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Q: What was December 7, 1941, like for you?

MY: Well, very specifically, I was in Chicago, Illinois, and I did not return to Oregon until probably the mid part of January 1942. However, my mother and my younger brother, Homer, and my younger sister Yuko were here. It's my understanding that Dad was picked up by the FBI a week or two after (December) 7th. So at home, Mother and the two younger siblings were living in Hood River itself.

Q: How did the non-Japanese population react to your family and your other Japanese American friends?

MY: Well, immediately the reaction was very negative. My dad was known as probably the biggest "Jap spy" in the whole area, and I was probably number two, particularly after March. Because I remember the sheriff in Hood River telling me that it wasn't safe for me to be walking down the street, because some could take a shot at me. So the feeling was very intense, it certainly was very much opposed to the presence of Japanese Americans in this area. We need again, of course, to go back into history, and as we recall the anti-alien land movements back in the '20s, particularly about 1924, Oregon did pass an anti-alien land law. And as a consequence, there was considerable feeling against Japanese families in the Hood River Valley.

Q: Were there any incidents that occurred shortly after Pearl Harbor?

MY: I do not specifically know. As I say, I came back from Chicago to Hood River, and then almost immediately thereafter, I opened a law office in Portland, Oregon, during January 1942. So I did not reside her continually. This, of course, is my brother's farm. He was here during that period, and he probably would be able to recount what did specifically happen. I have no personal knowledge.

Q: You were in the Reserve Officers Corps. What did you after the attack?

MY: Well, very specifically, when I was in Chicago, I immediately resigned from the consulate general of Japan. Probably a week later, I received a telegram for me to report for active duty at Camp Vancouver in Vancouver, which is right across the river from Portland. I did come back to Portland and I did report for active duty at Camp Vancouver, but it's my recollection that some ranking officer, probably about a colonel, told me that I would not be accepted immediately at that time, but they would let me know. Well, frankly, they never did let me know, so I never did join the United States Army as a commissioned officer.

Q: How did you feel about that?

MY: I felt terrible, because I was perfectly willing, and I did come back with the expectation of serving my country. And to be rejected on the grounds that, "Well, we don't know, we'll let you know later," was certainly a disappointment.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 1983, 2010 Densho and Steven Okazaki. All Rights Reserved.