Johnny Itliong (JI): One of his nicknames was Seven Fingers, because, when he was up working in Alaska, he lost three of his fingers. He was small in stature. But, He was a very, very strong man. He always wore pocketed shirts, thick Ray-Ban glasses, and he would always have his cigar – his Cubanos. 

I remember, I would have to get up at 3:00 in the morning and we would jump in the back of his truck, load it up full of boxes and stack ‘em maybe ten, 12 feet high. I could carry about eight of them stacked up. There were so many good men. Living in box carts, sheds, whatever they can make out of the elements. 

And I remember maybe one guy had one suit, and, whoever would get a date, would wear that suit. So they would share the suit – 20, 30 guys. You know, that’s, that’s the brotherhood.

And when they would pass, they didn’t have family in the United States. 

Aleks Itliong (AI): Mmm. 

JI: They had no one to say goodbye to them. And it was just us – me, my father, my brother. The only time they ever received flowers was at their funeral. Men who worked the fields. They fed the United States.

AI: What memories do you have of the picket lines? 

JI: At five years old, I remember running around getting the sticks, you know I would bring the sticks to the ones who were nailing the picket signs. I think that was probably like my earliest memory. 

You know my father, stood up for the people who need help. He sacrificed a lot of his family time to make a better world for us.

We have big shoes to walk in, man [laughs].

AI: Yeah.

JI: I don’t feel like I’m even close. 

But, your demeanor reminds me of him, because he was very calm. He always listened. When it was time for him to speak, what he said was important. And already you follow those footsteps.