Ken Yanagi was born in 1932. His mother and father were both from Hiroshima, but his father was actually born in the U.S. and came back to Hiroshima as a child; his mother died when he was very young. He was born in Tokyo, which is where his parents met, but he was sent to Hiroshima to live with his grandfather and step-grandmother while in elementary school; they were quite poor. He remembers when the war started, but because he was young he doesn't remember his grandparents ever talking about it or anything political. He went to school in the city, but as the war waged on, he was moved out further into the country. He was at a factory in the city preparing to do student mobilization work when the bomb was dropped, but he was lucky enough to not be injured. He came to Nebraska in 1951 with the help of the sister of his father's second wife. He talks about going to junior college, getting his U.S. citizenship, and how he met his wife in Japan. He describes how he found out about the biennial medical checkups and getting his genbaku techō. He also speaks about his military service.
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