He (my father) knew that we were American citizens and so we were going to come back. He had his automobile stored, he had a lot of the personal possessions stored at the post office. And so therefore when he was released, he and my mother went to Salinas, picked up our cars…and so when he drove we located a place to live, it was pretty easy for him. He had money to buy property.
The story of relocating in Los Gatos was the fact that… he was going to buy a home in San Jose. Not being able to locate what…he was on his way from San Jose to Los Gatos, because my sister knew of Los Gatos. While he was going to Los Gatos, he saw this “For Sale” sign. He figured there was no harm in stopping, so he drove in to this farm house and the first thing he saw was this Italian farmer, Victor Geanandreo. When Mr. Victor Geanandreo saw my father, he immediately took him down the basement, and down in the basement he had this great big picture of Benito Mussolini. So he knew he was in friendly hands. They had a drink downstairs and that’s how he got the farm in Los Gatos.
Victor Geanandreo who could speak very little English. So that’s how we ended up in Los Gatos. Victor Geanandreo had a nephew who died. He built the house and was expecting to have his nephew…but he died, he was very heartbroken and he was very glad to be able to sell the farm to my father. So we both lived together for a while until Victor Geanandreo the family could find another relocation. That’s how we settled in Los Gatos and invited the rest of the people who didn’t have homes. We fixed up the barn so people could live there.
Date: March 22, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: John Esaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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