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MT: I'll tell you something ironic. I was going, my birthday's in June, so my kids said, "We're going to take you to Amache." And in June, I was appointed the Alameda's Fourth of July parade, what do you call it?

BN: Grand Marshal?

MT: Grand Marshal.

BN: Oh, nice.

MT: And what's really unusual is the fact that... and not unusual, they'd take me on a reunion on Fourth of July, day after Fourth of July. So I'm thinking when I got on that convertible, and said, "What do I do, Mayor?" Back at the mayor, he said, "Just smile and wave." And I'm thinking, when I came back from camp, you guys used to chase me home from school, I feel there's going to be a bunch of guys out there that I went to high school with, and here I am, the Grand Marshal. So I said, I was going past, and my neighbor said, "I'm going to have my kids out there," on this certain corner. So, "When you get there, would you make sure you wave to my kids and say hi to them? They're going to be really excited." I said, "Okay." Going by, and going on this caravan. It's the biggest Fourth of July parade in the United States, it's either by size or by the number of participants. We went around the whole island, came back, and there's a long line still waiting to go yet when we finished. But we're only going eight, ten miles an hour. But anyway, I see the kids out there, so I see the kids and they say, "Uncle Mas," and they're Caucasian kids, waving. And I'm waving at 'em, and some guy in the back says, "Hey, Mas, all five fingers, come on." And I was thinking, you know, I thought about that because I got chased home from school and guys wouldn't sell me a house, and I went through hell to make a home and living for my children and my family. And I just thought about that the whole trip, waving at everybody and they're all waving. And I saw some guys from high school come out, and a guy from Hawaii came out, he was a Maui boy. And I said, "You living here now?" He said, "Yeah. You know, I moved over here." I said, "Why didn't you call me?" He said, "Yeah, we moved there." But that was a really odd feeling. Full circle.

BN: Yeah.

MT: But anyway, it was... I had a, well, like everybody else going to camp, we had a unique experience. Who else went to camp, concentration camp? Who else got chased home from school? Who else? And when I went to Hawaiian Airlines, the president called me in and he said, "We voted you in as senior management," the vice president of the company. And I think at that time, there were no Japanese that were vice president of an airline company. We were a small company, but, you know, still. Now there are a couple in there, Alaska put one on, I think, maybe. Company treated me good, too. But I worked like hell, though. Pardon me, I worked really hard. [Laughs] I worked really hard, yeah. But anyway, we all did, and it was fun.

BN: Okay. I think that's a good place to stop. Is there anything else you'd like to add, though, at the end?

MT: Yeah. I still wonder how my life would have been if I didn't go to camp.

BN: Right, yeah.

MT: Whether it would have been better or worse. I think I learned something in camp, some I don't really relish, you know. But I really wonder about that. Everybody that went to camp has that same feeling, I'm sure. But I was fortunate. I was ten to thirteen, and I didn't get affected too much educationally. I thought I didn't, but I did, but not as bad as if I were fourteen, eighteen, you couldn't go to college, you were just put into the workforce. But anyway... but I want to thank you guys, yeah. Thank you for everything.

BN: Thank you very much.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.