<Begin Segment 8>

FA: Everyone knows where they were on December 7, 1941. Tell me, tell me where you were and what happened.

BK: Well, of all those things on December 7th, Sunday morning we were having a meeting in the basement of the church in North Platte where Mike Masaoka was trying to tell us about the Japanese American Citizen's League. And all I can remember is about halfway through the meeting, the police came and arrested Mike, took him and put him in jail in North Platte. And of course we found out shortly thereafter that he was released because Governor Maw of Utah had called and told him, told the police officials there that they shouldn't hold Mike. That's, that was the beginning of Pearl Harbor, of course. All the news came over the radio and everything was pretty bad. And it was the next morning that my brother Fred and I decided that we were going to enlist in the service.

FA: Let me go back one second. When the police came in, tell me what Mike was doing the moment police came in to arrest him. Tell me that whole scene where Mike was standing up and you know the story, tell me about that.

BK: Well, I don't remember the details on that. All I know that there was some hush talk going around and all of a sudden he just disappeared. So that's all I can tell you about that.

FA: Do you remember a story about a handkerchief on the blackboard and a little paper map of the state of Nebraska? That he had a paper map of the state of Nebraska and covered it with a handkerchief? And that he dramatically lifted the handkerchief up and someone said, "Mike, it's upside down."

BK: [Laughs] No, I don't remember that at all. That's possible.

FA: I have a nice piece of film of Mike talking on a CBS documentary, he says, "On December 7th, I happened to be in North Platte, Nebraska, telling a group of Japanese Americans about the necessity to organize, to stress our citizenship and our loyalty to the United States."

BK: Right.

FA: What did you think of Mike's message, sitting there, what were your thoughts? What was your reactions to Mike's message?

BK: I thought it was a good idea at the time. It was, seems to me now all these years later that it was so fleeting, I mean, the whole thing just... the only thing I can remember is that they arrested him.

FA: But in terms of at that time, was that a message you were receptive to, or you thought was a good idea or bad idea? The message that he...

BK: Oh, it wasn't either way. I think I might have been just kind of lukewarm about something like that, belonging to an organization like that.

[Interruption]

FA: Can you, do you remember anything more about what Mike said to the group?

BK: No, I really don't. It's been so many years ago and as you know, I'm eighty years old now and my memory is pretty bad.

FA: Do you remember how many people were in the room? Were there a lot of people? Handful?

BK: No, there weren't very many to begin with in the community. I would think there might have been twenty, maybe not that many.

FA: So you and your brother went to volunteer for the Army Air Corps.

BK: Yes.

FA: Oh, by the way, one more thing, do you remember -- going back to the one meeting in the basement of the church in North Platte, do you remember who called the meeting?

BK: No, I don't remember who was responsible for the meeting. I guess they just, word of mouth.

FA: And how old were you at the time?

BK: I must have been, let's see... I graduated in '36...

FA: I'll figure it out.

BK: It's irrelevant. [Laughs]

FA: Yeah. Did you know any of the people in the room before that meeting? It was a small community.

BK: Oh yeah, they were young people in the 50-mile radius I'd say, little towns there. North Platte was a city. So yeah, I'd say I knew 'em all.

FA: Were they Niseis or Isseis?

BK: They were Nisei.

FA: And how, do recall how they were dressed, how you were dressed, how Mike was dressed, how they were dressed?

BK: No, I don't remember anything about that.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 1998, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.