The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Reporter's note: I appreciate when readers catch and share a mistake in an article I've written. Sometimes I make a serious misinterpretation of the facts and sometimes it's a less critical inaccuracy-like an incorrect date or the slightly misspelled name of a person or a place. Still, I like to put things right if I can.

In the June 1, 2016 story about the Japanese families that came to Blaine County during World War II, much of the war-time experiences of the Tom Matsuoka family were described. Alert reader Ty Matsuoka, one of Tom and Kazue's sons and a 1948 graduate of Chinook High, caught a couple of errors in the story. Ty lives in Bellevue, Washington, the same area where his family farmed before the war, and was kind enough to write me a letter about a couple of incorrect dates. In his letter he also added a family story that related to the German POWs who came to work the sugar beets. I thought the anecdote about the German prisoners was interesting and worth sharing.

The two errors about dates

that needed correcting

The first error Ty Matsuoka caught was the incorrect date of his mother's death-which was May 12, 1986. I checked the source I used for the date and discovered I had inadvertently copied the date wrong. It was my error.

The second error involving a date related to a photo of Ty, his brother Tats and their father beside an automobile (see attached photo). Of the photo Ty wrote, "The picture of dad and us boys was about 1936 or 37. (Bet you heard about the date from car buffs.)" The photo came from a book and was identified as taken in 1932. And, interestingly, no one else commented on the probable inaccuracy of the date on the photo.

I took the picture, for an opinion about the vehicle's date and make, to two members of the Blaine County Cruise who are car buffs and knowledgeable about vintage cars. They agreed it was a 1936 General Motors car and thought it might be a Buick. Later I talked by phone with Ty and told him the date the experts had determined. He said it was a Chevrolet. He remembered the make but not the exact year.

The German POWs and the Japanese farmer

In the mid-1940's raising sugar beets was a very labor intensive business with much of the work on the beets done by hand. Across the U.S., with most of the labor force away fighting the war, many farmers turned to immigrant labor to plant, tend and harvest the crops, especially sugar beets. Sugar beet farmers recruited Japanese families to help with the crops. The farmers needed the labor and the Japanese were anxious to live away from the relocation camps where they were sent from the west coast.

The Matsuoka family came to the Chinook area and first worked and lived on the Gottleib Blatter farm, in the valley and east of Chinook. A little later the Matsuoka family moved to the Gus Lundeen farm west of town. By phone Ty explained to me that his family was working on shares raising sugar beets with Gus Lundeen. Even with the Japanese families helping, there was a need for more help. That's where the German POWs came into the story.

Courtesy Photo

This photo during sugar beet harvest was taken around 1943 on the Gus Lundeen farm. Several Japanese families who were working on farms around Chinook are pictured. Gus Lundeen is the middle figure of the three kneeling at the right of the photo. Tom and Kazue Matsuoka are the fourth and fifth adults standing from the left side of the photo.

Ty said, "My dad would go each morning to pick up a crew of German prisoners. They were housed at the fairgrounds and would be accompanied by a guard when they came to work at the farm." In his letter Ty wrote, "They (German prisoners) at first could not believe they were going to work for a "Japanese" farmer. Though I didn't speak German, there was quite a bit of conversation going on among the crew." Ty then went on, "...our farm was one of the favorites for the crews as we had a set quota for the day and that was it-notwithstanding the time." When the quota was met, the work day was over.

Ty wrote, "We wanted to be sure that all the topped beets were loaded and hauled to the factory each day as the factory turned away trucks with frozen or frosted beets on them." Topping and hauling a set number of loads assured none would sit in the field overnight and risk freezing or being frosted. The set quota for loads allowed the German prisoners to return to their camp early enough they could clean up and relax before the evening meal. Ty wrote, "Likewise the guards appreciated the 'shorter' day."

In his letter Ty commented that reading some of the stories about his family, "Brings back memories." Speaking to Ty by phone, it was obvious he enjoyed reminiscing about his growing up in Montana. Ending his letter, he added, "What a lot of stories! Thanks again."

And I thank Ty, and his siblings, who shared information about their family and their life in Montana and for taking time to correct a reporter's errors.