<Begin Segment 9>

FA: People say now those "no-no boys," resisters, they beat up all the good Nisei boys who wanted to volunteer for the army and they intimidated them and beat them up. Did you ever do that?

MK: No, no. We never, I never had any intention, I had a lot of respect for the people that went for their physicals. I know many of 'em didn't want to go but they went, and never was against them. I think a lot of those beatings and stuff was... I'm not sure but I would say they were exaggerated because lot of times they say that in December of 1945, that in some camps, there were, army vets were beaten up. The camps were closed by then, see? So I don't take a lot of stock into all that kind of rumors.

FA: I'm going to ask you again, could you say that -- did anyone, any resisters you know of beat up any volunteers?

MK: No, no. That's, that's the last thing... lot of the resisters had brothers in the 442nd and relatives in the 442nd. Why should they go out and beat up people? People that say that about Heart Mountain, they're really, really not telling the truth.

[Interruption]

MK: I did not participate in any beating up of any whatchacall... veterans or people that were going into the army or WRA sympathizers or JACL people. They had their own mind and I had mine. And I respected their thinking and that was it. None of my friends ever beat up anybody. That's a fact. If they said that there was a beating up in camps, then name the names and where it took place. You can't say vaguely that they were beaten up and stuff like that.

[Interruption]

MK: No, I did not beat up anybody that volunteered. I never had any hard words with anybody that wanted to go into the army. My personal experience is that many of the draftees didn't want to go because what was happening during the camps and since so many of the Heart Mountain people were returning 4-F, they decided to take the chance of becoming 4-F.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1993, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.