<Begin Segment 9>

gky: This is tape three with Rusty Kimura, December 14th, the year 2000, in Los Angeles. Rusty, when you think back on the war years, what did you learn from being in the MIS? Or how did the MIS influence how you lived your life after you got out of the service?

RK: Will you give me an idea?

gky: Well, for example, you probably wouldn't have been in Japan. You probably wouldn't have spent, if you hadn't been with the MIS, you probably wouldn't have spent as long as you spent in Japan. You may have gone into a different profession.

RK: Well, the only thing is, in the first place, I'm very glad that I volunteered and entered the army, served in the army. For one thing, I'm serving my country, but by being in the army, I met so many people and I've seen so many places that I would not have experienced if it had not been for the army. In other words, it's too bad there had to be a war for me to receive the education that I have received by going to, if it hadn't been for the war, I probably wouldn't ever have left the state of California. I had been up as, before the war, I had been up as far as 30 miles from the Oregon border, right up in the northeast corner, a place called Alturas, to play basketball for the championship, and after high school days with the Nisei football team in Oakland, I went all the way down to Brawley. That's about 30 miles from the Mexican border. But never, I didn't go to, what's the name of that Mexican town there, right nearby?

gky: Tijuana.

RK: Tijuana. I didn't go to Tijuana. Oh, I did go to Tijuana once, but that was after the war. That's right. I went to Tijuana after the war.

gky: Okay, so another reason then was the MIS, being in the military, broadened your horizons.

RK: Yeah. And I enjoyed my stay in Japan, nineteen years of life in Japan. I really enjoyed it.

gky: Why did you come back to the States?

RK: When did I come back?

gky: Why?

RK: Well, for one thing, my daughter was thirteen, and another thing is a lot of the MIS was going to be transferred to Hawai'i. When they go to Hawai'i, they're on the local economy, no commissary, no benefits. Of course, there was some talk about whether MIS was going to be Japan much longer, and so forth. Since my daughter was thirteen, I was thinking, do I want to live here or America. And I couldn't make a living in Japan. I wasn't that strong in Japanese. I wasn't strong enough in Japanese and English both. So I thought I'd better get back and get my daughter into American schools even though there is a military, what would you call them, military-sponsored schools in Japan, too.

gky: Anything else you can think of about MIS experiences or being in the war? What was it like when MacArthur was fired?

RK: Well, I didn't, I mean, to me, very disappointing. A lot of people disliked MacArthur, you know, but I thought he was a great... there's no question he was a great military leader. He was probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, America has ever had, but he liked the Niseis, too. I understand that one fellow, Nisei, was, heard him say, one Nisei heard him say, it might have been his linguist, heard him say, "How are my boys doing?" referring to, you know. So I could understand MacArthur's feeling, although he shouldn't have, he shouldn't have rebuffed Truman, so to say, in the manner in which he did. But what I say, I can understand it is because I can understand MacArthur's feelings because he's human. He's a human being, and he was a lieutenant general when Truman wasn't even a captain yet. And here he is, for a general of his caliber, to having a person who was a captain when he was a general, telling him what to do and everything about military policies, you see. Like for example, I don't know what the reason why he got fired, but I think it might have been because MacArthur wanted to fight the Chinese in Korea during the Korean War. He wanted, whatever it was -- I better not go into that because I don't know enough about it. But whatever it was, it's military strategy.

gky: In terms of dismantling the industrial industry in Japan, which the occupation forces did, and then rebuilt them, how did that help Japan rebuild itself? How did the Niseiand their role help Japan rebuild itself? You were an observer.

RK: No, I was just an observer so I don't have the expertise, the knowledge, to assess that. But I understand there were Niseis who -- perhaps Cappy knows -- who worked along with the Japanese to build up the economy of Japan. And, you know, they split the zaibatsu, although in -- into two separate units, or whatever they call it. Like Mitsubishi electric, but they also have Mitsubishi automobiles, or whatever, instead of just one big conglomerate.

gky: Anything else you can think that you want to add? Anything else you can think of?

RK: The only one thing I'd like to say is that it's a good thing it was no other country that occupied Japan, because Russia wanted to divide Japan north and south, just like Vietnam or Korea, and Russia would take the top half, north half, and the United States the lower half, or whatever. But MacArthur wouldn't allow it, see, and it's a good thing.

gky: But not only for that reason, because America was the only country that had Nisei. I mean, it was the only people first, the only country that had people of Japanese ancestry who were going to be part of the occupation who did have family there. Anything else?

RK: One, I just... the relationship between the Nisei who served in the MIS and the Japanese people, the public that is, not with Niseis' friends or relatives, but with the public, the relationship is not really friendly, you know, not close. That's because the Japanese people are rather -- don't understand why we fought against Japan, see. They can't, they figure we're traitors. A lot of people, I'm not saying everyone, just some. There's quite a segment who feel that way. I just wish that our politicians in the position, if they're in the position to do so, would make it understandable for the Japanese people why we were in the army, why we served. This is our country. Japan is not our country. No matter how you look at it, you have to fight for your country. It doesn't matter who the enemy is.

Off camera: The Japanese people thought, I mean, to be a citizen of Japan, it's by race, you have

to be Japanese.

RK: What was that?

Off camera: The Japanese people in Japan for citizenship have to be Japanese by race. I mean, for instance, Koreans in Japan who might be born in Japan have to be considered Japanese citizens as well as any other ethnic group, right? So, maybe that's why they think you are Japanese by race so you should have this loyalty to...

RK: Well, Japan figures, their concept is just like America's in a sense. We're of Japanese blood, so no matter whether we're born in America or Brazil, or where, we're still Japanese to them, to Japan. America says we were born in America, we're born in America so we're Americans. And if you, and if I'm in a foreign country and my child is born in that country, that child is an American. Just like my daughter was born in Japan, but she's an American.

gky: She had dual -- oh, she can't have dual citizenship.

RK: Huh?

gky: She can't have dual citizenship because they don't have dual citizenship in Japan anymore. Okay. Thank you very much, Rusty.

RK: Thank you.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2000 Bridge Media and Densho. All Rights Reserved.