<Begin Segment 15>

FA: Tell me about, tell me about Mits Koshiyama.

MW: Oh Mits, well, he's extraordinary because he was very young. I believe he was around eighteen. And he to this day will write letters which are so eloquent. I learn every time I receive a letter from Mits. And I wish I myself could write such letters which is full of fervor and it's not that he's trying to justify what he did but he cannot understand why the average person who is able to appreciate an apology that is issued by the President of the United States, that they think is the greatest thing, when President Bush apologized and we had, we were put away in camps.

FA: If it's any comfort, Michi, I save all your letters, too, and they're full of fervor and passions. I can't dare to throw them away, and I will always save them. Tell me about Frank Emi.

FC: Does Frank Emi write to you? Has he written to you?

MW: Frank writes me from time to time. He prefers calling me because we love to share secrets of how to stay young.

FA: Well, it works. God, you guys have a great secret, 'cause you both have, of anyone. Tell me about Frank Emi, his resistance and his character.

MW: Oh, Frank was incredible during those years in Heart Mountain. I loved to read and re-read these bulletins which he authored. I wish I could write that well now. But, my goodness, I would love to frame some of them. I would love to emblazon them forevermore in bronze.

FA: Why? Why are they so good?

MW: Because what he is saying to the people in Heart Mountain is that, "We have been impoverished. We have been utterly deprived of everything we have worked for our whole life. Our parents came here and they struggled and struggled through the Depression. They brought us up and they had come to a point where they thought they were going to be able to have a comfortable future. And now this is all threatened by this unconstitutional internment and that we must begin to become more conscious of our rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution. Never, never give up your rights under the Constitution, and that we are being asked to do too much. We have been asked to give up too much, and this is a moment when we must make a stand. We will not obey an illegal order." That reminds me of Nuremberg.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 1998, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.