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TI: So let's talk about the days after December 7th. So the next day, December 8th, Monday, is a school day. What was that like?

KG: That was real bad, because we had to take the bus to go to school, and everybody stared at us and, you know, we heard all kinds of derogatory comments.

TI: So what would be an example of derogatory comments?

KG: Well, when, for instance, my favorite class was math. I had a geometry teacher, and he was very good. And at that time, someone came around -- they didn't have intercoms -- and a person came around to say they were going to have a scrap drive for the war effort. And this teacher said, "Let's collect scraps to beat the Japs." And I was just jarred by that. And there were three of us Japanese students in the class, and we just kind of looked at each other, you know. And after class was over, this one German boy waited for me outside and said, "I want to apologize for what the teacher said." Anyway, it was... it just jarred me because the teacher was one that I enjoyed and that I respected. And I don't... well, that's the way people talked.

TI: So you had that combination of one of your favorite teachers sort of, you're seeing a different side of a favorite teacher. But then the other thing which is really interesting, was a, the student who was of German ancestry. It's kind of ironic because at that point, the United States was fighting, declared war on Germany also, and he came up to you to apologize.

KG: Yeah. He felt... well, he was aware of how I felt, I guess, I don't know. But after I thought about it, it was interesting that he of all people... and it was a student that I really didn't have too much contact with. But he was a very, very sensitive person.

TI: Oh, but you know, in some ways, I guess it makes sense, too. Because in a similar way, the country where his ancestors came from was now fighting against the United States. And so he probably, in some ways, could feel some of this sense of here I'm an American, and yet my ancestors, or even maybe some relatives, are now at war with the United States.

KG: Yeah, there was a connection there.

TI: Right, okay. So that actually does make sense.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2015 Densho. All Rights Reserved.