July 29, 1981

To: Congressional Committee for Redress/Reparations
From: Kimiko Hazel Kusachi Calhoun
Re: Testimony Regarding Incarceration During World War II

For the following persons and self:
Eikichi kusachi (deceased)
Masaji Kusachi
Haruko Kusachi (deceased)

The Kusachi family lived in Hood River, Oregon, in the Dee District of the valley. E. Kusachi, grandfather, cleared the land, working in logging camps to finance purchase of the property. Crops such as strawberries and asparagus provided cash flow while the orchard was maturing. My stepfather (Masaji), while working the land, also labored in a sawmill, particularly during the Depression years, in order to feed the family and to keep the land.

With the entry of the United States into the war and the accompanying hysteria which resulted in relocation, my mother (Haruko), about 5 months pregnant, was forced to go into town frequently to try to take care of business details. She spoke and wrote English which necessitated her presence. I do not know the factors which influenced their decision to lease the land to a Mr. Miller, who was also leasing land from other Japanese farmers. I believe he was recommended as trustworthy by another white neighbor. Our belongings which could not be transported were stored in the upstairs section of our house. Some relatives also stored their belongings

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there. Then the door was locked. Equipment, such as tractor, truck, sprayer, etc., was stored in the garage, as well as heavy household appliances.

Our family was sent to the Assembly Center in Portland and housed in the Livestock Pavilion. Most of the Hood River Japanese were sent to Pinedale, California. My mother's poor health forced us to go to Portland. She was in the hospital, having lost her baby due, we felt, to the stress and strain placed upon her. After 3 months, we were sent to Tule Lake since my mother was still in a weakened state.

All three adults worked while in Tule Lake, my mother sporadically as her health and the care of young children would permit. My father was a cook, my grandfather a janitor, both full-time jobs earning $16.00 each.

With the decision to make Tule Lake a gathering place for Japanese wishing to return to Japan, our family was sent to Minidoka, Idaho. My mother had been diagnosed as having cancer about this time. This ended my stepfather's idea of joining the Army, the only way he could become an American citizen. With 8 dependents, this was an unlikely possibility, but demonstrated his frustration, anger and pain with the cavalier treatment we received from the government.

While in Minidoka, my mother's health steadily deteriorated and she was in great pain. My folks borrowed money from relatives and received permission to go to a hot springs resort in Idaho, hoping to relieve the pain and slow the progress of the disease. Likewise a trip was made to Ogden, Utah, for X-Ray treatments to

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try to find a cure, financed in part by borrowing. These desparate attempts to save her life ended in failure; my mother died in November, 1944, a woman of 36. She was never to go home, the reason for her frantic fight for life.

When the ban was lifted at the end of 1944, Eikichi and Masaji decided to return to Hood River. This was a difficult decision to make for the Hood River Valley was in the throes of activities designed to discourage the return of the Japanese. Newspaper ads were placed telling the "Japs" not to come back, they were not wanted. We were uncertain about the status of our house but that was the only place to which we could go with any hope of shelter. There were no resources to go to another place, the expenses of my mother's illness having wiped out what monies had been saved and putting us into debt as well. With 7 minor children, my grandfather and father felt they had to take a chance on returning to a community full of hate and resentment.

In March of 1945, we returned to a house vandalized and extensively damaged, to stored articles that had been destroyed or stolen, to a farm which had had minimal care; and with no equipment in usable condition to do the work. Eikichi and Masaji made do, borrowed even more extensively to buy needed equipment and supplies, in order to bring in a crop. We also housed my aunt and her family for a time as well as other relatives with no home. My aunt took on the needs of the house and of the young children, which enabled the male adults to work the farm.

My grandfather had to buy back a portion of the farm

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which the same Mr. Miller had taken by default because the title was in the names of a Japanese man who had returned to Japan and my grandfather. Neither men were citizens, which permitted this kind of chicanery. As soon as I was 18, all title to the land was put in my name, as the oldest and a citizen. When Masaji was finally permitted to seek and attain citizenship, the land was transferred to him as well.

We could not replace needed household items locally because no stores would serve Japanese families. We were forced to travel 72 miles in order to purchase whatever was needed. Groceries had to be delivered because the store did not want us coming in. It was some time after the war ended before the names of Japanese-American servicemen were replaced on the Honor Roll. Even later yet before gravestones and markers could be re-erected, having been destroyed by vandals.

As students in school, we kept to ourselves. It was over a year before we felt we could participate in school activities of any kind. The hate permeating the community was reflected by our classmates. 1 know I had to make a conscious decision to "be good" while in high school to try to diffuse some of the antipathy demonstrated by classmates. There were those who remained friends and spoke, but they were wrapped up in their own activities. 1 feel my concept of self-worth was even more heavily damaged during this crucial period of my life. It was degrading to grow up with a guard and rifle pointed at you and to live surrounded by barbed wire. But to try to mature with rejection and hate around you continually was a heavy load and injury to one's self-esteem was unavoidable.

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Through great effort, continuous labor and tremendous commitment, my stepfather and grandfather were able to raise us, get us through high school, and send us into the world. The deprivations, self-denials, sacrifices which they had to undergo in order to achieve this end, I do not know. The adults were buffeted with many pressures, worries and tribulations. I was a child trying to find herself in a confusing, painful time; wondering about her self-worth; endeavoring to learn and to be educated.

Monetary payment to the incarcerated Japanese is justified, to try to recompense those who suffered such personal indignities, financial losses and injurious treatment. We have given and continue to give much to our country -- let the country prove that we are its citizens and are valued as such.