George Kazuto Saiki was born in Moiliili, Hawaii in 1932; he talks about memories from his youth in Hawaii, including going swimming at the beach and going to the movie theater to watch Tarzan and cowboy movies, as well as memories of going to a Japanese school where he heard other children speaking in Hiroshima and Kumamoto dialects and in Okinawan. He and his entire family, which included seven siblings, went to Hiroshima in 1939, where his father was originally from. Most of his siblings disliked Japan and wanted to return to Hawaii but couldn't because of the war. He remembers the Kempeitai coming to harass his family monthly, because they were Nisei and they had a shortwave radio, and not taking off their shoes when they came in the house as a way of insulting his family. He also remembers being called a "Yankee" or a spy, and he had trouble making friends in school. He was at school about 6.5 miles from ground zero when the bomb was dropped. He describes the bright light and incredible heat that lasted for around 30 seconds. He describes how his mother found his father's body on the back of a truck. In 1949, at the age of 16, he was able to return to Hawaii to stay with an older sister, but he realized he had forgotten how to speak English. He talks about working as a paperboy and a "houseboy", doing cleaning and painting for White families and sending 20 dollars to his mother in Japan so she could eat. He eventually got a job at a company making Venetian blinds. He describes his health problems and getting his genbaku techM. He talks about how he believes that hibakusha with U.S. citizenship like him should receive support from the U.S. government for their medical bills.
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