Densho Digital Repository - Aaron Zajic Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1020-1-4)

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EK: Interesting. So I want to move on to talk a little bit about your recollections for certain key aspects of the program. What are your recollections around, the community outreach efforts? What was your role in it and how was that handled by the office?

AZ: So there were quite a few of us in the office that traveled. And sometimes we would go to a JACL event, and I would go to these events and I'd have a little booth, and I would have all the forms that you would need to fill out if you wanted to apply for redress. Because we had, I think, a lot more people in the camp rosters that we probably never found out, if maybe they passed away before the act. But as I would go to different events in different cities around the country, I would help people fill out their forms and make sure they knew what documents were acceptable. And in some cases, they would bring the material, they would go home and get it and bring it back, and I could just take it back with me.

EK: Do you recall which cities you had a chance to go to?

AZ: I know I went to Utah and I went to Phoenix and I went to Chicago and I went to New York and I went to Los Angeles a couple times.

EK: Were these always in conjunction with JACL or Japanese American Civilian League...

AZ: Citizens League.

EK: Citizens League. Were they all part of the conventions or did you go on other occasions?

AZ: No, I just went for big conventions where it would make sense to have a presence where we would have lots of people coming by. And a lot of people would come by and say, "Oh, I've been telling my mom or dad to fill that out and they don't want to, but can I just have the literature?" So I think, again, I'm not an expert on this, but I got the sense that some people just didn't, this was not a pleasant time in their life, and this would bring up some bad memories and they just didn't want to get involved. Some people filled it out and said, "I'm going to take this money and donate it to a charity, I don't want it for me." But I think it was great exposure. Because while we did put a lot of ads in radio, newspaper, and the local communities, having someone at the events, I think... I know when I was there I would have lines at my booth of people asking questions for themselves, for their family members, or just wanting to talk about it.