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DM: Now, I want to move on to, I want to move on to the World War II years. So in December of 1941 you were fifteen years old. Do you remember anything about the day when Pearl Harbor was bombed?

BS: Yes. When, on December the 7th, I remember that distinctly because that's the morning I was at the doctor's office getting my tonsils out. And fortunately, the news of December the 7th came after the surgery was done, and that's where I was. And I remember the doctor giving me a scoop of ice cream with the radio blasting on about Pearl Harbor.

DM: So after that, did you then go home?

BS: Yes.

DM: And did you hear the adults talking about what might happen?

BS: Well, in Japanese, they would say, "Zannen no koto desu ne," which meant, "It's a drastic incident," and they were all very concerned what would happen.

DM: What do you think that they thought might happen?

BS: You know, that's something that... it is strange looking back. They did not communicate too much about the war with, with us as, as children. And I don't know whether it was to prevent us from worrying and fearing what could happen, and probably that is the reason why. But they were, they were not too vocal about it. And I know that his friends, they would meet together and talk about it, but it would be more in a private way. And they would, I remember a little about, about what they would be speculating, "God, what are they gonna do?"

DM: What were your feelings like at that time?

BS: It's a, it's a difficult question because I guess number one, I was fifteen years old at that time, and probably did not experience any kind of war before. But I think that I was more worried about my own personal welfare and how I may be looked upon by my friends. That's probably what I was most worried about.

DM: So in your teenage mind, you were thinking mostly about what this might do to you socially.

BS: Correct.

DM: And did you notice anybody treating you differently at school or out in the community?

BS: No, it's a strange thing, Daryl. Right after Pearl Harbor, I think all of our friends were really sympathetic and cared for us, and was... they tried to really console us, that, "Don't worry. Don't worry about it," until the San Francisco Examiner and the Oakland Tribune started to bring up headlines, "You Can't Trust the Jap." And it's amazing how, how the press could change a person's mind, amazing. And after all that bad press that we were having, accusing us of being "enemy aliens," why then you could sense that there was mistrust coming along. And I was terribly disappointed because everything that the press were printing on the front page were all wrong, it was all wrong. I know this is when my late brother Harry, who was very active with the JACL, tried to contradict all those. But he, the JACL at that time just didn't have the influence to do it. But from there, slowly, you could see tension.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright ©2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.