<Begin Segment 36>

TI: So I want to go back to the Nisei Veterans Committee, because after it was formed and it became a thriving organization, you had the role of working on the newsletter. So can you tell me what the newsletter was and what the purpose of that was?

HH: Oh, the newsletter was started, really, by Joe Hamanaka, because I was still involved with...

TI: The Northwest Times?

HH: The Times at the time and everything. And also that I didn't have much chance to work, because all the other people already had a little more time to get established. And when I finally wanted to maybe go into something else, so I did leave the Northwest Times and I was able to find a job with the Boeing Company.

TI: But so with the newsletter, though, you started working on that after Joe.

HH: No, we were working together, but -- I was with them from the beginning, but I said I'll help, so that's why I was with him all the time. He's the one that organized.

TI: But eventually you were more involved, or worked more over the years.

HH: Yes. The idea about starting a newsletter at the same time was that all the meeting notices, I said, "Let's put it out," so instead of writing out the addresses and everything about the meeting on the penny postcard, I said why don't we publish a little mimeograph paper, and also we could include the meeting notices and whatever. And so we... and the meetings were once a month, so we would set the meeting on the last Friday of each month, and the paper will be gotten ready for publishing according to the meeting.

TI: So how many years did you work on the newsletter?

HH: Well, I was involved really thirty years altogether, but it got that way because it was more, not just writing, but we had to, like the mimeograph, we had to crank it out by hand and such, and you had to cut the stencils, you had to be able to type. And it was only not the women was involved in the paper, and I was able to type and everything else, too. But it was kind of time-consuming, too, so anyway, we started that way with mimeograph paper, and then eventually when they asked me to take over the paper as editor, then I set it up as a house organ, which is kind of limited to the membership. But I realized that if we were to have a paper like that, we have to also include other public events or activities that were going on, to inform our veterans. And so it almost became like I invited the community churches and such, if they were having bazaars and such, I would invite them to send a notice about it and then I would include it in our Nisei Vet paper. So it was a little different from a regular house organ, especially only for the membership.

TI: So it was almost like a combination house organ and community newspaper?

HH: Yes. It had to be that way because we didn't have any other paper, really, after Budd decided to quit.

TI: So in those thirty years that you worked on the NVC newsletter, were there any sort of stories or editions that kind of stand out in your mind as an interesting one?

HH: Well, I think one of the most memorable ones would be the Nisei Vet national, so-called national reunion, Nisei Veterans reunion, which was held in Seattle in '64. And that was two years after my stint as one of the commanders. I served in 1962 to 1963.

TI: And so what made that national reunion or convention so memorable?

HH: Because we, before that it was only held in Hawaii, and we were able to go and request that maybe we should have it on the mainland, every other time rotate between Hawaii. So we were able to make a bid for it at one of the reunions, and we were given the opportunity to hold it on the West Coast. And because of that, we were really able to use the facilities in Seattle, like a parade down Fourth Avenue, and we all dressed in, whoever could still wear their uniforms. And most of 'em were still able to wear their uniform, and we marched down. And it was very impressive, we felt, because we were able to have a regular city parade.

TI: And I'm thinking about the NVC, you mentioned most of them were from the 442, and here you were from the OSS primarily, and furthermore, you were from Tacoma. Did they ever ask you what you did during the war, and how much could you tell them in terms of what you did?

HH: Well, I did tell them I worked for Office of Strategic Services, but I thought that because it was, my letters were censored and everything else, that I wouldn't be able to tell them too much about what I did, about the organization and what I was involved with. But they knew that I went to China/Burma/India area, and they knew it was intelligence-type service. But there was never too much questions asked about what I did. It was more that I had to tell them that I'm not the original 442 veteran, but I was in the military service.

<End Segment 36> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.