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TL: Since he was a leader and founder of JACL, how did he respond to evacuation? And...

YB: Having been in the reserve army, and a captain in there, he was ready to cooperate in every way to evacuate and keep peace. And the one thing that I think hit everyone's heart was, when we were all on board the bus heading for Puyallup -- that was our first place where we were to assemble, where all the stables were, and they had fixed it up for us. As we boarded the bus and got on, and the bus pulled out, my little boy, who was eight years old, popped up and said, "Daddy, how come if we're all Americans, that we have to leave Seattle?" You could hear a pin drop, except for the motor of the car, and Daddy said to Ken, "Ken, do you remember Daddy telling you about Uncle Sam?" He says, "Yes, Daddy." "Well, Uncle Sam is the daddy of America, of all of us. And he's telling the country and Seattle, which Seattle is part, that there is war going on and it would be much safer for us to leave Seattle right now. But when the war is over, then Uncle Sam will let us come back again." "Oh, that's okay, Daddy." Never asked another question. He was pleased with that answer, yeah.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.