<Begin Segment 20>

TI: So we're still at Minidoka, and we just talked about school, the social scene. After several months or so, the administration came out with the "loyalty questionnaire." Do you remember when they came out with that questionnaire and how that impacted you?

MT: I can't remember how I signed it, but it was an uproar. However, Minidoka was a very sedate camp. It wasn't, I understand like in Tule Lake it was just an uproar when that came out. We didn't have very many Kibei fellows there, and I think like Tule Lake, they had a lot of Kibeis, and I think they were, I understand, the real rabble-rousers. Where Minidoka was, when that question came out, I don't know what the reaction was so much. Some people resented it, I can't remember whether I signed it or refused to sign it or what.

TI: Do you recall talking with other people about it, or was that kind of more of a personal thing that you just...

MT: It was something we talked about, but I think it left the Isseis very, very bewildered. We Niseis felt that we were Americans. No matter what happened, I think inside of us, we were, always thought we were Americans. Where the Isseis, you know, what's gonna happen? "Are we gonna be allowed to stay in the States? Are we gonna be sent back to Japan, or what?" So for the Isseis, that question coming out was, I think, a very traumatic thing. Where with the Niseis, I don't know what the attitude was. I think it was kind of, "The hell with it. They want to draft us, fine, if they don't, we're still Americans." This is the feeling we had. The thought of, that we would be evacuated out of the country or expelled from the country and sent to Japan, I don't think that thought really came in to us. But I think this was very strong for the Isseis.

TI: Well, so I'm thinking about you, you're, about this time, you're eighteen, and there are some men who around this time started volunteering for the service. How did you, how did people react to that, or how did you react to that?

MT: I really had no thought of volunteering. When they did, the ones that did volunteer, I think it left the family pretty upset. I think mainly the mothers didn't want their son to go into the service because there's always the danger of not, them coming, not home. Fathers, there were still very strong feelings toward their native country as Japanese. If their sons went into the service, if they were evacuated or expelled from the country, if they found out their son went into the army and things, what would happen to us. I think it was a very hard thing for the men and women to see their sons volunteer. I can't... the story is that families were very happy and pleased to see them volunteer and go into the service. I think that's just something they were all saying. I don't, I really don't think that the Issei parents would say, "Okay, Tom, you go ahead and volunteer." I don't think it was that... I think a lot of families, they found out that you volunteered, I don't think the Isseis, I can't say that they were really what you call pleased. Outwardly, after, you know, they came back from the service, they can say, "We were real proud of you." But at that time, I don't think the Isseis were too happy to see the fellows volunteer. I may be wrong on that.

TI: Well, so now I'm curious, so they, that first wave were volunteers, and then the army started drafting men. What was the reaction when they started drafting? Here, then all of a sudden it didn't become a choice, I mean, it was more imposed on you versus the volunteer. What, what happened --

MT: Well, there's one fellow I know, he didn't want to go to the draft. But when he was drafted, his attitude, "Well, maybe I won't pass the physical." And he didn't pass the physical and he was very, very happy about that. He didn't have to make the distinction, decision of whether to go into the army or refuse to go into the army. I had feelings at first saying, "The heck with it, I'm not going in." But when it really came down to the draft, I wouldn't say I was happy, maybe reluctantly I did go.

TI: And did you know, did you have any friends who decided not to, to go in, who decided to not, to resist the draft?

MT: Yeah, one of my closest friends resisted going.

TI: And what was his thinking? Why did he decide, do you think, to resist the draft?

MT: We really didn't talk about that, you know. His father and mother, I think, were very much against him. He was, they were a very quiet family, this fellow was a rather quiet fellow. He was a good friend of mine. But I think I was drafted earlier than when his draft came up. But they were drafted at a, a fairly close period, I think within maybe three or four months, all of the draft-age fellows were drafted.

TI: And thinking again during that time period, did you guys talk about it very much, or was it kind of more of a family or personal decision in terms of what to do?

MT: Well, I think it's a feeling of, you gotta go, you gotta go.

TI: And did you talk to your parents at all about, about what to do with this?

MT: No, I don't think so. I think the future, whether it was my parents or for me to go into the draft, the future wasn't in your hands, it was outside of your hands, you really didn't have control over your future. It was, what happened is gonna happen. I think that was pretty much the feeling.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.