<Begin Segment 17>

JN: What would you like to say to the visitors that come to the memorial? What kind of message would you like everybody to get from the memorial?

MN: Well, I say thank you. It was rough, but it turned out to be a beautiful memorial, and I think everyone feels... I don't think no one is against or anything like that, they're very grateful that we're gonna be honored and remembered, and how it'll never happen again.

JN: Okay. Why do you think it's important that we build this memorial?

MN: Well, I think because we went through so much, and yet we're able to come back and become American citizens, be one of us again, and so many served for the country, too. And to be honored, it's, really grateful for. Because of the love and faith of our country, it's wonderful that we'll be honored.

JN: Do you have anything else you want to share from, anything that I might have missed? About just from, you know, your early years to anything at all?

MN: I just love this part of the Northwest, and I just had to come home. And here I am, and I'm so thankful to enjoy this beautiful land of ours.

JN: Because all of your sisters went, Elsie went to...

MN: Denver.

JN: Denver.

MN: Yeah. And Kay was in Montana but she was able to come back to Seattle. And then my youngest sister, she lived in California, but she's gonna come, she lives, is gonna come in March to be in Spokane, Washington, so she'll be a Washingtonian, too, she'll be back.

JN: Why, why do you think they all want to come back?

MN: Because they, you know, love this country, Pacific Northwest, and then to be near to the family, that's so important. So we could all be close to one another again like before.

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