<Begin Segment 13>

MN: I'm gonna backtrack a little. Did you have any problems when you came to the border of California and New Mexico?

HY: Yeah, because the border patrol was a young kid, just got out of high school. And he knew a lot of these Japanese people. And we started talking and then I get, you know, we got, we got so involved in it, and he said, later he said, "You guys got a travel permit, don't you?" I told him, "Yeah." [Laughs] He said, "Okay, go." Yeah, we got away from there.

MN: So when you were crossing the border from California to New Mexico, you were okay.

HY: Yeah.

MN: You got through.

HY: Yeah, we got through, but they caught us at the Colorado and New Mexico border. That's where we got caught. He couldn't do a thing. [Laughs]

MN: So the sheriff, the sheriff had to let you go.

HY: Of course. The FBI said to, "Let 'em go."

MN: So you went to the Denver FBI office?

HY: Oh, yes.

MN: So what happened there?

HY: Well, they said, "Yeah," he said, "what do you guys want?" We said, "We were caught at the border at the New Mexico and Colorado and told us to, you know, stop over here and check in, so here we are. He says, yeah, he says, "Where are you guys going?" "Oh, we're going to Fort Lupton." Says, "Yeah, okay, go ahead," without giving a note or anything, said, "Go ahead." And as soon as we drove into Fort Lupton, here's the sheriff, stopped us. California license...

MN: On your car.

HY: Yeah. And he says, "Where's your traveling permit?" Said, "We don't have any." So he stuck us in the jail again, overnight. He calls the FBI over, and the next day the FBI came over. The one that came was a second-generation German. Says his parents were from Germany and, "I'm the second generation like you." He said he couldn't understand, you know. He says, "I'm just doing my job. I can't do nothing. Anyway, only thing I'll do is wish you guys good luck." He understood why -- he's the second-generation, I was second-generation. They kick us out of our home, why didn't they do that to Germans, Italians then? They know there won't be anybody to fight for this country then. [Laughs] Anyway, that's what happened.

MN: So you were released from jail after this German FBI --

HY: Oh, yeah, yeah. "Go wherever you want."

MN: So the Hawaiians went a separate way, and you --

HY: Yeah, they went, they went back to Denver. They said, "We're going back to Denver."

MN: You know, while you were going through these experiences, were you scared?

HY: No.

MN: Well, how were, were you feeling angry, or what were you feeling?

HY: I was, you know, ticked off. Why I, that's my home over here, and then they kicked me out of my own home. My god. That's not right. Where's our right, anyway? Where's our due process? Then I hear this Gordon Hirabayashi, you know, he refused to evacuate or nothing, he was there, fought for his rights. That's when I said, "Oh, yeah, okay, I'm gonna follow him."

MN: How did you hear about Gordon?

HY: Through the papers. Through the papers. Then, well, we were in the, before that, we would hear about the, Frank Emi. He was on the paper, too, all the time.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.