<Begin Segment 11>

TI: So, yeah, so I... so you're talking about how the Japanese came in the 1800s to have a better life and in many cases, not only the men, but the women also came, so they started families, and then when the war came up, I wanted to make this connection. You talked about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, this was a segregated Japanese American unit that fought in Italy and France and Germany, and they were highly decorated. And you're right, they, many of them actually came out of this camp that was nearby, and believing strongly -- 'cause I've talked with many of them -- fighting for this sense of freedom that they wanted. And they felt -- and you mentioned earlier that they, they wouldn't give up an inch. In fact, they called themselves the Go For Broke group. That it's kind of interesting, in talking to them, they felt that they were fighting as much not only for themselves and their, and their fellow soldiers, but they were in some cases fighting for the freedom of the people in the camps, thinking that they wanted to show the rest of the country that they were as loyal as any other American. And that what, and that when they realized that eventually the people in the camps would be released, and they wanted, they felt that by their, by their actions and how well they fought, it would be easier for the others. I think you mentioned earlier -- and when we were talking, chatting before the interview -- that you actually, like, came in contact with some people from the 442 coming back on the ship?

DK: Yes.

TI: Can you talk a little bit about that, what that was like?

DK: Yeah, they were real, I guess you'd call it friendly, and wanted to talk, and one of 'em was actually, his relation lived close to Jerome and another one lived over in Ontario. And they were wondering where I was going to end up, and I told them I was going to be in Jerome. And so we had a good conversation and no bitterness. They had proven themselves and there was no, no -- on my part, there was no bitterness against them, and so I say that yes, our country did some wrong things, and yes, we're gonna make some more. And my philosophy in running construction crews for years, I didn't hire anybody that at first they wanted to know if they had a job for us, said, "Yeah, I do have." If their next question was, "What do you pay?" I didn't consider 'em, and then the next thing is if, if they showed aggressiveness as far as work goes, and especially the ones that thought they were so good, they, they tell me all these good things they've done, I said, "I don't want to hire anybody that hasn't made a mistake." Well, that's what this is all about. This is a mistake and I think we talked about this before, if we don't learn from these mistakes, maybe we wouldn't fight so hard for our freedom. But in the end we do, and we love freedom. Like I say, I put my life on the line and sixteen million more Americans. And over the time of history, since this is a country, there have been forty-two million people put their lives on the line, and like, three hundred thousand of them give their lives. So is this, do we need to run our country down? No. We need to build it up.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2005 Densho. All Rights Reserved.