<Begin Segment 7>

FK: So do you ever talk to your children about your experiences as far as being forced to go to camp?

BT: Oh, yeah. My daughter's pretty interested in it. I think she wrote a paper during university on the evacuation.

FK: So what are your feelings about what happened as far as having to leave your home and stuff?

BT: Well, at the time, I didn't think too much, but later I come to realize how unjust it was.

FK: Did any other kids in your family...

BT: Yeah, I got a daughter and a son. Let's see, one's born in '64 and the other '66.

FK: What would you like this memorial we're doing to say to other people? What do you think is important for us to say there?

BT: Well, it's there to remind people what had happened and what could happen in the future.

FK: So what do you think is gonna happen in the future?

BT: Well, I think it's like the Arab hostility right now. I don't know whether they could evacuate that many people, but, yeah, I think it's to prevent future mistakes like that.

FK: What kind of effect do you think being sent to camp had on the people of Japanese descent that live here?

BT: Oh, that's a question I haven't pondered. I think I would have to think about that a while.

FK: Do you think there was a reason why most of us didn't speak out or protest or anything like that?

BT: I think it was due to... well, we didn't have political power at the time, and I think it's because of the generation that came over here, they didn't do that in the country they came from. You didn't protest it, you respected authority. I think that's probably the main reason.

FK: Looking back on things, do you have any comments or feelings about the people that actually resisted being drafted and didn't go into the service during that time?

BT: Yeah, that's a touchy subject. In a way, they were pretty brave. But I don't think I would have done it. [Laughs]

FK: Why not?

BT: Well, I think I would have done better by serving. I mean, I think it would have done the group better if we proved our loyalty. But they might say that they were proving loyalty by resisting. It's a hard subject.

FK: When you talk to your kids about your experiences in the service or concentration camp time, what things are important to you that they understand about what you went through?

BT: Gee, that's a hard question for me to answer. My daughter's pretty well interested in the subject, so she's researched it and all that. I don't think I could tell her anything. [Laughs]

FK: That she doesn't already know, huh? [Laughs] I see. Well, what question do you think she'd ask you if she had a chance to ask you?

BT: Gee, I don't know. I know she wants to go down to where I was, you know.

FK: You mean Manzanar?

BT: Yes. They now have a... what do you call it?

FK: Interpretive center?

BT: Yeah. And when I went down there, they didn't have that.

FK: Do you think what you went through has affected your children and their outlook on life?

BT: Well, I don't think so. I think they're pretty well adjusted. They assimilated pretty well into the community. She married a Caucasian, had three kids.

FK: Has she ever told you why knowing about the internment and things like that were important to her? Has she ever talked about that?

BT: No. I never really discussed that with her.

FK: Do you have any feelings about why that might be to her?

BT: I'm sorry?

FK: Why it might be important to her? 'Cause it sounds like she's really done a lot of studying about it.

BT: Well, I don't know why she chose that subject to write a paper on. She majored in Far Eastern Studies. Maybe that's why, I don't know.

FK: What do you think the difference between the Sanseis and the Niseis are?

BT: I think they're more assimilated into the society, I guess you'd call it. They're not... well, in our day, we had to watch what we were doing. We didn't know where we could live. Not legally, but you don't want to live someplace where you're not welcome. The current generation don't have to, they don't worry about that. Don't have to worry about that. I think we made a great investment in that respect.

FK: What kind of, thinking back, what kind of influence do you think your mother and dad had on what you think and how you respond to things, and Isseis in general had on the Niseis.

BT: Well, I guess we adopted some of their, I don't know whether to say custom or what, but for example, "don't bring shame on your family" and things like that that Japanese are great for.

FK: Were there any other things they used to tell you to be careful about or what you should do?

BT: That's the main one that comes to mind. I guess to respect authority, which could be bad. [Laughs]

FK: Yeah. Well, do you think any of their influence on us has been passed on to our children, too, or do you think we've avoided that?

BT: I think less so than our parents to us, far less, I think.

FK: Well, are there any, excuse me, are there any messages or anything you'd like to have people know, or any feelings or any things you have that you'd like people to know that we haven't asked you about?

BT: No, I can't think of anything at the moment.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.