then I think, my parents, and then Mabel and
Chow(??) went with another group, and then I went with the last group.

JM:

And there are loyalty questions twenty-seven and twenty-eight.

EA:

Yes, that raised a lot of controversy in our camp. At first, we were instructed not to
answer those questions.

JM:

Instructed by whom?

EA:

Oh, by the people in our so-called blocks, and um, because we heard rumors that if you
signed, if you said “yes” on both of them, it means you were going to volunteer for the
Army. We heard—I don’t know if we ever—I never knew it for a fact, or not, but if you
initially signed “yes” on both of them, then they handed you a volunteer-for-the-army
application. I’ve never known that to be a fact, but that’s what the rumor was, and there
was—after a lot of discussion, I finally signed “yes” on both. But they never handed me
a volunteer application, so I guess that rumor was untrue, but—

JM:

And did you make that choice yourself?

28
EA:

ANDOW
Well, you know, you’re among colleagues, and you kind of wonder what they are going
to do, so I think all of my friends did sign “yes, yes.”

JM:

Okay, and now through this, how are you feeling about your Japanese identity?

EA:

Well, up until this point you feel, how can they question your—

JM:

Loyalty.

EA:

Loyalty. But when we got questionnaires like that I started to wonder what was
happening. I mean, why could they question our loyalty, when we’d never done anything
contrary to being loyal to the U.S. But seeing things simmer down, and then we started
hearing—well, we started hearing not rumors, but the facts that the FBI were clearing
certain people to leave camp if they applied. So, naturally, I was so anxious to leave that
I applied, and in June I guess of ’43, I got my permission to leave camp.

JM:

And by camp, meaning Amache?

EA:

Amache.

JM:

Okay.

EA:

And then at that time, I thought, oh, good thing I answered “yes, yes” on most of my
questions. So uh, well actually Chow(??) left to go to school.

JM:

That’s your youngest sister.

EA:

Yeah, my youngest sister. She was helped by the Quakers and was able to go on to
college. But I never had any plans on wanting to go to college from camp, because I
wanted to go back to Stanford and finish there.

JM:

What was camp life like?

EA:

It was really depressing, but you get to a point where you know you’re going to have to
put up with it. So I joined—I applied for a job at the engineering department and uh, at

29

ANDOW
least to keep myself occupied, and at least I didn’t go berserk or anything knowing that at
least I got to come and do to keep me occupied and not think about being evacuated all of
the time.

JM:

So this would be out of camp arose the Japanese community—

EA:

Pardon?

JM:

Out of camp arose the Japanese community, where there were different functions to
participate in.

EA:

Right, uh the camp—

JM:

Like in the engineering department.

EA:

Yeah, camp itself was self-sufficient in that they used people that were in the camp to
keep the thing going.

JM:

Did you serve in the Armed Forces?

EA:

Yes uh, well this—there is a little bit more to that, in that I got permission to leave camp
in June of ’43, and I heard that Cincinnati might be a good destination where I could find
a job. So, in fact, several of us applied to leave, and a couple of the fellows in the
engineering department got their permission to leave a couple of days before I did, so
they moved, went on to Cleveland—I mean Cincinnati to a Quaker’s hostel.
And then Mabel got her permit to leave, so Mabel and I left camp together, and
she had a friend. She was going to Boston with her friend, and I was going to Cincinnati
with my friend. Then, on the train we had a real uncomfortable situation, and some
drunk saw me and he was just as drunk as anything, and he came up to me and called me
“a Jap” and said all kinds of—and I was sitting next to the window, and then there was a
G.I. in uniform sitting right next to me, and he got up, picked that guy up and took him

30

ANDOW
out (laughs) and I don’t know where he put him but he—so I was real grateful to him.
But that was the only unpleasant experience I had after leaving camp. I went to
Cincinnati and I couldn’t find any work there, at least, something I wanted to do.
So we heard that Cleveland was—being an industrial town it’s an easier place to
find a decent job—so I went on to Cleveland, and they had a WRA office there and they
had reserved hotel rooms for us evacuees, at a hotel. And so I went up there and it wasn’t
long before I found something to do. And my two friends that had gone to Cincinnati
prior to my leaving, they came with me, and they went to Cleveland, too, and then so one
of them—he and I roomed together, and he worked elsewhere, but I worked in a war
plant. He was working—well, it was kind of a war plant in that they were making model
airplanes, and they were using these to familiarize observers as to what the enemy
airplanes looked like and what friendly airplanes looked like.

JM:

Okay, it’s almost ironic that you (inaudible.)

EA:

Right, it’s really ironic that here I couldn’t go back to California, but I go to Cleveland
and I get to work in a defense plant, and no questions asked. But, then after I worked
there awhile, an FBI agent came to see me, and he had the whole history on me.

JM:

Oh.

EA:

So they made it a point to come to Cressey—

JM:

Wow.

EA:

And talk to the schoolteachers and talk to the neighbors. I was surprised how extensive
the—

JM:

The dossier on everybody is—

31
EA:

ANDOW
Yeah, and then he didn’t say much but after he left, well, my boss calls me in and he says,
uh—

JM:

Oh, so he approaches you at the plant?

EA:

Yeah, at the plant, after I started. They didn’t give me a clearance before. I mean, they
gave me a clearance to get out of camp—

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

But they didn’t give me a clearance to work in a defense plant. But after the interview—
the FBI agent didn’t say much of anything, just asked me these questions to confirm the
information that he had on me, but our boss called me in and he says—well, we were
making B-25 wheels, and we weren’t actually making them but we were processing them.
It wasn’t a very big plant, but my boss calls me in and he says, “You know, we’re
processing these B-25 bomber wheels, but don’t count how many we do a day.” And it
never occurred to me to even count as to how many we were doing in a day, but then
when he told me that, then you become aware of the fact that you’re doing these things,
and even if you aren’t counting them you know. But, actually, I wasn’t going to give out
that kind of information to anybody, so it didn’t matter. But then, it’s really a funny thing
when you think about it.

JM:

Um-hm. Did the chatter of your fellow workers change after the FBI agent came?

EA:

Well, from the very start they were really good to me. I mean, I was surprised. Of
course it’s interesting too, because one of the fellows that I worked with was a
naturalized German.

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

And then another one, he was American born, but he was Hungarian.

32

ANDOW

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

So, when I went there it was a big joke. They said, “Oh now the Axis is complete.”

JM:

(Laughs)

EA:

And so I got along with them real well.

JM:

Yes, it’s a different tolerance.

EA:

Yeah, and in fact there was one family—that I got to know the whole family. In fact,
when I was down in Irvine, I went to see their son, because he had come to visit me while
we were here.

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

Fortunately, I found this job, but it was another problem to find a place to live, and you
see these ads in the paper, so you go see the apartment and right away when they see you,
they’d say, “Oh, the apartment’s been rented.” I don’t know how many times—

JM:

Well, your last name, being Andow, doesn’t—

EA:

Yeah, that doesn’t give me away—

JM:

Until they see you.

EA:

Until they see me. And always, “Oh the apartment has just been rented.”

JM:

I’m interested. What type of questions was the FBI wanting to confirm?

EA:

Well, my education, and what kind of organizations I was ever a member of and gee, I
think they even asked me what kind of guns I owned. They ask you a lot of questions,
but nothing came of it. I guess I got a clean bill of health, so—but my Cleveland
experience was—I never, while I was in Cleveland, I never once was discriminated
against. I walked into certain restaurants, and always was served.

33

ANDOW
The only unpleasantness I had was I was working in the heart—our factory was in
the heart of the black town. I mean, everywhere—if you go there, it’s almost 100 percent
black. Well, from my bus stop to the plant was about a half a block. So I would walk
this distance, and wait at the corner for the bus to come, and these teenage black kids
would see me and they would never tell me to my face, but as they would go by you can
hear them saying things like, “Oh, why doesn’t that Jap go back to where he came from?”
And all kinds of disparaging remarks. Usually it involved teenagers, and they would
deliberately run into me—

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

And think it’s funny. And then they would be walking down the street, and maybe three,
four kids, and even girls, then they would push the outside girl against, and then the girl
would run into me. And they thought it was so funny. But naturally all I could do was
ignore them.

JM:

Um-hm.

EA:

But it was interesting in that—well maybe this is another story that we can continue later.
But anyway, I worked in Cleveland for just about a year. Then, I got drafted into the
service on—forgot what it was. I think it was in May of ’44.

JM:

You received this notice in the mail?

EA:

No, May of ’44, yeah. Well, that’s the funny part of it, too, because prior to that I got a
letter from the draft board that says, “Your deferment has been denied.” Well, I didn’t
apply for any deferment. If they drafted me, I was willing to go because kids my age in
the plant were being drafted and we were seeing them go, and I didn’t want to feel that uh,
I wouldn’t be drafted because of my race. But, anyway I got this letter from the draft

34

ANDOW
board saying that my deferment was deferred, application for deferment was deferred. I
mean, uh, denied.

JM:

Denied.

EA:

And I thought it was kind of funny, and then I was talking to my boss and he says, “Well,
you’re a defense worker, so we put in an application for deferment for you.”

JM:

Oh.

EA:

It never occurred to me—he did ask me—

JM:

(inaudible phrase, simultaneous talking)

EA:

He did ask me where or at what draft board I was registered with, and so this took me by
surprise, and then a few days later I get a notice to appear for my physical. So I had to go
to Indianapolis, Indiana and report to Benjamin Harrison [Fort Benjamin Harrison.]
When I reported they gave me a physical and they classified me 1A and put me on a socalled reserve list, and said, “We’re going to send you back until you uh—“

JM:

Recall you back to duty.

EA:

Yeah, and so I knew what that meant. They were going to recall me when the 442 was
ready for replacements, because it was happening to others.

JM:

Okay, and at that point, the 442 was the only um, group that the Japanese—or military
force that the Japanese could belong to?

EA:

Well, I guess that’s true because while I was in Cleveland I applied for the Air Force.

JM:

Oh.

EA:

And naturally I had to tell them in my letter, in my application, that I was Japanese. Well,
right away they send you back a letter saying, well, we have this 442 thing.

JM:

Oh, okay.

35
EA:

ANDOW
So, they don’t say, “We won’t accept you.” They just say, “Well, there’s this outfit that’s
being formed,” and so forth.

JM:

Right.

EA:

And then when I got that letter from—in fact, I took that letter. I don’t know where it is
now. So, I thought well I’ll volunteer for the Coast Guard, because there are always
recruiting stations around the Coast Guard. There were a lot of Coast Guard recruiting
stations, so I went there and they wouldn’t even consider me at all—wouldn’t even give
me an application, if I remember correctly. But anyway—

JM:

What were you hearing about the 442?

EA:

Well, naturally we were quite interested—well, I didn’t like the idea of being segregated.
I didn’t like the outfit being segregated. I mean, it just didn’t seem right to me.

JM:

And what reasons were they—or were you given a reason why?

EA:

No, I figured well, it’s the same old thing. Being Japanese, they’re suspicious of us, and
will put us in a group where they can keep an eye on us, and so initially when I heard that
there was being a separate unit being formed for just the Niseis alone, I resented it
because, just like the blacks, you know, being discriminated against. But this is another
story, but in time I thought, gee what a good idea, being in a separate unit.

JM:

And why was that?

EA:

Pardon?

JM:

And why was that?

EA:

Because we were picked on as a group and we could—

JM:

Prove—

36
EA:

ANDOW
Prove ourselves as a group. You know, if I were one individual in another outfit, say oh,
a Caucasian outfit, I couldn’t prove myself as—I could as an individual, but not as a
Japanese.

JM:

So this was very important to you, to prove your loyalty.

EA:

Yes, at the time I thought so. People after the war have asked me, “Isn’t it ironic that you
were put in a concentration camp, and yet you were drafted?” And I said, no I didn’t feel
that it was. I felt that it was my duty because I was working the defense plant, and all the
young fellows I was working with were being drafted. So I didn’t want to be excluded
from that group. Of course, if I were in camp and I got drafted maybe I would have had a
different outlook on it. But I remember going to a physical and I was so concerned. I
wanted to be sure that I passed my physical. But anyway after being put on reserve—I
was working at the time so I went to my boss and told him, “I haven’t been drafted into
the Army yet, but I know I’m going to be. So I’m going to go visit with my parents in
Connecticut.”

JM:

Okay, so they have done this interim relocation to Connecticut.

EA:

Yeah. Oh, that’s another story, but after I left camp— Let’s see my—I think Mabel and I
were—after Chow(??) went, Mabel and I went and my other two sisters went, left camp,
and then my parents were anxious to leave camp, too. So they got their permit to leave,
got hold of one I think it was about October of ’44, and so—no, ’43, this other camp ’4344. So it’s about October ’43, I think they left camp, and they went to Boston to live with
Mabel, and she arranged for them to stay at a Quakers’ hospital.
And from there, they were offered a job in Connecticut to work on a farm, and so
by then all of us were then—a year and a half after being evacuated, we were all on the

37

ANDOW
outside again. And my parents worked for this Quaker family in Connecticut, and they
were the nicest people, about the nicest kind of people you could imagine. My father
kind of helped them out. They called it a farm, but it was just a few acres where you
raised vegetables and mother helped in the house.

JM:

Okay, sort of redeemed your faith in their kind.

EA:

Really, that was really a nice experience, having met such nice people and finding out
how nice people could be, I guess. And so as soon as I got put on the reserve list I knew I
would be called back into the service, so I quit my job and went to Connecticut, and I had
worked for this company for just about a year. By the time I left, there were quite a few
evacuees who had moved into Cleveland, and this place where I lived, it wasn’t a—it was
a kind of a—an Italian lady had converted two homes into apartment units, and when I
went to apply for the apartment she had advertised, she didn’t seem to have second
thoughts about it, about my roommate and I being Japanese, and she said, “Yeah,” she’d
rent us the room. And then she found out that we paid rent every week on time and we
kept our apartment clean, and so before a month’s time she asked me, “Do you know any
other Japanese that might be interested?” And so another couple that my roommate
worked with, he was married, came and lived in one of the apartments, and I don’t know
how many units she had. She must’ve had about seven or eight units.

JM:

But they all became—

EA:

They all became Nisei. There were two houses that were all Nisei.

JM:

Which was also nice for you to have other Nisei around—

EA:

Yeah, and I was really appreciative to her, and she said, “You know, I’m of Italian”—or
her name was Senate(??) so she wasn’t married to an Italian, but she said, “You know,

38

ANDOW
my parents came here as immigrants, and when they first came they were so
discriminated against, that I felt that I wanted to help.”

JM:

Oh.

EA:

And so she was real good about it. But, from Cleveland I went on to Connecticut and
stayed with my folks in Connecticut, and they had their own home. This family had a—
what they called a country home, I guess they called it. But it was in a real nice
neighborhood, rolling hills and trees all around and—

JM:

Which was so special coming out of the camp life, to have again some semblance of—

EA:

Yeah, and this was out in the county where there were so many trees you couldn’t hardly
see that there were neighbors, and the neighbors were all nice, and so I think I worked
there for six weeks and then I got my notice to report.

JM:

And how did your parents feel about you being drafted?

EA:

Oh, my mother— (pause in recording)
To continue, I visited with my parents and I was there for six weeks, and then I got a
notice to report for duty so I went to Fort Devens, Massachusetts and from there—oh, I
stayed at Fort Devens for about another six weeks, and then they assigned me to Camp
Shelby, Mississippi. This was, I think, was about the early part of September, and
from—I trained at Shelby for thirteen weeks and it was December of ’44 that we were
told we would be going overseas. Even up until that point, we didn’t know we were
going as a replacement for the 442, but we knew darn well that was going to be the case.
But we left New York harbor, I think it was about the last day in December of ’44.
And it took us ten days to get to Glasgow, Scotland, and from Glasgow we went to the
English Channel, I believe it was Dover, from Dover we went to Sherberg, from Sherberg

39

ANDOW
we went to France—I mean, from Sherberg we went to Marseille, and from Marseille we
went to the French Riviera. And I was assigned to Cannon Company 442, Regimental
Combat Team, with six other—five other people. Fortunately, my name was Andow, so
being toward the top of the alphabet I was picked to join Cannon Company, which was
one of the best things that ever happened to me because it kept me away from the heat of
the battle, in that I joined an October unit, which usually that is behind the infantry, who
do all the dirty work.
Oh, my “baptism of fire” occurred the very day I joined the company. I was taken
to my company, and introduced to my captain, and as I was being introduced to my
captain I could hear shells coming over the mountain and landing a couple of blocks
behind us. So, I got really anxious. I was wondering why everybody just stood around
and not taking cover, and finally the captain says, “Oh, we don’t have to be concerned
because we’re behind a mountain here, and the shells will land behind us. They don’t go
straight up and then come right straight down.”
And then from there I was assigned to one of the gun sections, and went way up
into the mountains above the French Riviera.

JM:

As you were leaving—as you were leaving the US did you think this may be the last time
I see my family; this may be the last time I—just with the realities of war, was that heavy
on your mind?

EA:

I think that’s a concern of any G.I. that was going overseas. Uh, you kind of—there’s a
certain amount of excitement, knowing you are going into battle, and yet you’re always
concerned about survival. Of course, in a battle situation you have a lot of different kinds
of ideas.

40

ANDOW

JM:

The captain, or the officers that you served under—were they all Caucasian?

EA:

The commanding officer of our company is a captain, and he was Caucasian. We had
two Nisei lieutenants, and I think we had two Caucasian lieutenants.

JM:

And how did they treat the troops?

EA:

When you’re overseas, everybody is the same. I mean, it doesn’t make any difference as
to whether you’re small or big, or Asian or black. I think that everyone is treated equally,
within a company, anyway.

JM:

Can you share with us some of your experiences with being in Cannon Company?

EA:

Well, like I say, I was fortunate in that I never did get into the heat of battle, and that we
were always behind the infantry. The infantry always was ahead of us, and we never
moved into area that our truck couldn’t go. So, we each had sleeping bags and wherever
we were parked, we could sleep in the truck or anyway, we had more of the comforts that
the infantrymen didn’t have.

JM:

You were actually wounded during your service.

EA:

I wasn’t wounded, as such, from enemy action.

JM:

Injured.

EA:

Yeah, I was injured. That’s a better way to put it, in that we had the Germans on the run
in the last push and we would park our gun in one position at night, and during the day
we would fire and then at night, under the cover of darkness we would move up to our
next position, which was moving forward. And one night, it was pitch black, and I mean
it was black. And since we’re moving at night, and Germans are all around us on the
hills covering all the roads leading through the mountains, we were traveling in convoy.
One was the—these slit lights that were on the trucks, but unfortunately on one of the

41

ANDOW
curves, our driver missed the curve and went over an embankment. And I happened to be
riding in the back with I don’t know how many tons of shells and camouflage net and
when the truck turned over, all that ammunition fell on top of me.

JM:

Anything else from the war days?

EA:

I was sent to an Army hospital in Digormo(??) Italy, and this was in May, and during my
stay, my ten week stay at the hospital, the war ended. The war in Europe ended, and
President Roosevelt died, and Vice President Truman became president. And I believe it
was late June, after being in the hospital ten weeks that they released me to go rejoin my
company.

JM:

And when were you discharged from the Army?

EA;

I was discharged on July 27, 1946. I was called into active duty, July 27, 1944, so
exactly two years, to the day.

JM:

The Cannon Company has stayed or is a very close-knit company, where you have
reunions, and are able to see one another, and when the group gets together, do you talk
about the bonding experience, at all?

EA:

We rarely talk about our war experiences. We talk about experiences we had with each
other, but rarely about the war itself.

JM:

So the war has ended, you’ve been discharged, and what lies next for you?

EA:

Well, I got discharged in New Jersey, and I headed for home and I arrived here in August
of ’46. I was intending to come back and farm, in fact when I got home I had decided
that I wasn’t going to go back to finish my college education but I wanted to be my own
boss and start farming the family farm. However, my parents stated that since four of my

42

ANDOW
sisters had already gotten their college degrees, it was paramount that I get my degree,
too. So, I didn’t argue with them, and I went back to college.
I think, looking back on it, I’m sure glad I did. I met some nice people there.
After going back, I roomed with three veterans and there’s no—although one was a
Pacific war veteran—no indication of any animosity directed to me, in fact we’re all—we
became very good friends.

JM:

So, such a contrast. When you leave Stanford, it’s a very strong identity of being
Japanese and the uncertainty of what’s going to happen, and then you come back now as
a veteran—a much different feeling.

EA:

I think it was because of the veterans themselves that it was an entirely different
atmosphere on campus. We noticed that the freshman group which didn’t experience war
was entirely different from the more mature attitude of the veterans.

JM:

So you finished your studies at Stanford.

EA:

I finished—

JM:

In engineering.

EA:

Right. I got my B.S. in Engineering, in June of ’48, and it was my intention to come back
and take over the family farm.

JM:

So any regrets about your original dream of wanting to be an aeronautical engineer?

EA:

No, by the time I did my time in the Army, my goals in life were completely changed.
More than anything, I think I wanted to be my own boss, and do my own thing. Trying to
become a millionaire, or anything like that, which I would have liked to have done prior
to war didn’t hardly occur to me after the war.

43
JM:

ANDOW
So you graduate from Stanford, you return to the farm, and what is the community like.
And your family returning to the farm—was the farm as they knew it, still here?

EA:

In essence, the farm was still here and in tact, but fortunately we had some good people
taking care of it, so—although we lost economically, the farm itself was in pretty good
shape when we came back.

JM:

Just one final note on Stanford. Could you share with us the award that you received
many years later from Stanford? Or the recognition?

EA:

Uh, I wouldn’t exactly call it an award, but I guess it’s recognition of the Nisei students
that were there on campus at the outset of the war. There were apparently about twentyone of us on campus at the time, and when we did have our reunion, which was
sponsored by the Japanese-American students that were on campus at the time, which
was in 1992, I believe it was. We felt quite honored to be recognized as having stuck it
out, so to speak on campus. It was—we really felt good about it.

JM:

And the president of the university—

EA:

Yes, I got to meet the president of the university at the time, and I met a bunch of nice
students, wonderful people.

JM:

Now we’re back on the farm, and you have taken over the farm, is that correct, or are you
farming with your father?

EA:

Well, initially I was farming with my father, which occurred in about 1950, but he was
getting on in years, so in essence I took over the whole operation in 1952.

JM:

And when did you get married, and when did you start a family?

44
EA:

ANDOW
I met my wife—when was it—I think it was in the summer of ’51, and it didn’t take us
long before we decided that we were going to get married, and we got married on April
19, 1952.

JM:

And her name is—?

EA:

Mary, her maiden name: Mary Suzuki.

JM:

And is she from the community or how did you meet?

EA:

No, she was born and raised in San Francisco and at the time I met her, she lived in
Redwood City.

JM:

So quite a change for her to come to from there.

EA:

Yes, there was some concern on my part in that a city girl coming to live in the country,
but I was surprised how rapidly she adapted to this country life. Now, I think she
wouldn’t give it up for anything.

JM:

And you have how many children?

EA:

We have two children, a son, Larry and a daughter, Janet.

JM:

And are they, either one of them part of the Japanese-American community?

EA:

I would say my daughter, since she came back and she and her husband are going to
operate the family farm, and this community still being somewhat a Japanese community,
I would say that yes, she will be a part of the Japanese community. My son, on the other
hand, is a banker in San Francisco, and lives in San Rafael and he’s far removed from the
Japanese community, as such. Although, I understand he is a member of the JapaneseAmerican Citizen League. He is married to a Caucasian girl which makes more of a
situation where he wouldn’t be involved with the Japanese community.

45
JM:

ANDOW
And as you were raising the family, did you raise them in a Japanese culture? Did you
pass down that part of the heritage?

EA:

I think, unfortunately, I think that’s something that my wife and I should have done,
because when we were growing up we wanted to distance ourselves from anything
Japanese. But as we grew older and became aware of our Japanese heritage, we came to
appreciate what the Japanese culture has to offer. And now I look back on it and I think
well gee, it would have been nice if we would have handed down some of that to our
children, which we did not.

JM:

And in particular, what would you have like to have handed down?

EA:

Well, I think that for me, I would think that I love Japanese food, so along that line, I
think that’s something that we should have made our children more aware of, but there
are a lot of things like Japanese art—and not so much music, which I’m not too involved
with, but I think that would’ve been nice, too. And there are other things that the
Japanese are quite known for, perhaps something like the fact that we are referred to as
the Yamato minority. I’m kind of proud of the fact that we’ve been given that moniker.
But, I think that with our children it isn’t all that important.

JM:

And why do you think that’s so?

EA:

Because I think, growing up, our children were never too conscious of the fact that they
were Japanese. Their friends were Caucasian, like our son—I remember we said, “Don’t
you have a Japanese student in your class?” And he wasn’t even aware that such a
person even existed, although, we were aware, because we saw the name in some
newspaper.

46
JM:

ANDOW
Schooling and education were very important to your parents, and passing down that to
you, and equally so for you and your children?

EA:

Could you—

JM:

The importance of education?

EA:

Well, always, our primary focus was education, and we handed down that feeling, I think,
to our children.

JM:

And—I’m sorry.

EA:

We always insisted that—well, when our children were growing up, from the very years
that they could comprehend the fact that there was such a thing as college, they knew
they were headed for college.

JM:

And how did they do in school?

EA:

I would say my children did very well in school.

JM:

You’ve gone through so many different experiences, and particularly the war experience,
and your relocation. Have you passed—have you shared that with your children?

EA:

I really haven’t shared much of my war experience, or even the evacuation, I think we
should’ve made our children a little bit more aware of what we went through during the
war, but we were so depressed with the thought of evacuation and so forth, that we didn’t
want to burden our children with our experiences.

JM:

The Japanese-American community that you live in has evolved, and do you still feel a
part of that?

EA:

Uh, I think I feel more Japanese now than I did when I was growing up as a youngster.

JM:

Oh.

47
EA:

ANDOW
I think there are a lot of things that the Japanese could be proud of—when you look at the
world, we used to disassociate ourselves from Japan, and maybe not so much from the
Japanese people, but from Japan. But, when you see what Japan has accomplished, you
kind of get a certain amount of pride in knowing that that’s where our heritage is.

JM:

By being a part of the 442, I know many future—the next generations, the Sansei, and
generations beyond that feel a great deal of gratitude that it was because of the patriotism
and serving in the 442 that allowed the feeling that we just discussed about now being
proud of being Japanese. Do you feel that’s true, that you’ve paved the way for the next
generation?

EA:

I believe very much so, that that’s the case. Of course, I think in time we would have
been readily accepted even if we didn’t have the 442, but I think the 442 was kind of a
stepping stone toward that direction. I think our assimilation into the American lifestyle
came about more rapidly because of the 442.

JM:

It accelerated that.

EA:

Right, accelerated that process.

JM:

Okay. Well, moving now into today, into—what are the things that you’re especially
proud of, that makes you happy?

EA:

Well, for instance, I would say that my primary pride would involve my children and my
grandchildren.

JM:

And do you have family living close to you?

EA:

Yes, I have my daughter and my son-in-law, and two of my grandchildren living right
next door to me, which makes it very, very nice.

48
JM:

ANDOW
And on the opposite side of the coin, what are some of the things that keep you awake at
night?

EA:

Well, it’s a funny thing, but until I was—well, this is not keeping me awake so much at
night, but the evacuation and all the bad experience that went with it used to cause me
many nights of nightmares.

JM:

Oh.

EA:

It hasn’t occurred in—I would say the last three years. But, it would always be a dream
where my wife and I—although, I didn’t know my wife in camp, since I didn’t meet her
until after the war, but always had this nightmare about being in camp with my wife and
my children being on the outside, and my not being able to see my children. I don’t
know why that is, but that nightmare has occurred to me more often—

JM:

And up until fairly recently, too. We’re talking three years.

EA:

Yes, I would say it hasn’t happened in the last three years.

JM:

Redress and reparation: what are your feelings on that subject?

EA:

Well, when the redress thing began I wasn’t too concerned one way or another. The
monetary part of it really didn't concern me much, because I figured, well, we can do
without it. And since my wife and I have always been frugal with our expenses, and we
manage to invest quite a bit, so yes, we can live quite comfortably on what we have. But,
it meant a lot to me in—the apology part of it I think meant more to me than the financial
compensation that we got.

JM:

So it was almost like a closure to you at that time?

EA:

Yes, I would say, maybe not full closure, but I would say it was a direction towards
closure.

49

ANDOW

JM:

Um-hm. And what is still left, if that’s not full closure, might I ask?

EA:

Well, you still read in the papers about anti-minority activity and sometimes it involves
Japanese, and that kind of thing still bothers me. I don’t know what can be done to
eliminate that, but I guess with human nature, that’s not going to ever be eliminated.

JM:

What role do you see the Japanese-American playing in society and maybe to that point?

EA:

I think we’re in such a small minority, that we, as an individual, can’t do all that much,
although we have such people such as Robert Matsui and Dan Inouye and some others
that have made an influence in America, but I think we’re such a small minority that
we—within our minority we can do quite a bit for each other, but I can’t see where we
would be too much of an impression on the rest of the public.

JM:

If you could give advice to this generation, the youth of today, what would that be?

EA:

Well, I realize the youth of today are considerably different from the way we grew up,
but I think to become a homogenous society within the whole community is something
that we should strive for. I don’t think there should be—that there has to be select groups
and—of course, I realize that many people could help themselves, which they do not do.
On the other hand, I think the Japanese have done quite well in helping themselves, to a
point where—I read some statistics the other day where the Japanese—average salary of
the Japanese in this country is higher than the average salary of any other racial group.

JM:

So through all the adversity, and in a matter of a couple of generations—

EA:

Yeah, I would say we have to give each other a slap on the back. I think we did quite
well.

JM:

Is there anything else that you’d like to share? You’ve had a fascinating life, and—

50
EA:

ANDOW
Well, I can’t say my life was fascinating, uh, I think through the years, as I look back and
I think, Gee all the people I have met that perhaps in some ways have influenced my
life—I’m proud of the fact that I have some real good friends. I can’t say that I wanted it
to be any different. I would say that I’m quite happy with how things turned out.

JM:

All right, well if there’s nothing else, that completes this interview. Thank you, very
much.
END OF INTERVIEW

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Japanese Americans Set

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