What a journey we have traveled! We can congratulate ourselves for making it thru. Most of us were born in the years 1922 and 1923. In 1922 King Tut's tomb was found and Reader's Digest was first published; in 1923 the Charleston dance became popular; talking movies were invented.
When we entered the first grade, it was 1929. While we were oblivious to the stock market crash, we felt it in different ways. Our standard of living drastically changed. Additionally in that year the car radio was invented and the St. Valentine Massacre occurred. (Personally my family returned from Japan and we settled in Tracy.)
We graduated grammar school in 1937. While in grammar school we experienced the following:
1930—Planet Pluto was discovered and sliced bread became available. 1931—The Empire State Building was completed; the Star Spangle Banner became our national anthem. 1932—Amelia Earhardt flew solo across the Atlantic; Lindbergh's baby was kidnapped. 1933—Adolph Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany; prohibition ended in the U.S. 1934—Bonnie and Clyde were killed by police; Parker Brothers began selling the game "Monopoly." 1935—Social Security was enacted in the U.S. 1936—Hoover Dam was completed; King Edward VIII abdicated; Nazi Olympics were held in Berlin. 1937—And so we graduated West Park with one positive note: the Golden Gate Bridge was opened. The negatives were—Amelia Earhardt vanished; the Hindenberg disaster occurred; and Japan invaded China. (On a personal note, my Mother died.) 1937 thru 1941—We went to Tracy High School and while we were there Chamberlain announced "Peace in Our Time," first commercial flight was made over the Atlantic, the helicopter was invented; World War II began in Europe; nylons came on the market; Manhattan atom bomb project began; and Mount Rushmore was completed.
1941--We graduated high school and in December we receive the shock of our lives—the attack on Pearl Harbor. This changed completely the direction of our lives. U.S. entered the war. 1942 thru 1945 were the war years where each of us experienced what we could never have imagined was possible. Most of us came thru it somewhat scarred but whole. Japanese Americans were incarcerated in desert camps (I went to the desert in Arizona where my Father died); T-shirts were introduced; ball point pens went on sale; the Germans fired the V1 and V2; FDR died; the first computer was built; Germany surrendered; Hitler committed suicide; microwave oven was invented; the atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrendered; and the United Nations was founded. During those years I went to the University of Utah for my sophomore year and while there received my draft classification-1A-eligible for the draft. I quit school and went to Chicago to visit with my sisters while I awaited induction into the Army. After enough Nisei were accumulated, I was inducted in January 1945 and went for basic training in Florida in an all-Nisei training unit, then to the Engineer's OCS in Virginia. By this time both wars had ended and I went to occupation duty in Japan. I was a CIC (Counter Intelligence Corp) Agent, summarizing the SECRET reports of Northern Japan activities for General MacArthur’s G-4. Many of you were either in Europe or Asia. At our first meeting Jim Gillen, who was in the Navy, told me he had entered Tokyo Bay as one of the first American to enter Japan when Hirohito capitulated. I would be remiss if I didn't mention one outstanding happening following our return from the service: In 1946, it was just what we veterans needed to lighten our lives. I HAD TO maintain my swimming skills REQUIRING that I go periodically to the beaches, and INCIDENTALLY to take note of man's remarkable invention—the BIKINI. Yes, we have come thru almost to the period of replacement of body parts via stem cells. I may try a few if they become available, but just a few. With the kind of struggle, excitement, and joy that we all experienced and the peace we now feel, we should be content to just fade away when the time comes. In the meantime, be of good cheer…. God bless you all!