<Begin Segment 40>

AI: I wanted to ask you to do a little reflecting now, thinking back. And, when you think back on the war years, what do you think are some of the worst of the long term effects of what happened in those times?

RT: The worst?

AI: For you.

RT: Well, it's also the worst and the best, I think... and that is the fact that it happened. I think about it, getting older, and you have a different perspective on things as you get older, and to me it is just amazing that it happened.

And the other thing is, that you realize that since it happened, that we should realize that it should never happen again. I think that is one of the things that I realized later on. The fact that it was a major, major error that it should happen in the first place, but also that we should remember that since it did happen, that we should make sure that enough people realize that it did, so that it will never happen again, not in this country. It just appalls me. Because there are not a lot of people, especially the younger and younger ones, who know about it. They don't realize. Even, even people, the Japanese -- kids with Japanese heritage, they aren't aware of what it means. I think, however, it's coming around. I know in my own case the, my kids all are very much aware, very much interested in the history and also in the fact that it is being disseminated. And, unfortunately, we only have one grandchild, but then from him I can also learn. He is learning it. I mean, he knows about it from, of course, his parents. And I'm glad for that.

But, yeah, just doing this interview has made me think about the fact that this was a major experience for the Americans of any nationality, really. Because it is an illustration of what can happen, and I think that way we learn that it shouldn't happen again. That's the major point that I get from this.

AI: So it was a very, very bad situation. It was a major error for the country, but in a sense, there is some positive aspect because of the education.

RT: Yes, of course. We must learn. We must learn from these mistakes. Yeah, definitely.

<End Segment 40> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.