<Begin Segment 21>

TI: So, Terry, we're starting to run out of time here, so I want to get to how you got your citizenship.

HT: Oh, I'll tell you and I'll go home. [Laughs]

TI: No, that's okay. So when, so this is kind of at the end of your military service. Can you tell me the story of how you got your citizenship?

HT: Yeah, one thing I want to tell you, when I was in the military in Korea, I talked to the chaplain one day, I said, I told him that I'm an alien. I still have to go back to the States and go to school and become a citizen. He said, oh, he was surprised. And he said, "We'll take care of that." He gave me letters from big shots, all the captains and generals, he got all the letters recommending me to get immediate citizenship, and what a nice job I did. [Laughs] Letters. And he says, "Take this letter, go to the immigration office when you go back into San Francisco, take it to an immigration officer, show it to them." So I said, "Okay." I got discharged, and I went to San Francisco immigration office, and I got a stack of letters, I said, "I want to apply for citizenship, and I want a grant to become a citizen." He said, "Hey, you were in the military?" I said, "Yes." Letters, they're all nice, they're from the big shots. Then he says, this guy looked at me and says, "Oh, you were in Korea?" And I said, "Yeah, I'm a real 'Jap,' you know?" [Laughs] He laughed. But he says, "Okay, tell you what." He got one of the bosses over there, big shot came downstairs, he was talking to me for a minute, they says, "Come here, I want to give you automatic citizenship, but you still have to take a test." I said, "Okay, if it's not too bad, I'll take a test." He said, "Okay, raise your right hand." Then he asked me three questions, that's all he asked me to answer, three questions. Says, I think the first one was, "What was the color of the American flag?" Yeah.

TI: So you said, "Red, white and blue."

HT: I said, "God, I don't know. Was it white, blue, red?" [Laughs] And then he asked me, "Who is the President of the United States?" And I said, "God, it can't be Washington, Lincoln." [Laughs] Well, I finally got the right answer, then he says, "Last question. What is the," I think he asked me, "what is the national song, American?" That's the question I think it was. So I told him it's the Star Spangled Banner. Then he says, "You're sworn in." I became a citizen. Meanwhile, they were typing all my paperwork and they gave me citizenship right there, pow. And that guy was a big shot, said, "Welcome to America." [Laughs] I said, "If I'm an American... I've been American, I mean." I said, "Thank you." And so I was so happy, you know. That's the best gift I ever got from the government besides "We Want You" letter I got the first time. [Laughs] If I'd known, if I thought of MIS, I would have asked him, I would have asked about it. But I didn't, it didn't dawn on me to ask. All my military coming, I wish they did.

TI: That's a good story. The museum's gonna open up, so we're gonna have to end the interview now. So Terry, thank you so much for doing this.

HT: Oh, that was fun. It gave me a chance to recall a lot of stuff that I did. I had a good life.

TI: Okay, well, thank you so much.

HT: Thank you very much, appreciate it.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.