Interviews

1. Coming to California

2. Learning Japanese with the MIS

3. Meeting Hamako in Japan

4. Miscommunications

5. Writing Letters

6. Meeting Mr. Amano

7. Marriage and Returning to US

8. Reception of Hamako by family

Harry Schneider

(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

Coming to California

When I was drafted I had to report to an armory and there were all kinds of soldiers and the armory was right on the train tracks that went to California. And we got out and we were put on the train and all the windows were blacked out and when we got to Camp Roberts—oh it was March, I told you, and the wind was coming off of Lake Michigan—cold, snow, and ice—and it was just a miserable winter. We got on the train and when we reached California, they told us to get off and here everything was green and beautiful and there were birds; meadow, Larks, and all kinds of birds singing—so different from the wintery Chicago—it was a shock actually. And when I saw that I said I'm not coming back to Chicago to live. I became a Californian right then.

armed forces military retired military personnel United States Army veterans World War II

Date: January 26, 2012

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki, Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Harry Schneider, (b. 1916), was a member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service stationed in Tokyo. Although Harry was not Japanese, he initially was recruited for the M.I.S. training program in San Francisco because of his administrative skills, but then was motivated to learn the Japanese language with the other Nisei soldiers. He married his wife, Hamako, in 1948 soon after the end of WWII. At the end of the War, special legislation was required for an Asian “war bride” to be admitted to the U.S. In 1950 Harry and Hamako married again at the Japanese Consulate in Tokyo so that they could be one of the first couples allowed to enter. Harry passed away at age 97 in June 2013. (June 2014)