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FA: Okay, Art, you were a good friend of Min Tamesa's. After the crucial meeting of the Fair Play Committee when they decided on the third bulletin... [interruption] when you ran into Min Tamesa, what did he tell you?

AE: Well, after the meeting, I talked to him privately and we got to know each other pretty, pretty good. And he told me that if he was in Paul Nakadate's shoes and if, if he had talked to him like he had talked to Paul Nakadate, and looked at him like he did, he would have either hit him or run away. And so... see, Min was a very down-to-earth person, and anytime anybody would get a little astray from any, any subject or any matter, then he would be the one that would be able to bring that person down to earth again. I mean, he was that solid. Very nice, very honest, very simple person. Simple by, I mean, he was not a person that was disorganized. He was a person that knew exactly what was going on.

[Interruption]

FA: So you ran into Min Tamesa, Art. What did he tell you?

AE: Well, after the meeting, my brother Frank had talked to Paul Nakadate and the others. And Min told me that if Frank had looked at him like he had looked at Paul, and talked to him like he did, he would, he, Min, would have either hit him or run away. And so the thing was that I guess everything was pretty well straightened out at the meeting, and there was no wishy-washy feelings about it. It was either do it or let's do it the right way.

[Interruption]

FA: Art, why did you stick your neck out to support the Fair Play Committee?

AE: Well, I believed everything that we talked about. Frank and I, we talked about it. And I was all for it. I mean, there's no question in my mind that I would have done anything any differently. And I believed in it so much that the consequences didn't mean anything to me. What had to be done had to be done.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1993, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.