MOLDED BY WORLD WAR II AS CHILDREN, COUPLE HAS THRIVED.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET

LANCASTER - George and Janet Yamakawa were pint-size victims of the burgeoning panic which surrounded the beginning of World War II.

George was 5 years old and playing outside in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 1941, when he realized something strange was going on.

``All of a sudden a Japanese Zero flew low over the city, a shell burst two doors down, the house caught on fire and the lady who lived there died,'' he said. ``Then people were using garden hoses to wet down their homes. I was so frightened all I could do was look around for a place to hide.''

Janet Hatakeyama, at age 4, did not fully understand what was happening when in 1942 her family was suddenly uprooted from their comfortable home in Saratoga, Calif.

She remembers a long train ride which took her parents, maternal grandmother, two sisters, a brother and herself to Hart Mountain, Wyo., where they were interred in tar paper barracks.

``As a general rule there were four families to a unit,'' she said, ``but how much room you had depended on the size of the family.''

A potbellied stove provided heat, but not enough for the cold of the Wyoming winters.

``Summers were hot and windy like they are here,'' she said.

They were kept there about three years and Janet went to first and second grades in schools that were set up by the government.

``Not everybody was prejudiced. I remember several Caucasian teachers who volunteered their time to come and teach us,'' she said.

Her grandfather was sent back to Japan before their move to Hart Mountain. In camp, his wife got permission from the government to follow him. She decided to take her favorite granddaughter - Janet's sister - with her.

Janet's mother did not have the option to object and refuse to let her daughter go. Her mother was the family matriarch and her decision was law.

When her father, Jack Hatakeyama, how 92, and his family were displaced, the government confiscated his laundry business.

``Some of the neighbors helped,'' said Janet. ``They were able to save some of the equipment by storing it other places so they could use it later, but he never got the business back.''

Hatakeyama now lives with the Yamakawas. Her father's frail health and advanced years have precipitated a forthcoming visit from her sister and brother-in-law in Japan.

Yoshiko Saito and her husband, Dr. Toyoaki Saito, are expected to arrive here this weekend.

``She doesn't remember any English and I don't speak Japanese,'' laughed Janet, ``but I guess my father can interpret. We'll get by somehow.''

When they were released from Hart Mountain, Janet's family moved to Denver, Colo., where she completed her elementary and secondary education and entered the University of Colorado.

George finished all the lower grades in Honolulu, then, still a teen-ager, left home to attend the University of Colorado and that's where the two met.

The university's on-campus organizations held orientation meetings to sign up new students and one of them was the Hawaiian Club. Janet's two Hawaiian roommates wanted to join that group so Janet trailed along and joined too.

George, far from home for the first time and lonely, was not far behind. He joined the club and they became acquainted.

His education, after two years at the University of Colorado, was interrupted from 1958 to 1960 by service in the U.S. Army. For almost all of that time he was assigned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, in the Replacement Training Center for recruits. His job was to process and maintain personnel records.

He attained the rank of specialist fourth class (Spec/4).

When he was released he returned to Denver and the pursuit of both Janet and an engineering degree. Janet in the meantime received her degree in medical technology.

They were married in Denver Jan. 7, 1961 and in 1964, after he was graduated with a degree in aerospace, they came to Lancaster to live. He had taken a civil service job with the U.S. Army at Edwards Air Force Base.

``I worked as flight test engineer on all the U.S. Army aircraft inventory until I retired in 1992 after 28 years. That included the UH-lB Huey and the UH-60 Black Hawk,'' said George.

It was an interesting, though sometimes hazardous, occupation. The first project he worked on as an engineer was a disaster. In doing a test on a helicopter they flew too low and couldn't recover. It crashed.

``We came in at a slant and when we hit the ground the rotors were demolished. The pilot, who was thrown out, suffered a long cut from his lip down his chin,'' said George.

``I rode it out but a gun sight, in a stored position above me, came down, shattered my helmet and knocked me out. I'm lucky to be alive.''

When he came to, he was still strapped in his seat by belts that had risen to his chest and the aircraft panel was lying across his legs.

After an initial assessment he discovered he was bruised and his eyes were full of sand but he was otherwise intact. With difficulty, he was able to release the seat belts and stand up.

``My pilot, who came to check the wreckage and find out how I had fared, was amazed. As he watched, that ruined cabin split apart in the middle and I rose up out of it. He said it was like watching a bud emerge from a seed pod.''

As their three sons came along Janet devoted her attention to being a mother and homemaker. When Keith, Glen and Todd, now of Northridge and San Jose, were raised, she went to work as a medical technologist at Antelope Valley Hospital.

There she worked for 17 years in the hematology lab and attained a senior rating before retiring earlier this year.

George's father died when he was little more than a baby so he didn't know what it was like to have a father. He determined that his own boys would, so as they were growing up he got involved with them in youth football and youth soccer.

There was only one problem. He frequently disagreed with the rulings of the officials refereeing the games and protested vehemently.

``Finally one of the officials challenged me. He said, why don't you try to make better calls? So I did. I became a referee myself. Now I have a healthy respect for all those officials. It isn't an easy job.''

Now that he is retired at a comparatively early age, George golfs a lot. He proudly displays his backyard practice net and shows his backswing.

``I don't have a caddie or a cart. I carry my own clubs. That's how I get a lot of walking exercise.''

The Yamakawas believe in basic moral values which they exemplify in their own lives. George, whose religious heritage is a Buddhist/Episcopal mix, devotes a lot Sundays to the Lancaster United Methodist Church as a sound technician. Janet is a devout Methodist.

For relaxation, Janet works crossword puzzles, reads whodunits or gardens. George goes for math or logic puzzles. They both love the JetHawks games and musical theater.

``We're really just simple folk,'' said George, petting their dog, Reggie.

LANCASTER - Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk.

Monday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, pineapple-cottage cheese, green beans, ice cream.

Tuesday: Chicken Dijon, rice pilaf, peas and carrots, coleslaw, Jell-O with peaches.

Wednesday: Baked ham, sweet potatoes, cabbage, tossed salad, pears.

Thursday: Spaghetti with meatballs, Italian squash, tossed salad, cheesecake.

Friday: Baked fish, baked potato, mixed vegetables, marinated beets, orange.

MEMO: This column is devoted to activities of interest to all senior citizens. Anyone with information pertaining to seniors is invited to contact Bettie Rencoret, 943-2998, or leave a message at the Antelope Valley Bureau Daily News offices, 267-5741.

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Photo: The product of eventful childhoods, Janet and George Yamakawa now love the JetHawks and musical theater.

Bettie Rencoret/Daily News