<Begin Segment 12>

TI: So I want to jump ahead now to December 7, 1941. Where were you when you heard about the attack at Pearl Harbor?

JK: Well, what had happened, I was in bed, and that was a Sunday morning, so my wife and I were, overslept, or slept in, and I got a phone call from, I don't know who, recall who called me at that time. And he says, "Turn on your radio," so I turned on the radio and got the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Well I didn't, I had no idea where Pearl Harbor was. But then we had a tentative JACL meeting that following Monday, that following day, a JACL meeting. And so Shigeki Ushio and my wife went down to this meeting place and we met with the Associated Press. And that's where I have that picture of the, of what came out in the newspaper.

TI: Now, how did the AP or Associated Press know to be there?

JK: Well, they, I think somehow they called me, and I says, "Well, we're expecting to have a meeting Monday night at the Civic Center Building," and I said, "I don't know who, or how many will be there, but if you'd like to meet with us, we'll be there," and they came down. And we gave them the, the words that we intended -- actually, the words that we had incorporated in our fealty to the United States was written by a Chinese fellow.

TI: So who was this Chinese person?

JK: No, my brother-in-law is Chinese.

TI: I see, okay.

JK: And he was the one that wrote the message for the newspapers to carry.

TI: And because he was a good writer, that's why you asked him to, or someone asked him to --

JK: Yeah, well, he was a, he's a lawyer, he was in law school at the time. And in fact, he was the president of the International Lawyers of... let's see, what was it now? In fact, we were down in Phoenix for a big celebration in his behalf as president or past president of the International Lawyers, Immigration Lawyers, as it was. And they had it at the, oh, the Hilton Hotel in Phoenix.

TI: And something I didn't mention or ask you, what was your role with the Salt Lake City chapter when the war broke out?

JK: What was that?

TI: What was your position or role with the Salt Lake City JACL chapter?

JK: What was my role?

TI: Yes.

JK: I was president of the JACL, that is, the local chapter of JACL.

TI: And so by being president, how did you become president?

JK: Oh, I think it's just a matter of knowing people. I didn't actually campaign for it or anything like that.

TI: And generally how long were the terms? I mean, how many...

JK: One year. A year.

TI: And so how long were you in office as president?

JK: I was in the office for, during the year of '42 and '43, and then again in '48.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.