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TI: Well, so going back to your parents, as leaders in the community, these next few days, what happened? Did they have to do anything special?

JU: Well, they were very watchful. But you know that we were anticipating war with Germany and Japan in many ways before that. The rationing began, and that was pretty serious with almost everybody, especially the rationing of gasoline, the rationing of sugar, many other things were being rationed. And that's what actually put Dad in touch with Morrissey and Carr, because from way back in '38, '9, actually, they were having conferences regarding Dad's need to travel. He had a group that was meeting in Hanna, Wyoming, had one in Scott's Bluff, Nebraska, had another one in Colorado Springs in Pueblo, had another one in Rocky Ford. And, of course, normal meetings in Fort Collins and Brighton and Fort Lupton. And there was even a group in Greeley. And so all through the Arkansas Valley and also the mountain areas, he had meetings. And they weren't in churches, obviously, because there weren't churches, they were in people's homes. And that's how he informed his congregations anyway, go straight to the homes.

TI: Right, and so during the rationing period to get gas...

JU: He'd have to get gas for his car, he was driving a Model A Ford, but it still takes gas to run. And so he couldn't run on an A card. So he had to go in and see Morrissey and the governor.

TI: So that's pretty amazing. So he would get access to Governor Carr and Attorney General Morrissey to request, I guess, a lightening of, or a relief of those restrictions.

JU: Yeah. And he had to agree not to go too often places, and he'd have to, he'd have to decide how much he needed and what class. An A card would not do, a B card would not do, and so how was he supposed to get gasoline? And so that had to be settled, and that took a few trips. And so they got to know each other fairly well.

TI: And this was all happening even before the war started.

JU: Oh, yes, years before. Because rationing started, I think, in '38.

TI: Well, I'm guessing that helped him in terms of, because they knew him after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, that he had some way of communicating because they knew him?

JU: Yes.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.