<Begin Segment 21>

MN: Now I'm gonna move forward a little and go to the '60s and the '70s when William started to get very active in the antiwar protest and the civil rights rally as part of the United Methodist Church.

YH: Yes.

MN: Did you ever get worried about his safety?

YH: No.

MN: You and William were also active in the Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri campaign?

YH: Yes.

MN: How close did you get to her family?

YH: Well, I'd say we were pretty close. 'Cause we had a celebration in Evanston and, for her, because July the fourth was her birthday and we celebrated her birthday in Evanston and a lot of people came out for that. And then the most astonishing thing was that one of the men who came up on the stage confessed that he was one of the ones who informed on Iva Toguri, and he was sobbing, and he asked her if she would forgive him. That was on his conscience for a long time, but he decided to pick that day, in front of all of us. It was very moving.

MN: How did Iva Toguri answer that?

YH: Oh gee, I don't remember.

MN: Did your folks live very close to each other?

YH: No. No, I would go there every time about Christmas time, and I'd select gifts from her shop to give to people.

MN: What kind of person was she?

YH: Well, she was a no nonsense person, and she was a biologist. And, 'cause I know she said her father was on his deathbed and the government wanted some money from him, some money that he may have owed on taxes or something from way back, and on his deathbed the government was asking for that.

MN: Was she bitter towards the U.S. government?

YH: I don't know.

MN: You never got that sense from her?

YH: No, but she, I do know she was a no-nonsense person.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.