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REM: Were you involved with the JACL before 1942, before the war?

RTM: Well, I think when we were going to high school, my best friend was Milton Iida. He and I, we always liked to go to JACL meetings and enjoy their social functions. And so at that time, we thought, "Man, first thing we got to do is join JACL," you know, to get in on all this good stuff. And so as soon as we were eligible age-wise to join, we joined JACL. And so I've been a member since probably 1939 or something like that.

REM: The coming of the JACL, its main purpose, though, was in the field of the Nisei, the second generation, developing its self-identity. It's very much wrapped up, isn't it, with, as a Nisei movement, second generation movement? Were, did Issei belong to the JACL?

RTM: Not that I recall.

REM: Uh-huh. So the --

RTM: Strictly a Nisei project. And I think, like I mentioned earlier, my buddy and I, we felt that we wanted to take advantage of all the social functions that JACL sponsored, and so we enjoyed their picnics and their dances and so on.

REM: And it was co-educational?

RTM: Yes, uh-huh.

REM: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.