<Begin Segment 19>

FA: Tell me about the conversation -- oh, tell me about the drawing you made of Guntaro Kubota.

FE: Well, we had lots of time, so every evening we would get together and talk. There was, I think, eight of us in one cell. And Guntaro Kubota, we shared bunks. I was on the top and he was on the bottom. And he wanted to write a letter to his daughter. So I would try to help him with as much English as I could, which wasn't very much 'cause when he wrote the letter to Gloria it was pretty, pretty bad. But then at the same time I said, "Let me write a, try to pen a portrait of you and send it to your daughter. Maybe it'll be a good thing." So best I could, I made out a little pencil sketch of him and it turned out pretty good. It looked, looked like him. So he sent that to Gloria and his daughter and they were very pleased.

FA: Tell me about the conversation you had with Guntaro that you remember so well.

FE: Oh, yeah. I think we were also sitting in the cell at one time and we were talking of various things. And he said, "You know, Emi," he says, "I'll never forget this experience. I'll never forget this fight that I had with you guys in your fight for principle. This will be the proudest thing that I'll ever remember." So I never remember, forget his words. Because he as an Issei and over forty years of age, he didn't have to participate in this, he didn't have to be put in prison. But he was there with us and his spirit was just as high as anybody else's. In fact, his spirits were much higher than Okamoto's. Okamoto by that time was pretty moody and recluse.

FA: Tell me again, what did Mr. Kubota say to you?

FE: He said, "This is, I'll never forget this. This will be the proudest thing I ever did, because of my being in this fight for principle with you fellows." Words to that effect. I don't remember the exact words, but that was the main thrust of it.

FC: As an "enemy alien," was he risking, at risk, being involved with you guys?

FE: Oh, yeah, as an "enemy alien," he could have had a much harsher treatment than us. But the judge saw differently. We were sentenced to four years, he was sentenced to two years. He figured that he didn't have, he wasn't... well, I don't know, I can't tell what, what the judge had in mind. But he also gave Ben Wakaye and Min Tamesa, who were serving three year sentences on the draft resistance charge, he gave them two years. The rest of us were given four years.

FC: What was he risking, as an Issei, getting involved with the...

FE: Issei. Yeah. He as an Issei probably could have got a much harder, harsher sentence, could have been maybe deported, could have been executed maybe.

FA: He didn't use those words, did he?

FE: No.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 1998, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.