<Begin Segment 17>

DG: I just want to wrap up with some thoughts you have about the memorial that's being built today. What do you think of the memorial?

FH: Oh, I'm for it, sure. I hope could live to see it.

DG: And what would you like to see it be?

FH: As soon as possible.

DG: [Laughs] Yes. What do you think the most important purpose of the memorial is?

FH: Well, it's in history, I think so, and I guess we all learned from it, and will never happen again. But it happened. For your kids' sake, just like you say, "kodomo no tame ni." And so I hope in the future, nothing like this will happen. It's in history, I think we should be proud to... and we, I think not many refused it and we just followed the rule. I think, I hope the world should know, everybody should know that we were the first to be evacuated and came back. Time marches on. Yeah, sure, I'd like to hurry up and... I think it's a good idea.

DG: Tell me why you're proud. What are you proud of from that period?

FH: What?

DG: You said you were proud, we should be proud? Tell me why you're proud.

FH: Oh, because we went through it without no problem, and we all came back home healthy. I think there's a lot of future, everybody have their own life. And we learned, learned from it. Yeah, I want, I want... it's a big project, if I could say that, I don't know. But we'll make it.

DG: And what would you like to teach younger kids about the memorial and about what you went through?

FH: That it would never happen again, never, and let the children know that it did happen, and it'll never happen again. Yeah, I hope not. I don't know, out in the South, they don't know it. It's not, it's the West Coast that knows more about evacuation. To let the whole U.S. know, that's another thing. But I suppose it must have happened in other countries, too, I don't know.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.