<Begin Segment 22>

TI: And so you said about eight of you were picked up, or...?

FM: Uh-huh. Were eight of us picked up.

TI: And was it just the MP officers who came and picked you up? Do you remember exactly who picked you up?

FM: No, I don't. I didn't see Pursall there, but...

BK: Were they the same MPs that you saw the night before?

FM: No.

BK: They were different.

FM: Somebody else that we didn't even know.

TI: But you couldn't figure out how they picked you guys out?

FM: That's right, yeah.

TI: Okay. And then what happened?

FM: Then we were put in a big room, all of us together. And they called us in one at a time for questioning. They wanted to know who hit the MP. We didn't accuse anybody, but we figured that he's gonna say that he did it. Then we all could all go home. But, no, he didn't say anything.

TI: And so when they'd asked you exactly what happened, you would just say one person hit somebody or -- but you wouldn't tell 'em who it was? Is that kind of...?

FM: Yeah. They asked us, "Who hit the lieutenant?" I says, "I don't know."

TI: And do you think all eight of you said pretty much the same thing?

FM: Yeah.

TI: No one gave a name?

FM: Nobody.

TI: Now, why is that? Why wouldn't any of the guys mention a name?

FM: I guess they didn't want to squeal on their buddy. But actually, he wasn't with us, you know. He was alone at the bar by himself.

TI: Oh, so he wasn't with you?

FM: He wasn't one of our group guys.

TI: I see. And even then, even though you knew who he was, but you wouldn't give his name?

FM: Uh-huh. Yeah.

TI: But there was an expectation that he, the person who did swing, would admit it, so the others would get off the hook?

FM: Uh-huh, yeah. We thought he would. In fact, our Chaplain Yamada came down to see us while we were in the stockade, in that room. And he told the guy, "Yeah, why don't you just admit that you did it, and everybody can go home?" But he won't do it.

TI: Well, then, what happened next after they questioned the eight of you? Then what happened?

FM: They let people go, and they kept three of us, plus the guy that did the damage.

TI: Now why do you think they kept the three of you?

FM: I don't know. I really don't know why.

BK: Who was that? Who were those people?

FM: Kash, myself, Hayashi, and Matsuda. Matsuda is the one that caused all the problems.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.