<Begin Segment 19>

TI: So let's talk about you volunteering for the army. There really.... well, describe that. Why did you volunteer?

TK: Well, I figured... I never stopped. I mean, I never questioned it. I had to go. I said it was my duty.

TI: Was this a common sentiment amongst your friends?

TK: I don't think so. Well, like some guys, they just said, "No, I'm not going." What did they call them now? They had a name. "No-no boys," I guess. They didn't...

TI: Did you ever ask or talk to people like Father Tibesar or your parents about your decision to join the army?

TK: No. I told my mother, and I'm sure she didn't want me to go. But once you go, like all Japanese, they're proud of you.

TI: And so let me make sure I understand. So when you told your mother, what was her first reaction? Do you remember her face?

TK: I don't remember.

TI: But then you said eventually she was very proud that you volunteered.

TK: Dad and Mom were real proud that somebody had volunteered, yes.

TI: Earlier, in the car, we were talking a little bit about my uncle Bako.

TK: Bako, yeah.

TI: And can you tell me a little bit about him? Because he was killed in the war, so I never knew him. And I'm just curious if you could tell me a little bit about...

TK: As I recall, he was in my Boy Scout troop. We had about twenty scouts, and we would go camping over to Bainbridge (Island), Maryknoll had a camp over there. And picnics and whatever Boy Scouts did. [Laughs]

TI: But my understanding is that he also volunteered.

TK: He did, he did.

TI: And so can you tell me about that? Did you ever talk to him or know anything about him?

TK: I never talked to Bako, but I remember he, coming back, "I failed," the first time.

TI: This is what Bako said, that he failed the first time, the physical.

TK: Well, I don't know if he told me that, but I know he failed. Then he, I know he tried again and he got accepted.

TI: Yeah, I think the story in my family is that my grandmother gave him some, I think, herbs or something to help...

TK: Oh, the blood pressure?

TI: It was something to do with his kidney, I guess, and that helped, and then he was able to pass the physical.

TK: Okay, yeah.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.