<Begin Segment 18>

AI: Well, I wanted to ask you about sometime in 1943 -- I think it was early in the spring of 1943, in Tule Lake -- the questionnaire came out. That was, I think the... well, there was a questionnaire for men who were thinking of volunteering for service, and there was also another one that was called, the actual title was "Application for Leave Clearance." But I think people just remember it as the questionnaires that had the so-called "loyalty questions" on 'em. And I was just wondering what you remembered of that, if anything?

KO: Well I vaguely remember when that situation came up. And I think that most of us were pretty aware of what the questions were going to be. And so there were big arguments among the residents as to, "Which way should we answer those questions?" I think they were hard choices to make for some families. Except for myself, it wasn't too much of a problem; I knew which way I was gonna' go.

But the more interesting question I think is, when did the government or the army decide to take Japanese Americans in -- when we were in camp -- and, why? Why did they suddenly decide that they would let us join the army even if it was in segregated companies? And part of that answer might be that, while I was taking basic training, the group of men that came in after our group were, I don't believe were as physically fit or as young as the group that we were in. And so it could be that maybe there was a manpower shortage developing, and -- that's only my thought, that here there was a pool of men available in camp and... but I never thought about that until we started discussing the situation as to why, after taking us into camp, that all of a sudden they decided that they would take us into the army. 'Cause certainly they're not going to take any disloyal people into the army if they are aware of it.

But yes, that "no, no" question created a lot of controversy. And many people answered "no, no" to both questions because of family, and... but it's amazing, that number of people who did decide to say "yes" to service in the country, and to the country, and were willing to serve. But I think most did not answer the second part of the question "yes," which was: "Would you go fight Japan?" And I think it's understandable why you'd be reluctant to put your neck in a situation where you could be mistaken for the enemy. But, the government nevertheless had a lot of people working in Military Intelligence, where the Niseis were very helpful.

AI: Right. Well I was wondering, for yourself, you said that you knew which way you were going to answer, and which way you were going to go.

[Interruption]

AI: Okay, let's see, where were we? Oh yes: I was about to ask you if you'd had any conversations with your folks or with your brothers and sister about the questions, or your decision.

KO: No. Well, I think my brothers were too young to discuss anything like that. And I think... I think that my parents pretty much left it to me to make my own decisions as to which way to go. But, I felt that my dad had quite a bit of loyalty to this country -- more so than Japan, having spent more years here than in Japan. Although I think he was proud of the Japanese heritage, and felt that you had to honor that heritage. But certainly not to the extent that you would be disloyal to the United States. In fact, I think that he was probably one of the Isseis who were more inclined to support the United States.

AI: Well, I was wondering also, in thinking about this time, if you had any close friends or co-workers who had to make a difficult decision, who might have had to decide another way?

KO: You know, oddly enough, I don't recall any of my close friends at that time having made any other decisions than the one that I made. Although, I know there were people who did go the other way. I don't know why it is that I really was not close to people that had to make that other choice.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.