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MA: So I want to talk about, then, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Do you recall anything about that day or even the, sort of, months following that day?

TN: You know, I can remember Pearl Harbor, and I know it was a time of, sort of, terror in our house. I mean, we didn't, I know something bad happened, and I kept hearing everybody saying, "The Japs bombed Pearl Harbor," and of course I knew what that meant. And my father... I remember, I was only seven at the time, but he seemed a little concerned. He didn't know what was going to happen. I don't think he really fully had an understanding of what was going on, to tell us young kids. And I do remember the days after Pearl Harbor, we went back to school, and there were some names called at me. And I could tell that it wasn't a good time to be a Japanese at that point. And then my friend Walter told me later that he was very sorry to see me going, and I didn't know what he was talking about. He seemed to know a lot more about it that I did. But shortly after that, I understood what was happening.

MA: Right, so then you felt a definite change in the way that people treated you before and after Pearl Harbor?

TN: Yeah, I did. I think there was a little bit of discrimination before Pearl Harbor, but after that, it became pronounced. And I can remember even some Chinese people walking around with a sign, "I am Chinese" just so that they wouldn't take the brunt of this.

MA: Right.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.