<Begin Segment 2>

FC: What do you think would happen if the JACL said, "We were wrong in 1942 and we apologize to Japanese America, and we apologize to the resisters for ostracizing them from community"? What do you think Japanese America would do?

PT: Well, I don't know what Japanese America would do, but the Japanese American citizenship would have a position of honored leadership within the Japanese American community that they've never had. They never had the totality of the support of the Japanese American community and that's why there was so much resistance to the Japanese American citizenship within the camps during World War II, because they created that resistance by their role.

FC: Tell us again, just say that you were a, you were an internee at Heart Mountain.

PT: Yes.

FC: "I was interned at Heart Mountain from," wherever you came from.

PT: Yes, I was eighteen, 1-A in the draft, student at Pasadena Junior College when I was interned, first at the Pomona Assembly Center and then here at Heart Mountain for two years. And I was a part of the young men, young men and young people, all of those who had to answer that loyalty oath. At that time I didn't have any problem, because I was thoroughly American, my values were white. And I didn't want, I did want to go into the army and join my three brothers. All four of us ended up in the MIS, Military Intelligence Service, and I served my country for two years and, after the war.

FC: Okay, you had misquoted the slogan, "Better Americans for a Greater America." [Ed. note: the slogan is "For Better Americans in a Greater America"] Can you back up and say, "The JACL motto was..."

PT: Sure.

[Interruption]

PT: The JACL motto is: "Better Americans in a Greater America."

[Interruption]

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 1995, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.