PARTNER

INTERVIEW ID

ddr-densho-1000-279

NARRATOR

Tetsuo Nomiyama

INTERVIEW TITLE

Tetsuo Nomiyama Interview

02:17:06 — 26 segments

DESCRIPTION

Kibei-Nisei male. Born January 20, 1916, in Alameda, California. At the age of five, family returned to live in Japan. Attended school in Japan before returning to the U.S. in 1937. Drafted into the U.S. Army, and was in training when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Resisted military orders while in basic training, and was court martialed and imprisoned in the stockade at Fort McClellan, Alabama. Along with other Japanese Americans in the same situation, the group later came to be known as the "Fort McClellan Disciplinary Barrack Boys," or "DB Boys." Sentenced to five years' imprisonment, and served at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. In the 1980s, a legal team headed by Mr. Nomiyama's son-in-law mounted a legal effort to clear the DB Boys' names. They succeeded in having the army grant honorable discharges, but were unable to get the court martials ultimately overturned.

(Participating in this interview is Mr. Paul Minerich, who is Mr. Nomiyama's son-in-law. An attorney, Mr. Minerich headed the effort to clear his father-in-law's name regarding his wartime court martial conviction. This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.)

PRODUCTION

Martha Nakagawa, interviewer; Tani Ikeda, videographer

PERSONS/ORGANIZATIONS

CONTRIBUTOR

Densho

PREFERRED CITATION

Courtesy of Densho

RIGHTS