<Begin Segment 16>

TI: So going back to Manzanar, I want to talk, after a few months, the government came out with a questionnaire, it was called the "leave clearance," and other people called it a "loyalty questionnaire." Do you remember when the government did that?

SM: I don't remember exactly, but I know I answered "no-no" to both questions.

TI: Now, do you recall talking with people about that decision, or how you came to that decision?

SM: Well, I think my mind was made up quite a while before that. When we were evacuated from Terminal Island, you know, that's about the time I was starting to feel that I, there was no future in this country for us.

TI: And so it was building up, so would you say prior to the war, did you have any thoughts about going to Japan before the war?

SM: No, I didn't even think about that.

TI: So it sounds like after the war started, and how the government was treating you and other Japanese Americans, that you started getting this sense that maybe the United States was not the place for you?

SM: Yeah. That's what I felt.

TI: Now, did you, were there other people like that that you kind of shared this thinking with?

SM: Well, there were a lot of people that felt the same as I did. And there were others that didn't feel that way, either.

TI: And when you have these two different ways of thinking, how did the groups interact about this issue? Did you guys talk about it, not talk about it?

SM: Well, there were some conflicts between the groups, you know. But I think a lot of times, each group ignored, you know, not talking about it.

TI: But in your group, and this is, I'm sure if you're, it might be a hard one. But how would you characterize the other side? Did you guys talk about, like, your point of view versus the other point of view and discuss that?

SM: My personal feeling was that different people feel different way, of different things. So personally, their feeling was their business. I felt that way, but there were other people that didn't feel that way. There were other people that, they resented the fact that they were thinking differently.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.