<Begin Segment 26>

SY: So you became active with the...

CI: Go For Broke?

SY: Go For Broke, that's how you...

CI: Yeah. And we weren't active right at first when they were building the monument or anything. We were mostly active with E Company, which was the same company as Dan Inouye.

SY: And that's the company that your husband was in.

CI: Yeah.

SY: So he spent most of the war years, or was he, he saw a lot of the...

CI: Oh, yeah. He was at Camp Shelby. I think he was the youngest one in his E Company because he went at seventeen and they wouldn't take him, and he had to wait until he was eighteen, right out of high school. So that's when he volunteered.

SY: So he was one of the later ones who volunteered.

CI: No, he was one of the earliest.

SY: Oh. And then he fought all through Italy and France?

CI: Well, just before the "Lost Battalion" he was wounded. And so he missed it because he was in the hospital, which was, we think he was so fortunate because so many of them were killed.

SY: So did he get discharged after that or did he go back after?

CI: Oh, yeah. He didn't come right away, but he had two Purple Hearts. He was wounded twice.

SY: So you didn't know that until you were dating?

CI: No, no, I didn't know. I didn't know anything about anything like that. But anyway, I remember the first reunion they had postwar, and we're all sitting around and everybody's talking pidgin. All these guys, mainland guys, it didn't matter where they were from, pidgin. And so I asked this one guy, Ed... I can't remember... well anyway, I said, "Oh, and what island are you from?" And he said, "Oh, I'm from the island of Livingston." [Laughs] "Do you know where that is?" I said, "Yes, I know where that is. My dad grew up in Modesto, which is right next to Livingston." So after that everybody laughed and we were good friends. But it was a lot of fun, these reunions.

SY: Over the years, right? So when did you start getting involved with Go For Broke?

CI: I think it must have been about... it had to be after the monument was built. And I don't know what possessed us to start going, but once we started going then we just full blown.

SY: It was, what kinds of things did you do?

CI: Mailing, mass mailing. [Laughs] You know, the mass mailing. Or going to meetings. And then I can't remember when I became a board member, but they asked to be on the board. And Bob was on the board of governors.

SY: And you're still on the board today.

CI: I'm still on the board. I think I've been on it for ten years.

SY: And your husband has since passed away, so you've taken on his, the work of...

CI: Yeah, he just died July the 4th.

SY: This year.

CI: Of this year.

SY: Appropriately on July 4th, huh, since he always carried that flag? Yeah, that's amazing. Why is it that he carried that American flag?

CI: He insisted on carrying the American flag. Sometimes they wanted him to carry some other flag, but no, he carried the American flag. So he did that until they got so... not feeble, but anyway, it was just too much. So I think it's been about five years that they walked. The whole... I mean, it's not that many miles, but to carry a heavy flag. And so they started riding and let the younger folks carry the flag.

SY: And what is it about Go For Broke that keeps you involved? Why do you...

CI: Well, because I think that unless we have some organization like that, they're going to forget about the sacrifices that the men gave. Because some of you younger folks would probably not have some of the advantages that they have if it weren't for the sacrifices of the guys. That's what I think.

SY: And then looking back on your own camp, having gone through what you and your family went through, do you see it differently now than you did when you were going through it?

CI: I think I would be... if I knew what I know now and I knew some of that then, I think I might have been more of an activist. But you know, we were so totally unaware of rights, and I think we had that Japanese mentality of enryo, which is not good, but I think that with things like Go For Broke, I hope that we're telling our younger folks that they have to have power and they have to stand up for their rights.

SY: Do you remember, Chris, when that sort of changed for you? Like when you started thinking about what camp meant? Do you remember giving it much thought as you were...

CI: Probably. Probably being on the board for Go For Broke. And in talking to some of my friends, so I've got some of my friends that write to me now, my Caucasian friends. "Oh, this is Bob's company." And they'd get the numbers mixed up, but that's all right. They know that there's some fours in there.

SY: So you keep in touch with these people?

CI: Oh, yes.

SY: Are now even more incensed, or they are more aware now.

CI: Yes. And I'm still in touch with some of my nursing students. I wasn't going to send out Christmas cards this year until I got too many "Mr. and Mrs." cards, realizing that there are some people out there that are unaware of Bob's passing. So I sent out some cards with a picture of Bob on one side saying that, "This is our first Christmas without him." But one of my students wrote back and said, "Oh, every time I hear about the 442 I think about Bob."

SY: And your, you have how many children?

CI: Three.

SY: Three. And they're all sons?

CI: No, no, no. I have two boys and a girl. One son is a sheriff, and he's going to retire. Well, in fact, they gave him a retirement party already, to which we went, but I don't know why at such a young age. [Laughs] He wants to retire. And then our middle son lives in Kauai, and he has his own business. And then our daughter lives in Long Beach.

SY: And do you talk to them about camp and the war?

CI: Oh, yeah. They came, all of them were with me at the Evening of Aloha this year. And they donated to Evening of Aloha, and then their friends come. They're very much aware.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.