An Interview with My Oldest Living Relative

On Thursday, December 25 I interviewed my mothers adoptive father, Gene Little. It was a

peaceful Christmas day, and at around 6 pm grandpa and I sat in front of the Christmas tree to do
our interview.

Q: When and where were you born?

A: Where was in Riverside, California. It was on 11/12/41.
Q: Did you grow up there?
A: I did, until I was in 6th grade, and then I moved away for two years to Washington State and I
lived there for two years. Then I moved back to Riverside for about six months, and then moved
to Orland, up in central valley.
Q: As a kid, what did you do for fun with your friends?
A: I built model ships, collected tin soldiers, and my friend and I would practice having naval
battles with our ships and would push them around the rug and put toy soldiers on them. I also
had a little car that was built of wood and had a lawn mower motor on it. I used to race around
the neighborhood on that. We also built tree houses, and things like that.
Q: What kind of work did you do? What was the first job you ever had?
A: Well, when from when I was thirteen to fifteen, I would work in the summers at my Uncles
who had a ranch in Montana and I worked as a ranch hand. We used to load hay bales on to a
wagon, and then when the wagon was full, a new empty wagon would come. We would also
round up cattle on horseback and got them ready for market. We had to vaccinate them and
things like that. I would milk the family cow.
Q: Was that tiring to do? Did you do it for long hours?

A: The first year it was extremely tiring, because I was only thirteen and the bales were pretty
heavy. When I got older it wasnt nearly as bad, because I got a little stronger. It was fun. It was
very adventuresome, very interesting, and the place in Montana was very beautiful. It was very
wild. It was a very large ranch at 8000 acres. There was a lot of wildlife, and we also built and
repaired fences. In addition to loading bales, we mowed the hay fields and raked the hay. They
needed hay for the cattle to eat. I did that for three summers.
Q: What kind of student were you as a child?
A: Well I was a little recalcitrant, I didnt read until the third grade. However, it was interesting
because I didnt learn to read because the books they were having us read were so stupid. Like
See Spot Run. I didnt see a reason to read, if that was the only thing to do. My father began to
read to meet at home, things like Robinson Crusoe, and I realized there were exciting things to
read. Once I learned there was something to get out of reading, I learned to read. I was an
average student in Elementary school, and a pretty good student in High school.
Q: What kind of sports and hobbies did you have?
A: My parents did a lot of camping. In elementary school I did a lot of kick ball and things like
that. In high school I didnt play any team sports because I would work during the summer and
the practice was often in the summer. Well, for football. I did play basketball for a bit, but I
wasnt any good. I was more of a bench sitter. Although Im not really an athlete, I can run pretty
well.
Q: Do you like running?
A: I do, but I cant anymore because my knees arent good. I would run in college, and run
barefoot which would give me shin splints.

Q: What was your home life growing up? Did you travel a lot? Did you go on trips with your
family?
A: When we lived in southern California, we used to go camping a lot down by the Colorado
River. We had a tent trailer and a boat that we would take down there. My father showed me how
to operate the boat, starting when I was about six years old. Also down there, with some
restrictions about how far I could push the throttle and how far I could go from the campsite. My
father was also a hunter, so I had a gun and we would go hunting.
Q: Did you have any major events from your childhood that changed you as a person, or that it
stood out to you and that you will always remember that time?
A: I think the biggest thing I can think of offhand is the summer away living on my uncles
ranch. That involved travel from where I lived. I would spend hours alone on buses.
Q: Wasnt that scary the first time?
A: Well, not scary but interesting. One time, my cousin who also worked on this ranch had a
pickup truck with a leaky radiator and he lived in Iowa, and I lived in Orland, Central Valley. I
was fifteen and we drove that truck through Yellowstone Park, and over some tremendous passes
into Wyoming, but we had to stop about every 5 miles and add water to the radiator. We were
pretty young to be out on this trip, because it was a pretty long trip. Then we caught a bus to Salt
Lake City and had to get to the hotel and make the reservations by ourselves. Then we had to get
to the airport to meet my father to pick us up. We flew in that plane back to Orland. So that was
very independent for a fifteen year old. I dont think many people do that today.
Q: In your adult life, where did you attend college and begin your career?
A: I attended college at UC Davis, and my mother basically enrolled me there. I wasnt sure I
would go to college. I thought that maybe I would just become a firefighter, but she said that I

think you need to go to college. So I barely managed to get into college with my grades. I didnt
really study much, because I was one of the smarter kids in the class.
Q: What did you study there?
A: I didnt know what I wanted to do, but I liked science quite a bit. So I thought that Id be a
physical science major. So I got an advisor, but I didnt really know what physical science was. It
things like chemistry and physics and things like that. So I discovered when I went into Chem
1A, that most people had a better understanding of chemistry than I did. I struggled in the class,
and managed to get a C. Basically what I found out was that college was a good place to find out
what I was interested in and what I could do. Because I found out there was a lot of things I was
interested in, but I had a hard time doing them because other people could do them better. So I
ended up in biology. I found I could get really good grades, and it was kind of fun. I had three
interests in undergraduate school. I was in physical science, pre-dentistry, because my dad was a
dentist, but I ended up with a degree in Zoology. I hung around for another six months at Davis
and applied to Veterinary School and got in. I got a degree in Veterinary Medicine.
Q: Did you have any professors that you admired?
A: Lots of them. I remember one professor in Zoology that was really good. I cant remember
their names, but they were good. There was some however that I didnt like, and that were
difficult to understand.
Q: In your Career you then became a veterinarian after you went to College?
A: Well, Ill tell you a couple things along the way that you might be interested in. I had a lot of
interesting jobs. Starting out with the jobs on the ranch in Montana, and then when I was in
College my sophomore year I worked on a dude ranch in Colorado. That was very interesting.
There I learned to make hay stacks with a pitch fork. Then after that I got a job in Alaska with

the Alaska fishing game department for two summers. I would go up there and count salmon that
would go up the rivers. I also worked for PG&E for one summer. There was a lot of interesting
travel to get to my jobs.
Q: What was working in Alaska like?
A: Well, the main job was working with a crew of three people. We would establish a camp or
stay at the cabin. We had a schedule, and had to set up towers to stand on and count the fish. We
would count the fish for like ten minutes every hour, twenty-four hours a day.
Q: How do you keep your focus in a job like that?
A: It was pretty easy, because there were three people. You worked eight hours, but you only
have to count the fish twenty minutes out of an hour. It was interesting work and later that
summer we went down to South-eastern Alaska where we were sent out to become what they
called Protection Aids, which were assistant game wardens. I was given a small boat, a radio, and
some camping gear, and I was sent out to patrol the waterways for poachers. I was totally by
myself, and that was very dangerous work. It was very interesting and very stimulating. And I
survived. Ive had a lot of interesting jobs. It involved something that I love, which is driving
boats. I still have a boat today.
Q: What was your career like as a Veterinarian?
A: Because the Vietnam War was going on when I was in Veterinary school, and even before, I
went through an ROTC program. All the men were required to attend their first two years of
undergraduate school in the program. After, you could go onto the advanced program if you
wanted, but it was not mandatory. I figured it was better to do that, so that when I got out of
college I could be an officer, rather than an enlisted man if I had to go to Vietnam. So I went and
became a second lieutenant in the army and had actually gotten a delay to go to Veterinarian

school. After Veterinary school, I had to go into the army and serve my obligation, because I
went through the ROTC program where they helped me pay for college. I spent three and a half
years in Okinawa and after that, I got out and was in practice for a couple of years. Then I went
back into the Air Force, and the Air Force sent me to get a masters degree in Public Health at the
University of Minnesota. Then I became a veterinarian to take care of military dogs, specifically
in Korea. I was also a sanitarian and public health specialist.
Q: How long were you in the Air Force?
A: My total Military service was 20 years. I got a full retirement from the military. I was
assigned to many places in the states and overseas, but mostly in Asia. I was stationed in
Okinawa for six and a half years for two different times. Also I was stationed in Taiwan for two
years, Korea for one year, and various different states.
Q: So your rank in the Air Force was a captain?
A: I started off as a captain, and ended up as a lieutenant colonel.
Q: So how do you move through ranks?
A: Its a matter of progression and perfecting your knowledge in your profession. Its a matter of
time, and you know have to be a captain for at least a number of years before you can be
promoted to the next grade. Each promotion is more and more competitive. When you get to
higher ranks less people are selected for promotion, because you can't have thousands of
generals, right? It takes time, perseverance, working hard, and also the internal politics of not
making enemies.
Q: Was it difficult to leave your family while you were in the Air Force?

A: I only had to do that once. Most of the time I was in the Air Force and in the Army they paid
for my family to be with me. Which is one of the reasons I stayed for 20 years, because I got the
opportunity to live overseas which was great not only for me, but for my kids.
Q: Going off of that, what encouraged you to adopt?
A: Thats an interesting question. Well, you know, probably the real reason is because we could.
The first child we adopted was in Japan, and we got the opportunity to do it, so we thought Why
not? There were a lot of needy children, and we hadnt had one yet although there was one on
the way, but we could do it, so we did. Thats basically it. It was something we could do that was
really worthwhile. Like in your mothers case, she was in an orphanage with a lot of needy kids,
and you try to help in any way you can. I was able to help them nutritionally and stuff like that,
but you can only really help one, by adopting them.
Q: I know you like motorcycles and even recently got a new one, when did that start?
A: Well, probably when I was fourteen my father got me a motor scooter, and when I worked on
the ranch. I earned a little money, even though the first summer I only earned 54 dollars the
whole summer, but I had enough money to buy my own motorcycle. I bought one when I was
junior in high school. I rode it all over the mountains around northern California. I explored a lot
of different places, especially on dirt roads. When I went to Okinawa, after I got out of grad
school I had a motorcycle. Ive basically had a motorcycle one time or another ever since I was
fourteen. I enjoy riding them because it takes some skill to ride them. Its a vehicle that you must
actually ride. You cant just turn the key off and coast to the side of the road. You must actually
do something to avoid ending up on the side of the road in a ditch or something. Operating a boat
is the same way. When I was in high school, I also learned to fly and got a students pilot license
and later at Davis I got a regular pilot license. I flew long enough to take my fiance up in a plane

a few times and fly around; but haven't flown since. Flying, however, is the same kind of thing;
you actually most control the airplane or else you're gonna crash. I enjoy that.
Q: Did you ever have any experience where you almost got into a bad experience with either
vehicle?
A: I've only had one wreck on a motorcycle and it was entirely my fault and I certainly learned
from the experience. I had broke a small bone in my foot, I was 17 years old, I was working for
the California division of Forestry and it was the year before my freshman year in college. I was
riding my motorcycle from the central valley over to the coast on the dirt roads and I came up
behind a vehicle that was going slow and the dust was [just] flying up and I couldn't see. So, I
pulled up to pass him; because I had to pass him or [just] stop. Unfortunately it was on a corner
and you know, you cant pass on a corner safely and this was on a dirt road; there was hardly any
traffic on it! There just happened to be a car coming the other direction right when I pulled up to
pass. I tried to make it to the side of the road and I didn't quite make it and I had a minor
accident.
Q: After that accident were you scared to ride a motorcycle again?
A: No, not at all. It was totally my fault. I knew exactly what I'd done wrong its not a question of
whether I'd ever do that again.
Q: What was your favorite place out of everywhere that you have lived to ever have experienced
living?
A: Well, I really like where I live now. But, in my earlier life I probably enjoyed Okinawa the
best; I spent six years there. I also very much liked Korea and Taiwan; that was two years in
Taiwan and one year in Korea. All very interesting places, all different places too.
Q: Did you just like it for the unique experience and the different cultural aspects?

A: Yeah the cultural aspects the opportunity to travel to other places from there; yeah that's what
it was. Because, living in the United States, you are in kind of a homogeneous environment and
when you go to a different culture it is very stimulating. The smells are different; every country
smells different. The customs are different; the people are different. You probably won't
understand the language. There is just all kinds of interesting challenges.
Q: Do you have an interesting example of such a challenge?
A: I think one of the worst experiences was with your mother, taking her out of the orphanage.
The first time we took her out we had to go from the orphanage to a small town then we had to
catch a ferry and cross a river then we had to go to through the town to a bus stop to catch a bus
to the [army] base. And, well, that was what we had to do. So, we got across the river into the
town but for some reason or another when we got into the town your mom probably began to cry
or something. Immediately, people began to gather around. And here we were, two white people,
with a Korean girl who is upset. And of course, we couldn't speak her language and she couldn't
speak ours. Neither did the people in the town speak English; so a crowd gathered around us.
Pretty soon some policemen came. Fortunately we were able to convince the policemen that we
weren't trying to kidnap this girl and the policemen dispersed the crowd and we were able to get
on our way. We had quite a few experiences with your mom, by the way, but I will tell you about
one more. The other experience was when my roommate and I - we roomed together at this base
we were both captains in the Air-force; and he was adopting as well - we went to the orphanage
again. And the orphanage hired a taxi to take us back to the ferry through the little town. So we
got in the taxi and the taxi was driving through the town on the way to the ferry, when this man
on a bicycle - who was drunk - came from the side and ran into our taxi and fell across the hood,
broke the windshield, there was glass all over and he was on the ground and he was in

convulsions. I have no idea what happened to the man, but I will tell you we were told - when we
were over there [in Korea] - that if you are ever in an accident like this - in a taxi or something
like that- what you need to do is you need to look at the meter and see how much money you
owe, get the money out and put that money on the seat, and some more, too, if you can, then
leave. And of course, immediately when an accident like this happens, a crowd gathers. None of
them can understand English. And here we are, once again, two Americans with two Korean
children who don't understand English. We worked our way away from the crowd without being
stopped to the ferry. The ferry wasn't there and we ended up waiting, hoping that the police
wouldn't come looking for us. They didn't and we got on the ferry and I never found out what
happened to that man.
Q:When did you first meet your wife? When did you meet Nana?
A: Oh, at UC Davis. I was a sophomore in veterinary school and she was a freshman. We sort of
met through a friend, who sort of set us up as somebody you might like to meet type of deal. At
the time I was living in a private room - I lived in various different types of arrangements; I was
in a fraternity, I was in apartments with people and stuff - and eventually I ended up in different
private rooms kind of like Tim's doing. And I always got a meal ticket, at the university you can
get different kinds of meal tickets depending on how many meals you wanna buy during the
week. Or, if you wanna buy all the meals and stuff. So, during the week I ate lunch and dinner at
the dining commons where Chris went. So, these friends decided that maybe we might be
interested in meeting each other. So one day, when I was walking to the dining commons the two
trails we were walking on came together and she was right there! And I knew who she was, so
that's when we met. So, yeah, we went over and we got dinner and things started from there.
Q: So when did you marry after that?

A: It was after Chris' junior year. She was a junior as an undergraduate and I was a senior in
veterinary school. And after veterinary school i had to leave immediately and go into the army. I
was assigned to North Carolina where my wife could go with me. And Chris, she dropped out of
school as a junior so she never got her degree from UC Davis. She went back to school years
later in Omaha, Nebraska and finished her degree.
Q: Were there any major turning points in your adult life?
No, but I would just say looking back that I had a very interesting adult life and although there
were times when I was a little frustrated, like doing various things in the military that they asked
me to do that I thought weren't very interesting to do after having all my training. In all, if you
put it all together I've had a pretty interesting life. I guess if I was going to give somebody
advice, I'd say you know, don't get too frustrated along the way. You can probably have a very
interesting life. Also, never give up, if you wanna do something, never quit.

Summary
Gene Little, my grandfather, is a very interesting person and has lived to tell numerous
adventures. I learned a lot about where he came from, grew up, and more of what kind of person
he was. From what he shared, I can see he is widely adventurous and independent from a young
age. Also, he deals very well when faced with stressful and dangerous situations. He used to play
with tin soldiers and build model ships as a child. Things like this really show how he and I come
from different ages. However, some things come to cross all ages. Like myself, he enjoyed
playing kickball, handball, and things like that during elementary school. Although, I already
knew he had been a Veterinary as well as in the Air Force, I never really thought about how
everything fit together and what this work was like. Hearing him talk about all the things he has
been through and the places hes gone has really revealed a lot about my grandfather. It also gave

me the opportunity to learn more about my other family members. I never knew that my
grandmother left college in her third year for my grandfathers work in the military. I also
learned so much about when he adopted my mother from Korea. These things she couldnt even
tell me for herself because she was too young to remember. My grandfather really loved to share
most everything I asked him about, but seemed to really enjoy talking about the work he did on a
family ranch as a child. This experience helped him to grow and develop more independently,
while as growing physically stronger. However, I found it most interesting to hear about his
military service and all the places he has lived in throughout his life. I really wish to see a lot of
the world as he has. He spent so many years in other countries, and I can only imagine what that
must be like. It must really mature a person to have the experience of eating foreign food,
walking the streets, hearing different languages, meeting new people, and just immersing oneself
in a new culture.