So you know, people were after us. I mean, they didn’t want us around. They made acquisitions and threats and things like that. So I couldn't believe those things were happening. Maybe it was the best thing that they sent us into the camp, to protect us.
Read More“My mom just about died in camp that first year because it was so damn hot. And I remember I used to have to go to the canteen every day. And they kept saying, ‘Hey get your ass out of here. We’re ain’t going to give you anymore ice.’ But everybody suffered if they weren’t used to the heat. So mom just about perished, died.”
Read More“He had seen me entertain pre-war days at the Nisei Week talent show. He heard me singing, and I was 14, and he says he was smitten. He says, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’
Read More“I remember being strafed because I was in the factory. And so I guess they knew which ones to bomb. I remember every time this siren would ring, we reluctantly put our helmets on and run into the forest. And at that time I really prayed to God.”
Read More“We had our Christmas tree and my dad said we would take the last family picture before he had to turn in all the cameras, swords and everything into the police station.”
Read MoreOne of the comments my mother made was that she never thought that the government would ever apologize. So the most meaningful thing for her wasn’t the money, it was the apology to say that it was wrong, to admit that.
Read More“I grew up thinking women were stronger than men in terms of the absence of anger and self-pity. Absence of bitterness.”
Read More“Army trucks would pull up and someone would shout down, ‘How many in your family?’ And they would throw the toilet paper, and you had to go pick it up. And that lack of human dignity, it just went on and on.”
Read More“My dad used to fish. But we didn’t have any equipment so he caught fish with his hands. He would walk along the stream and he would stick his hand in. He found out if you cradled them and gently took them out of the water, they wouldn’t move.”
Read More“All my normal U.S. citizens rights were taken away from me, just for what? Japan went to war with America? We were Americans. That’s what I really resent.”
Read More“Everybody grabbed their guns and we all went outside and everybody was saying, ‘The war’s over, the war’s over!’ That’s why they were firing their guns into the sky. I don’t think there was a dry-eye among us.”
Read More"After they gave us the redress, it just really relieved all of us who had been in the camp. Because camp was sort of a feeling of shame, that you had to be in a place like that.”
Read More“I remember my father saying how angry he was and that he would never again vote. And he never did.”
Read More“Luckily for us growing up in New York City, there was very little discrimination. And my dad became friends with the top godfather of the Italian mafia. I must’ve thought I was part Italian.”
Read More“I think those who had a positive attitude learned to enjoy themselves and make the most of it. My father was tickled pink because he could play poker, he found some poker buddies to play with.”
Read More“I know even in camp when it was declared Japan lost the war, some of these men were very adamant about Japan, they just couldn’t believe it. They went back thinking that they did not lose the war. But the Japanese, they’re just so strong.”
Read More“One of the hardest things was getting immersed back into society, like taking the bus to school some place where there was a mixture of people. We had to put up with a lot of taunting, a lot of ridicule. That was hard, I remember that, being teased a lot.”
Read More“For my mother, for one to fight the other, she couldn’t deal with it. And she couldn’t deal with people calling her the enemy. And she couldn’t deal with working in the factory, sometimes 12 hours a day. She was not a strong woman. Also, I’m a stupid 14-year-old at Seabrook and I don’t have the ability to do things like wash my own clothes and things.”
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