Densho Digital Archive - Kazuko Uno Bill Interview I (denshovh-bkazuko-01-0019)

<Begin Segment 19>

MA: So, I guess, let's talk about now the Executive Order 9066 and the evacuation orders that came down from the government. What was going through your mind when you heard about how you had to leave and go into camp? What was that time like?

KB: Well, I think it was a big shock. It was pretty, I should say it was a pretty bad time for us, especially when we didn't have my father and nobody knew what was going to happen. But again, I think we tried to make the best of it, we accepted it, we didn't try to fight it. I know that some of the, some people did try to fight it, which I thought was very admirable. But most of us just tried to do the best we can with the order and conform.

MA: It seems like with, especially with the fathers gone and the husbands gone, that it kind of left these communities, and what were people gonna do?

KB: That's right. It's just like we were helpless. So the best course of action I guess was just to do what we were told, which maybe was not the right thing to do, but that was what was open to us, I should say.

MA: And so you were in your, was it third year at the University of Washington?

KB: No, I was in my senior year.

MA: Your senior year, okay.

KB: I was in my senior year. So I was thinking about applying to medical school at that point, but of course, all that I had to forget. And... let's see. The university decided to give us our degree if we were eligible for a degree at that point. I don't know whether I should say all this, but I was a very good student, and actually, I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and I graduated with honors. My friends did, too; we were in a very, we were a smart group. [Laughs] And only thing I could not participate in the graduation, because we had to leave in May, and I think the graduation was later on, maybe later on in May or first part of June, I don't remember. So I did receive my certificate while I was in camp, it was mailed to me. When we were in camp, they had a graduation ceremony for all the high school and college graduates, and I did participate in that.

MA: So you did receive your diploma, and you were recognized by the university as being a graduate?

KB: Yes, right. So I'm in that group that did get my certificate, but there were others who did not, and I think they're being honored at this event at the university in a couple of weeks.