William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings had planned to conduct their own family history interviews. Individually and jointly, they and other family members had written and gathered material documenting their family history. They shared much of this with me to assist with research and preparation for the Densho interview. Mitsuye's daughter Jeni had coordinated much of the family history work. Jeni participated as a secondary interviewer during the group sessions, October 8-9, 2002.The group interview sessions were conducted in Seattle at the home of Tom Ikeda, executive director of Densho. The oldest Yasutake sibling, Reverend Seiichi Michael Yasutake, had passed away less than a year before the Densho interviewing, in December, 2001. The remaining siblings emphasized that his absence left a gap in their discussion of family history. In addition to Jeni Yamada and videographers Dana Hoshide and John Pai, also present during some portions of the group interview were Tom Ikeda, and Mitsuye Yamada's son Kai Yamada.","extent":"00:07:48","links_children":"ddr-densho-1000-138-31","creators":[{"role":"narrator","oh_id":131,"namepart":"Tosh Yasutake"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Alice Ito"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Tom Ikeda"},{"role":"videographer","namepart":"Dana Hoshide"}],"format":"vh","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Densho","rights":"cc","genre":"interview","location":"Seattle, Washington","creation":"November 14, 2002","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Tosh Yasutake narrator \nAlice Ito interviewer \nTom Ikeda interviewer \nDana Hoshide videographer","download_large":"denshovh-ytosh-01-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-densho-1000-280","model":"entity","index":"21 371/{'value': 386, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-1000-280/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-1000/denshovh-wvirgil-01-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-densho-1000/denshovh-wvirgil-01-a.jpg"},"title":"Virgil W. Westdale Interview","description":"Male of Japanese and European ancestry. Born July 8, 1918, in Millersburg, Indiana. Grew up on family farms in Indiana and Michigan. Became a licensed pilot, and, during World War II, volunteered for the War Training Service as a flight instructor. Reassigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as part of the Fire Direction Center. Split off from the unit with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, and was with one of the first groups to liberate the concentration camps in Dachau, Germany. Following the sudden death of Harriett Engelhardt, an American Red Cross worker in Germany, in 1946, Virgil and the members of the 522nd FAB pulled together $271.40 and sent the money to her parents. The Engelhardts used this money, along with money from Harriett's estate and other donations to establish the Harriett Engelhardt Memorial Collection at Black Mountain College, Harriett's alma mater. Following World War II, Virgil worked for several corporations as a research and development scientist developing patents.","extent":"04:33:17","links_children":"ddr-densho-1000-280","creators":[{"role":"narrator","oh_id":483,"namepart":"Virgil W. Westdale"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Tom Ikeda"},{"role":"videographer","namepart":"Dana Hoshide"}],"format":"vh","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Densho","rights":"cc","genre":"interview","location":"Seattle, Washington","creation":"May 21-22, 2010","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Virgil W. Westdale narrator \nTom Ikeda interviewer \nDana Hoshide videographer","download_large":"denshovh-wvirgil-01-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-densho-1000-28","model":"entity","index":"22 372/{'value': 386, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-28/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-1000-28/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-1000/denshovh-idaniel-01-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-densho-1000/denshovh-idaniel-01-a.jpg"},"title":"Daniel Inouye Interview","description":"Nisei male. Born September 7, 1924, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Served in the all-volunteer, all-Nisei, 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II, lost his right arm in action and earned the Distinguished Service Cross. Following the war, became an attorney, then a six-term senator for Hawaii. Sat on the Select Committee on Intelligence, Select Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition. On June 28, 2010, Inouye was sworn in as President Pro-Tempore of the Senate. He was serving his ninth consecutive term when he passed away on December 17, 2012.(This interview was conducted at the senator's office in Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of a series of interviews with veterans attending the 1998 Americans of Japanese Ancestry Veterans National Convention held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Because of the full conference schedule, the interviews were generally shorter in length than the typical Densho interview and concentrated on a single topic, namely, the individual's military service during World War II.)","extent":"01:13:59","links_children":"ddr-densho-1000-28","creators":[{"role":"narrator","oh_id":32,"namepart":"Daniel Inouye"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Tom Ikeda"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Beverly Kashino"},{"role":"videographer","namepart":"Matt Emery"}],"format":"vh","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Densho","rights":"cc","genre":"interview","location":"Honolulu, Hawaii","creation":"June 30, 1998","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Daniel Inouye narrator \nTom Ikeda interviewer \nBeverly Kashino interviewer \nMatt Emery videographer","download_large":"denshovh-idaniel-01-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-one-1-493","model":"entity","index":"23 373/{'value': 386, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-493/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-one-1-493/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-one-1/ddr-one-1-493-mezzanine-0f9a811d35-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-one-1/ddr-one-1-493-mezzanine-0f9a811d35-a.jpg"},"title":"Portland Rose Festival Parade Float- \"Catholic Organizations Dove of Peace\"","description":"Color slide of the Catholic Organizations Dove of Peace float driving down SW Third Ave in front of a large crowd gathered outside a Signal gas station and San Francisco Tailor, behind the Signal gas station is the old Multnomah Hotel in the Portland Rose Festival Parade. On the float sit three visible women dressed in costumes and one man driving the float. The woman sitting in front is dressed in a Native American costume and is holding a pink ribbon. On the side of the float is a woman dressed in pink kimono, and behind her is a woman dressed in Western style blue dress. On the center of the float is large globe made of flowers with the word \"Pray\" and \"World\" visible. A large dove made of white/yellow flowers is visible flying above the globe with a yellow cross leaning above. The side of the float reads \"Catholic Organizations Doves of Peace.\" The Portland Rose Festival Parade is an annual event in which floats are made out of flowers and paraded down the streets of Portland. According to the donor processed on June 16, 1954.","extent":"1.375W x 1H","links_children":"ddr-one-1-493","creators":[{"role":"photographer","namepart":"Hirahara, Frank"}],"topics":[{"term":"Geographic communities -- Oregon -- Portland","id":"289"},{"term":"Community activities -- Festivals, celebrations, and holidays -- Portland Rose Festival","id":"306"},{"term":"World War II -- Leaving camp -- \"Resettlement\"","id":"104"},{"term":"World War II -- Leaving camp -- Returning home","id":"106"}],"format":"img","contributor":"Japanese American Museum of Oregon; Portland, Oregon","rights":"cc","genre":"photograph","location":"Portland, Oregon","creation":"1948-1954","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Hirahara, Frank photographer","download_large":"ddr-one-1-493-mezzanine-0f9a811d35-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-njpa-1-178","model":"entity","index":"24 374/{'value': 386, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-njpa-1-178/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-njpa-1-178/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-njpa-1/ddr-njpa-1-178-mezzanine-2c025a52b1-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-njpa-1/ddr-njpa-1-178-mezzanine-2c025a52b1-a.jpg"},"title":"Staff Sergeant Sylvester F. Dudek receiving the Polish Virtuti Militari award","description":"Caption on reverse: \"Poles Decorate U.S. Flyer. Staff Sergeant Sylvester F. Dudek (right), the only enlisted man in the American forces to hold decorations from three nations, receives another citation, the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military award, from Air Vice Marshal Mateusz Izycki, Inspector General of the Polish Air Forces, for 'outstanding gallantry in action over enemy territory' as a gunner on a Polish bomber. Sergt. Dudek, who has completed 48 missions over enemy-occupied Europe, including 34 with Polish bombers and 14 with American Flying Fortresses, was at his gunner's post on a bombing mission to Frankfurt, Germany, when his oxygen apparatus went out of order. He told the pilot about it, but asked him to continue to the target. Flying at an altitude of more than 20,000 feet, the sergeant combatted the atmosphere and the enemy for 90 minutes. During that time he is credited with shooting down two German planes. In addition to the Virtuti Militari, Sergt. Dudek holds the British Distinguished Flying Medal; the Polish Cross of Valour and three bars, and the American Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters. Born in the Eastern U.S., Sergt. Dudek is the son of Polish emigrants to America.\"","extent":"4.25W x 3.5H","links_children":"ddr-njpa-1-178","format":"img","persons":[{"namepart":"Dudek, Sylvester F."}],"contributor":"Hawai'i Times Photo Archives Foundation","rights":"pcc","genre":"photograph","creation":"c.1940s","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Dudek, Sylvester F.","download_large":"ddr-njpa-1-178-mezzanine-2c025a52b1-a.jpg"}],"query":{"query":{"query_string":{"query":"Cross ","fields":["id","model","links_html","links_json","links_img","links_thumb","links_children","status","public","title","description","contributor","creators","creators.namepart","facility","format","genre","geography","label","language","creation","location","persons","rights","topics","image_url","display_name","bio","extent","search_hidden"],"analyze_wildcard":false,"allow_leading_wildcard":false,"default_operator":"AND"}},"aggs":{"facility":{"nested":{"path":"facility"},"aggs":{"facility_ids":{"terms":{"field":"facility.id","size":1000}}}},"format":{"terms":{"field":"format"}},"genre":{"terms":{"field":"genre"}},"rights":{"terms":{"field":"rights"}},"topics":{"nested":{"path":"topics"},"aggs":{"topics_ids":{"terms":{"field":"topics.id","size":1000}}}}},"_source":["id","model","links_html","links_json","links_img","links_thumb","links_children","status","public","title","description","contributor","creators","creators.namepart","facility","format","genre","geography","label","language","creation","location","persons","rights","topics","image_url","display_name","bio","extent","search_hidden"]}}