<Begin Segment 11>

DH: So let's talk now then about Pearl Harbor. So where were you on the day that you heard the news about Pearl Harbor?

IN: You know, I just don't actually recall where I was, but when I heard the news it was on a Sunday, and immediately I thought well, we're going to go through some difficult times, and it was more than difficult. It was a lot worse than I thought it would be.

DH: Kay, you were saying that you didn't feel that it was going to be that difficult at first.

KN: No. I don't know why, I just thought gosh. Now the jet age, Japan is close, but in those days Japan seemed so far away that it's not going to affect us, but I was wrong.

DH: It seemed like the Japanese who were being... who this was about, were over there and you were American.

KN: Yes. Yes. Uh-huh. So that it shouldn't affect us. And Japan seemed so far away.

DH: Were your parents worried?

KN: I don't know if they fretted very much or not. They lived in America longer than they did in Japan at that point and so... well, in fact, when the war broke out, Dad cashed in his life insurance policy and bought victory bonds. That's what they called them then, victory bonds. And I don't know how much worth he bought, but he bought quite a bit. And he always said we have to be patriotic and all this stuff. So I think he was more American at that point than we realized.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.