By Julie Loomis
My father was born Hachi Fujisawa on February 18, 1927, in Rexburg, Idaho.
Both his father and mother came to Idaho from Hawaii but were born in Japan. Many Japanese worked the pineapple fields to save money and bring their bride over. There was a small community of Japanese who lived in Rexburg at the time, and they bought land to raise their children on. Dad grew up on a farm with his seven brothers and five sisters. Dad was close to his mother and had many fond memories of her. His mother and oldest brother caught typhoid in Japan and died. This left his Dad to raise 11 children.
Dad played basketball in Rexburg High School and had many friends. The Japanese children went to classes after school to learn about Japan so they would remember their culture. Most second-generation Japanese were proud to be Americans and showed it after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Liberty to Dad was living in America and was an American citizen. He was proud of his Japanese heritage, yet also proud of the country he lived in. This was devastating to the Japanese community, which was suddenly shunned by their neighbors and had their guns and radios taken.
Signs showed up in restaurants and other businesses saying No Japs Allowed. The brothers had to walk together in town for their own protection. His older brother volunteered to serve in the army. My Dad and the next oldest were also drafted. I asked Dad why he would serve in a country that rejected him, and he simply stated that it was “the right thing to do”. His youngest brother had joined the Mormon church and was excommunicated.
Yet they still believed in a country that didn’t believe in them.
At the same time, the place where Pearl Harbor was bombed did not round up all the Japanese and put them in relocation camps. They did put the ones who they thought were causing trouble, but for the most part, they just surveyed them. Executive Order 9066 was to take any Japanese citizen with 1/16 or more to internment camps along the West Coast. This included California, Washington, Oregon, and some parts of Alaska. The Japanese were given 48 hours to sell all their businesses, property and assets. They were only allowed one suitcase.
Can you imagine having 48 hours to put your possessions in one suitcase? The internment camps were drafty with little food and scarce facilities. Many Japanese felt abandoned and suicides were high among the men. Their sons were drafted to fight for the same country that imprisoned them.
Dad, like many of his generation, felt it was an honor to serve in the army. About 33,000 men served in the war and 800 died for a country that dishonored them. They trained with other minorities because they kept the races segregated. Dad served as a medic in a mixed-race group in Germany. Dad never really talked about his time in the army. That is not unusual. Many Japanese came back from the war or internment camps to a different world. Many were still shunned and had to start over. That could be why my Dad’s family changed their name to the maiden name of their mother. It was more American-sounding. Dad became Herch F Bingo. That was his name until he passed away.
Dad became an example of liberty to me. That may seem odd considering how he was treated. I believe he made his own liberty because he fought for this country, because he believed in liberty, and he succeeded. He owned land and married. He had three children and instilled in us the values he had. Work hard and you can have your own freedom.